Last Updated on September 20, 2023
7 in dog years roughly equals 47 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 7 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
The majority of people still believe that 1 dog year equals seven dog years. This belief likely began in the 1950s, however it’s not the right method of calculating it.
There has been a lot of research that has disproved that the ratio is 7-1, people continue to believe the idea. This formula may be based on an assumption that dogs live to 10 or so years, and humans live to 70, but honestly we don’t know when it first started.
So while the 7 to 1 rule is simple to understand and keep in mind however, it’s sadly incorrect.
The correct calculation
The correct way of converting human years to dog years is a bit more difficult.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has the following things to say about it::
- The first year of a medium-sized dog’s lifespan is approximately 15 years human.
- The second year of a dog’s existence equals about 9 human years.
- From that point forward each human year is equal to the equivalent of four to five dog 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.
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