Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I heard that a dog age is 3 or 7 years for every one year. I would like to know if this is true and why they age 3 or 7 years for every one year.

Hi,

Here are some sites comparing ageing in dogs to humans:

http://www.dog-food-corner.com/dog-year ... rs-age.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_in_dogs

Your implied question is a really good one: What causes a dog to live a shorter life than humans?
The short answer is that no one knows for sure yet, but lots of people are studying the question. Here are some websites that survey some of the theories:

http://www.programmed-aging.org/theories/

http://medicine.jrank.org/pages/1761/Th ... Aging.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence


Here is a US government research proposal invitation on the subject:

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-f ... 3-147.html

This is a really interesting area to research, and many people spend most of their lives trying to find answers.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson