How Do You Tell the Age of a Dog? (labs, vet, teeth)

[songinthewind7]

The 2 dogs I have now are about 1 1/2 year old but the one I adopted yesterday has no history so they guessed her age to be around a year old, give or take a couple of months.
How can you tell?

[FlyersFan]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

The 2 dogs I have now are about 1 1/2 year old but the one I adopted yesterday has no history so they guessed her age to be around a year old, give or take a couple of months.
How can you tell?

Check the age on its drivers license ?

[ShelbyGirl1]

You can't. Teeth usually give a guesstimate...amt. of tarter..and if they are wore down, how healthy the gums are.

[jimboburnsy]

You could count the rings in a cross-section of a long bone, but the dog probably needs its legs a while longer.

A good guess is about as good as it gets.

[SunInHair]

Teeth can be an indication. I also look at the "elbow pads". If non have developed or they are quite small, I assume the dog is younger (or always sat on someone's lap?). My labs had big elbow pads by 7 or 8 years. Another indicator can be activity level, but not always, and how well the dog hears, sees, etc. It's just much easier to categorize as "puppy", "adolescent", "adult", and "senior".

[songinthewind7]

Thanks for the responses.
I've always wondered how they could tell. She does act puppyish and young though.

[pekemom]

When we had a rescued pekingese the vet said by her teeth she was about 6 yrs. She lived another 7 years before she died of congestive heart failure. I guess he was pretty close in guessing her age.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by SunInHair

Teeth can be an indication. I also look at the "elbow pads". If non have developed or they are quite small, I assume the dog is younger (or always sat on someone's lap?). My labs had big elbow pads by 7 or 8 years. Another indicator can be activity level, but not always, and how well the dog hears, sees, etc. It's just much easier to categorize as "puppy", "adolescent", "adult", and "senior".

My girl is 13 and has no elbow pads

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

My girl is 13 and has no elbow pads

Have to agree here....My 13 yr.old that just died never had a elbow pad either. Same with Dylan now, who is 8. I believe it is dogs who spend a lot of outdoor time. Not a true indicator by any means.

[kansas sky]

At the vet's we check teeth for tarter and wear, as others have mentioned. Also looking at the overall appearance and attitude of the dog can give some idea. It's really just a guessing game once they're an adult though.