Last Updated on September 20, 2023
12 in dog years roughly equals 69 in human years.
This calculation was made for a medium-sized dog (21 to 50 pounds) using the recommendations from the AKC (American Kennel Club).
There are 2 ways of calculating the conversion from human years to dog years. The above result was calculated using the more correct way, we’ll explain what makes the other way incorrect later in this article.
The table below shows dog years and their equivalent to human years, with different columns for different sizes.
| Dog's Age in Years | Human Years (Small Dog) | Human Years (Medium Dog) | Human Years (Large Dog) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 2 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| 3 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| 4 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| 5 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
| 6 | 40 | 42 | 45 |
| 7 | 44 | 47 | 50 |
| 8 | 48 | 51 | 55 |
| 9 | 52 | 56 | 61 |
| 10 | 56 | 60 | 66 |
| 11 | 60 | 65 | 72 |
| 12 | 64 | 69 | 77 |
| 13 | 68 | 74 | 82 |
| 14 | 72 | 78 | 88 |
| 15 | 76 | 83 | 93 |
| 16 | 80 | 87 | 99 |
Calculating how many human years is 12 in dog years
As mentioned above, there are 2 main ways of calculating dog years to human years and vice versa. There’s a correct way and an incorrect way.
The incorrect calculation
Many people believe that one dog year equals seven dog years. This belief was probably first introduced in the 1950s. However, this isn’t the best way to measure it.
While there has been plenty of research since then that disproves the 7:1 ratio, it seems people are still holding on it. The formula could have been based on the belief that dogs live for 10-ish years and humans reach 70 years old, but honestly, we’re not quite sure when it started.
So while the 7-1 rule is easy to understand and keep in mind, it’s unfortunately incorrect.
The correct calculation
The proper method to convert human years into dog years is a bit more difficult.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has the following to add to it:
- The beginning year of a dog’s life is approximately 15 years human.
- The second year of a dog’s life is equivalent to 9 human years.
- From that point onwards, every human year equals either four or five dogs years.
Keep in mind that smaller dogs tend to live longer than bigger dogs. Scientists concluded that every 4.4 pounds of body mass reduced a dog’s life expectancy by about a month.
Related:
[page-generator-pro-related-links group_id=”33552″ post_type=”post” post_status=”publish” radius=”0″ output_type=”prev_next” limit=”0″ columns=”1″ delimiter=”, ” link_title=”%title%” link_anchor_title=”%title%” link_display_order=”link_title,featured_image,link_description” link_display_alignment=”vertical” next_title=”%title%” prev_title=”%title%” orderby=”name” order=”asc”]