How do you know how old is a dog??

Question

I have a dog that is a Basset hound / beagle mix.The vet sead that he is between 2 to 3 years old.

My family thinks he's between 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 years old.

How do you know. thanks

Answer 1

usually by dogs teeth. vet does that, and its the most common way

Answer 2

Unless you know for sure there is no real way to tell. A vet can look at their teeth and guess at it. I mean it would be alittle obvious if they are not as active and are graying around their muzzle. I think that you should listen to the vet and if you think that he has not told you the correct age then go to another vet and see if they come up with the same thing.

Good Luck!!!!

Answer 3

they go by teeth your vet knows wat hes taking about unless he has no teeth lol my neighbor just adopted a dog with no teeth

Answer 4

the vet is probably closer. they look at build-up on teeth\

Answer 5

You can never know for sure in less you know the dogs date a birth. So in less you have that piece of info, it's all guess work.

A good way to make that guess is to look at the dogs teeth. With age comes wear and discoloration. So the more yellow and the more worn the teeth are, the older the dog. The whiter and sharper the teeth the younger the dog.

It's not an exact science though, as there are other factors that effect the condition of the dogs teeth. Some strays will eat rocks and other hard objects resulting in a young dog with really worn teeth, or a stray doesn't have someone or something keeping his teeth clean, so a young dog could have very yellow teeth.

So there's no really way to get 100% accurate age, but you can usually get a ball park with looking at the teeth.

Answer 6

Vets usually guess the age of a dog based on the look of the dog's teeth, but that is not a completely accurate way of guessing.  if you looked at the teeth of my dog, you would guess she is 2 years old, but she is 4 1/2.  Her teeth are really clean and white from eating raw meaty bones.

I generally guess the age of a dog based on its physical condition, and that includes muscle tone, stance, gait, coat condition, grey hairs...  This is also a very inaccurate way to guess.

So, I guess the age of your dog is anybody's guess!  I'd go with the vet over your family on this though unless they have some actual history on the dog.

Answer 7

The vet can usually tell my their teeth, weight & size.

Answer 8

A lot of people tell that by looking at the teeth or eyes of the dog, though sometimes it is not always correct.