How to determine the age of a dog by its teeth?
Not always a pet gets into our house, the date of birth of which is known for certain. Sometimes puppies and adult dogs are taken into the family literally from the street, and in this case a quite reasonable question arises as to whether it is possible to establish the exact age of a new family member. It turns out that you can - and the dog's teeth will help.
Age is defined in this way rather conditionally, inaccurately, but it is better than nothing. The younger the dog, the more accurate the results will be, which means that puppies are more likely to be more accurate in age determination than adults.
The structure of the dentition
First of all, you need to understand that dogs have 4 types of teeth. These are incisors, canines, premolars and molars. Incisors are the smallest teeth located in the center of the jaw. - opening the dog's mouth, you see them first.
A healthy dog has 12 incisors, 6 above and the same number below.
Fangs follow. There are 4 of them - 2 each above and below, to the right and to the left of the incisors. These are the largest, sharpest and longest teeth in a dog's mouth. They are followed by premolars, 4 on each side. And they are followed by molars, on top of them there are 4 - 2 on each side, below - 6, 3 on each side.
Puppies
Do not assume that all puppy teeth appear at the same time at birth. They erupt gradually, over time, and it is this fact that will help establish the age of the animal. If your foundling's teeth are not yet visible, in general, he is from 2 to 4 weeks old. At 4 weeks, the first canines are shown.
Incisors appear in a month and a half, by two months a puppy can count 28 milk teeth.
They begin to change to permanent molars canine teeth from the age of five months. The first to change to permanent canines and molars. At 7 months old, the puppy has all its teeth already molars.Thus, if you find 42 teeth in the dog's mouth, then we can safely say that it is definitely more than seven months old.
Adult dogs
If you have adopted an adult dog into your family, then you should evaluate its teeth according to the degree of wear. If the dog is a year old or slightly older, its teeth are usually white, clean, and free of plaque. But by the end of the second year of life, they lose their natural brightness, and in some places hard mineral deposits begin - the so-called tartar.
The dog's teeth become yellow after three years, the first to turn yellow are those that are deeper and further, by the age of five, almost all of the dog's teeth have a yellowish coating.
However, the method for determining the age of an adult dog is not as effective as that of a puppy.
This is because a lot depends not only on the natural aging processes and wear and tear of the tooth enamel, but also on the way of life the dog led, what he ate, what diseases it has. More worn out can be the teeth of a dog, which has a habit of gnawing everything that is hard that it comes across on the way.
If the dog ate dry food, then his jaw looks more aesthetically pleasing and "youthful" than the jaw of a dog that is accustomed to natural food.
If you see a dog's worn teeth, blunt fangs, then we can safely say that it is definitely more than 6-7 years old. And if some of the teeth are missing at all, and the rest are worn out, there are problems with the gums, most likely, the dog is more than 10 years old.
Useful advice: a veterinarian can more accurately determine the age of an animal, since he is able to comprehensively assess not only the condition of the teeth, but also the condition of the gums, tongue, mucous membranes.
Correspondence table of the age of the dog with the age of the person, taking into account the quality of the teeth
Dog's actual age | Small dogs, appropriate for human age | Medium breeds, age appropriate | Large dogs, age-appropriate | Teeth quality |
Up to 1 year | 0-15 | 0-15 | 0-15 | White, indigenous, sharp, without plaque. |
1 year | 15-16 | 15-16 | 15-16 | No plaque, white teeth. |
2 years | 24-25 | 24-25 | 24-25 | Whiteness fades, the appearance of a light mineral bloom is possible. |
3 years | 28-30 | 28-30 | 28-30 | Yellowness appears in the area of molars and premolars. |
4 years | 31-32 | 31-32 | 31-32 | Molars and premolars turn yellow, yellowness begins in the canine area, stone deposits are possible. |
5 years | 35-36 | 35-36 | 35-36 | All teeth already show signs of yellowness. |
6 years | 40 | 42 | 44-45 | A gradual erasure of the front teeth and molars begins. |
7 years | 44 | 48 | 50 | Fangs are gradually erased, become dull, there are signs of calculus on the back teeth. |
8 years | 47-48 | 51-52 | 55-56 | Often all the teeth are yellow, worn off, on the molars there may be signs of enamel stratification, cracks. |
9 years | 52 | 56 | 61-62 | The first loss of teeth appears, and several premolars or molars may be missing. The fangs are curved. |
10 years | 55-56 | 60 | 66-67 | The loss of teeth and the distortion of the shape of the remaining ones continues, the teeth are yellow, there is plaque. There may be signs of periodontal disease. |
11 years | 60 | 64-65 | 70-72 | A noticeable process of tooth loss begins. The fangs are the last to fall out, the precariousness of the teeth increases. |
12 years | 65 | 69 | 76-77 | The incisors are bent, the canines are dull, unstable. |
13 years | 69 | 75 | 82 | The changes are degenerative and individual. |
14 years old | 73 | 79 | 89 | More than half of the teeth may be missing. |
15 years | 76 | 84 | 95 | Loss of teeth can be two-thirds, but in general, everything is quite individual and depends on the general health of the dog. |
16-18 years old | 86-90 | 95-97 | 100 and more | Individual degree of loss. |
Recommendations
If there is an opportunity to find out the exact age of the dog from the breeder, the previous owner, be sure to use it. If you have adopted a dog whose past is a big secret, then be extremely careful when trying to determine age by teeth. - dogs do not like it when their mouths are forcibly opened and climb there with a flashlight.
An adult dog, even a rather friendly one, can bite, and this bite will be pure self-defense.
In order not to frighten your pet, train it to examine its mouth gradually. First, let him hold his head in your hands, then gently unscrew the lower lip and examine the lower incisors.When the dog realizes that nothing threatens it, you can try to turn away the upper lip with one hand and examine the upper incisors; you should resort to examining the molars and premolars only after the dog gets used to you and begins to trust you, otherwise the consequences can be dire.
How to determine the age of a puppy by the teeth, see below.
