Tuesday, January 12, 2010

What's Your Dogs RealAge?

You may have heard of a website called RealAge.Com. You can fill out a questionnaire about your lifestyle, eating habits, how healthy you are, etc. and at the end it will calculate your REAL age according to your good and bad habits. Well, now you can go to Dogage.com and fill out a questionnaire on your dog to see what his "Realage" is, the "biological age"

I did one on Happy. In real time, human years, he is about to turn 13 on March 14.  Calculated, for "dog years", he is equal to 74 in human years.  According to Dogage.com he is actually 54.8. Supposedly, that is 21.2 years younger than the average DogAge for Happy's breed, the Gordon Setter.  It said that was very good and that I was a good caregiver. (Happy could have told you that!)

My Veterinarian informed us that Happy was as healthy as he could be for a dog his age. So I knew what kind of result I should get. It was right on. At the end, not only does it give you the Realage, but it lists the things that add to, or take away from, the years your dog should have, for his or her breed type. Apparently those chicken nuggets we've been eating are worse for me than him. He got the better score!

As usual, do not use this site for diagnosis, but yet as a means to see where your dog stands and what you can do to improve his or her chances of having a long and healthy life. Consult your own veterinarian before changing your pets diet or life style.

2 comments:

  1. I don't know Karen, I ran 15 year old Ginger through the drill and it said she was 60.9. She seems (and acts) like a little arthritic 80 YO lady. Hope Happy stays well and enjoys his "Golden Years" which my 99 YO mother said was bunk.

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  2. There are dogs that are older than they should be, or younger than they should be, I'm sure. Dogage.com is only estimating the age, going by the questions and answers we provide. I do wonder, however, if my Vet would agree with Happy's results. I am not putting all my eggs in one basket, but I think just answering those questions, gives a person an idea of what's important. Especially for first time dog owners. I take the advice, but do what I think is best in the end. One point; they deducted time from Happy because he gets a small amount of table scraps. I'm pretty sure Happy is okay with that, as am I.

    I wonder if anyone else has taken the dogage.com test?

    As for your Mom's comment, I must concur! God Bless her for speaking her mind. Thanks to her for her comment.

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