Knowing your dog's age is not only important for, for example, making the equivalence between the years he has with you and his age in "dog years", but also, each stage of the life of the dog requires a series of care and a specific feeding
If your dog has accompanied you since he was a puppy, it will not be difficult for you to notice the changes that occur in his body, his size and his personality. However, there comes a time when the puppy stage is over and the dog becomes an adult, so you must be aware of this important change so that you know how to care for your dog from that moment until the next stage of his life.. Keep reading this article on our site to find out At what age a dog is an adult:
What changes does it take for your dog to reach adulthood?
Just like humans, dogs go through different growth phases from the moment they are born and are various stages they go through before reaching adulthood.
Adulthood is the longest stage in your dog's life, in which he finally reaches not only his final size, but also what will be his personality is specified, leaving behind the shy and even nervous character that characterizes the puppy and adolescent period. Also, upon reaching adulthood, your dog will reach sexual maturity.
Having a good relationship with your dog before he becomes an adult is crucial. This implies both forging an affective bond with him, as well as providing him with the necessary training to educate him and make living together easier and more pleasant for the whole family. That is why, before reaching adulthood, your dog must have already learned the rules that will guide its behavior, in addition to having been exposed to contact with people outside the family and with other dogs to optimize its socialization stage..
In the same way, during his adult life the dog will need a varied protein-based diet, so we recommend that you seek advice from your vet about what's best for your furry friend based on their breed, size, and he alth status.
When is a dog an adult?
Surely you have heard that each human year is equivalent to between 7 and 9 years for your dog, but the truth is that this calculation is not at all exact, especially because it does not apply to all dogs equally and because it doesn't let you know what stage of life your dog is in.
More than knowing how old your dog is on the human scale, it is much more important to know the phase he is going through, and one of these, the longest of all, is adulthood.
The time to reach adulthood depends on the breed and even varies between puppies of the same breed, as each one develops differently. differently, at your own pace. What is certain is that females leave the puppy stage faster than males. Although it varies from dog to dog, you can get an estimate of when your dog is no longer a puppy:
- In small breeds a dog between 9 months and one year is considered an adult.
- In medium breeds it is usually between a year and a year and a half.
- In large breeds you will have to wait until 2 years.
- In giant races this period extends between 2 and a half and 3 years.
As you can see, as the size of the dog increases, the longer it takes to reach maturity, but in general, when they are two years old, they are usually considered adults, this is a way of facilitating the calculation.
Of course, this maturity that we are talking about is usually mainly physical, since personality and character, although they should also have been finalized when reaching the respective ages, will depend a lot on the way in which you have raised your dog, the training you have given him, the genetics and the opportunity you have given him to meet all the needs of each stage of growth.
Apart from the calculation that we have already explained, you will also be able to know that your dog has reached adulthood when it stops growing and passes the stage of rebellion that characterizes canine adolescence. Of course, the latter will be achieved with a lot of patience and good training.
We hope this article will be useful to discover if your dog is already an adult.
