# How do people tell how old stray dogs are?



## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

I'm going to be taking home a new husky in a few days and I wondered if there are so many strays in a shelter, how do they determine how old they are? I guess puppies would be easier to guess because they have physical benchmarks. What about adult dogs?

The shelter had no idea except he was young. If I used Ilya for comparrison, the shelter dog looks like a teenager. He's not as tall or large as Ilya (55 lbs) and weights a little more than 10 lbs less (44 lbs?) than Ilya.

After going to a few husky events.... there were so many sizes for adult huskies. As for the breed standard, Ilya would be within the average (except for slightly floppy ears). So if I used him as the average, it would appear my newly adopted husky may have some growing to do.

Sooooooo, how do people guess their age? Is there a better way?


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## Bones (Sep 11, 2009)

Vets guess by looking at their teeth I think. Not sure it would be easy for the average person to though.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

I know when they're an adult they judge by teeth, but I don't think teeth are the best judge. Jonas had rotten, disgusting teeth at nearly 3 (he had papers stating his birthday when we got him) and my boyfriend's dad's dog has impeccable teeth at 12. I WISH there was a definitive way of telling a dogs age. I have no idea how old Jack or Magpie is and it bothers me slightly.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

There is evidently a very reliable way of telling a dog's age from his eyes, but you need to consult a veterinary opthalmologist. I don't think I want to pay a specialist's fees just to tell how old my dog is, LOL. For some people it might be that important though.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

We base our ages guesses off of teeth and.... activity level I guess. It's not 100%, but it gives us an idea. We usually put something like 4-6 or 8-10... the more clueless we are the broader it gets! Sometimes we just put "adult" LOL


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Willowy said:


> There is evidently a very reliable way of telling a dog's age from his eyes, but you need to consult a veterinary opthalmologist. I don't think I want to pay a specialist's fees just to tell how old my dog is, LOL. For some people it might be that important though.


I do! Tell me more! If I find an opthalmologist I can just tell them I'm interested in finding out their age and they'll know what I'm looking for? I would really honestly love to know how old Jack and Magpie are. Magpie especially because she has been guessed at 18 months and 10 years old and really, I could see either.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Well, blast it, I KNOW I read about it somewhere. Somewhere scientific and reasonably reliable, like JAVMA or Dog Fancy or the like. But I can't find anything using Google! Bah.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Well, don't worry about it, I'm interested enough to call around!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

ThoseWordsAtBest said:


> Well, don't worry about it, I'm interested enough to call around!


Excellent! Let us know what you find out. I'm not sure if there are any veterinary opthalmologists in this state anyway.


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## doginthedesert (Jun 18, 2010)

I am interested enough to pay a specialist too! Our dog was estimated at 1.5 years at the shelter, and the vet said- "yeah, he seems about that at least." I have always thought he could be a good bit older than that based on how he acts. Family in town this week, but next week I will have more time to look into it.


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## ThoseWordsAtBest (Mar 18, 2009)

Willowy said:


> Excellent! Let us know what you find out. I'm not sure if there are any veterinary opthalmologists in this state anyway.


We're lucky enough to have Michigan State University not too far from here, and a couple opthamologists in the immediate area. I think if ANY place wouild know about it I imagine Michigan State would.


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

hmmmmmm...... there is a very good veterinary school about 200 miles from where I am. Maybe I could incite a guess his age contest down there on a boring weekend instead of visiting dog shelters. LOL. I could get some sort of consensus. 

I thought he might just be small for his size due to malnutrition? He's a bit skinny in the hips but I don't think his ribs are showing....or at least it is hard to tell under all that fur. 
He's still wearing the collar he came in with and it looks like he was tethered outside because there is a clasp still attached to his collar.


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