I considered calling this post, “Ahead of the curve, behind in work.” Or maybe, “Promotions, shameful and shameless.”
That is, after my last post, on keeping old dogs healthy and happy, I was planning to move on to new and cheerier topics — including the announcement of a new contest that I’m co-hosting with DogJaunt.com for the most adorable dog carrier in the universe (and I don’t throw the phrase “most adorable in the universe” or even “adorable” around lightly).
But then I got an email about an upcoming Webinar on healthy pet aging, to be hosted by Purina on Thursday afternoon.
Now I’m by no means convinced that consuming Purina products will extend the life of your dog, even though Purina is one of the sponsors of the wonderful BlogPaws conference where I will be speaking on April 10. And should that conference bring me fame and fortune, I will invest a good portion of that fortune in caring for Frankie’s health, including taking him to one of those very expensive veterinary dentists, so perhaps Purina products will indirectly extend the life of my dog.
Mostly, I’m hoping that I’ll glean useful general information about pet aging from the Webinar that I can pass along to you.
In the meantime, one of the most popular things about my aforementioned last post was a dog age calculator sent in by Rod of GoPetFriendly.com. Forget the “multiply by 7” formula that gets you depressed about your dog’s rapidly approaching decrepitude. This calculator, on the Pedigree.com site — see, more proof I’m not pushing a particular dog food brand — will give you more accurate information based on size and breed.
Note: I tried to find another calculator this morning and get some additional information about the science behind the new formula. I found DogAge, a site devoted to the topic, which asked me for way too much information for my comfort (dog name? does that really have any impact on his age?) and took up way too much of my time. If anyone disagrees and decides to go through the process, let me know.
But back to that Pedigree calculator. I was extremely heartened to learn that Frankie, whose 12th birthday will be celebrated on the 4th of July, will only be 64 — not even eligible for Social Security unless he chooses early retirement and I have no evidence that he’s going that route. But I will still need him, and I will still feed him.
And if you didn’t get that last reference, you don’t need to worry about your age, just your dog’s.
I tried the age calculator for Jersey and at 6 years old she is supposed to be 47 in human years.
That’s not good. Maybe it’s the name, Jersey. The calculator thinks she’s in New Jersey and you know how polluted that state is… (sorry New Jerseyites!).
I tried it for one of my pups who is 6 yrs old, but acts 6 mos. Sorry, but no way is he a senior dog. I guess it really is all about how you feel! LOL
I’m guessing it’s an odd formula. Try the Pedigree one — much more encouraging!
I’m not exactly sure of the age of my dog (got her from the pound, they said between 1-2 years), but if I put in 2 years, my little fox hound is already 19 years old!! But she acts like a rebellious adolescent!
I love the idea of finding that my terrier Archie is younger than the venerable but discouraging 7 x human years. He comes out in triple digits with the traditional equation, but double digits with the new calculator. But the variables of the calculator (is Archie small or medium? is he 15 or 16?) make it as useful as the DNA test that told me he was a basset mix and the horoscope that told me, wellll, it was good.
Tashi doesn’t know he’s a senior dog at 9(and I’m not going to tell him either–self-fulfilling prophecies being what they are…), or 52 according to the Pedigree calculator. But we’re going to try to get doodlebug as many healthy happy years as we can and when he’s 64 I know I’ll still be sending him birthday greetings, minus the whine:)