Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Converting Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age
- How to Convert Your Australian Shepherd`s Age to Human Age
- How Long Do Australian Shepherds Live in Human Years?
- Your Australian Shepherd`s Age to Human Age (UCSD Method)
- How Old Are You in Australian Shepherd Years?
- Conclusion on Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age
Converting Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age
A very long time ago, people thought that one year in a dog`s life was equal to 9 human years. A record of this assumption could be found on a 1268 inscription on the floor of Westminister Abby in the United Kingdom.
Then, an update happened, and people started believing that one year in a dog`s life was equivalent to 7 human years.
However, if you think about it really well, converting your dog`s age to its human age by multiplying your dog`s age by 7 or by 9 does not make any sense.
To debunk the 1 dog-year to 7 human-years myth, let us take a 1-year-old Australian Shepherd as an example. A one-year-old Australian Shepherd is mature enough to make puppies. However, a seven-year-old human is nowhere close to being capable of having babies.
The moral of this is that the relationship between aging in Australian Shepherds and aging in humans is not simple. In scientific terms, the aging relationship between Australian Shepherds and humans is not linear. So, you cannot just convert your Australian Shepherd`s age to its equivalent human age by just multiplying by a single number.
You need a special table or calculator to convert your Australian Shepherds age to its human age. This article provides you with the table/calculator that you need for this conversion.
A Brief History of the Science behind Dog Age to Human Age Conversion
In 1953, a French researcher by the name A. Lebeau published a paper to show that the relationship between a dog`s age and a human`s age is not constant over the lifespan of the dog. Lebeau`s paper was titled “L`age du Chien et celui de l`Homme. Essai de statistique sur la mortalite canine“ (The age of the Dog and that of the Man. Canine Mortality Statistical Essay).
To convert a dog`s age to its human age, Lebeau divided the stages of a dog`s life roughly into puberty, adulthood, old age, and end of life. He then proposed a series of numbers (multipliers) that can be used to multiply a dog at each of these different life stages to obtain the dog`s equivalent human age. This means there is a multiplier for converting a dog`s age at puberty to its equivalent human age, a different multiplier for converting a dog`s age at adulthood to its human age, and so on.
Building on Lebeau`s work, scientists also realized that one size does not fit all when it comes to converting a dog`s age to its equivalent human age. This is because small-sized dog breeds live longer than giant-sized dog breeds. Hence, smaller dog breeds age slower than giant breeds. Thus converting a small-sized dog breed age to its human age requires a formula that is different from the formula for a giant-sized breed.
Therefore, in 1997, researchers from Purdue University developed a dog age to human age conversion method that extended Lebeau`s work. Their method took dog breed size into account in converting a dog`s age to its human age equivalent.
In this article, we have developed a dog-age-to-human-age calculator and table that lets you convert your Australian Shepherd`s age to its human age based on the method developed by Purdue University veterinarians.
Also, recently in 2020, researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) developed what they called “a better method” for converting a dog`s age to its human age.
These scientists at UCSD compared the DNAs of humans and the DNAs of Labrador Retrievers at different ages to develop a mathematical relationship between a dog`s age and a human`s age.
In this article, we have also developed a table and a calculator that lets you convert your Australian Shepherd`s age to its human age based on the method developed by the scientists from UCSD.
Finally, we developed our method and its calculator that lets your convert your human age to your Australian Shepherd`s age. You are definitely not as ‘old’ as you think (in Australian Shepherd`s years).
In summary, this article contains:- Australian Shepherd-age-to-human-age calculator based on the method developed by Purdue University Researchers.
- Australian Shepherd-age-to-human-age calculator based on the method developed by UCSD Researchers.
- Human-age-to-Australian Shepherd-age calculator based on the method developed by us.
How to Convert Your Australian Shepherd`s Age to Human Age
In 1997, researchers from Purdue University developed a method for converting a dog`s age to its human age. Their method was based on the 1953 work of the French Veterinarian, A. Lebeau that we discussed above.
Researchers from Purdue University took Lebeau`s work further by taking into account two important factors to develop a more accurate method for converting a dog`s age into its human equivalent age:
- The size of the dog: Smaller dog breeds live longer than larger breed dogs
- The lifespan of the dog: Dog breeds that live longer lives will age slower than dog breeds that live shorter lives
The average lifespan of the Australian Shepherd is 9.0 years.
Australian Shepherds are medium-sized dogs. Australian Shepherds weigh 40 to 65 pounds.
The method developed by the Purdue University veterinarian researchers took into account the lifespan and size of Australian Shepherd in converting Australian Shepherd age to human age.
The researchers used data on the lifespan and weight of 5,608 mixed breed dogs and 17,927 purebred dogs to develop their method for converting the ages of dogs (of different breed sizes and lifespans ) to their equivalent human ages.
The calculator below lets you convert your Australian Shepherd`s age to its human age based on the Purdue University method. Just enter your Australian Shepherd`s age in the calculator and it will compute your Australian Shepherd`s human age. If you do not know your Australian Shepherd`s exact age, enter an approximate age in the calculator.
Also, the table below shows how old your Australian Shepherd is in human years based on the method developed by the researchers.
Note that your Australian Shepherd`s human age changes day by day. Therefore, always check back to use the calculator to find your Australian Shepherd`s up-to-date human age.
Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age Calculator (Purdue Uni. Method)
Below is a Australian Shepherd age to human age calculator that is based on the methods developed by researchers from Purdue University.
The calculator will tell your Australian Shepherd`s human age based on your Australian Shepherd`s dog birthday. Also, the calculator will tell you which day is your Australian Shepherd`s human birthday! Try it out!
| Australian Shepherd Age (Years) | Human Age (Years) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 14 |
| 2 | 21 |
| 3 | 26 |
| 4 | 32 |
| 5 | 37 |
| 6 | 42 |
| 7 | 46 |
| 8 | 50 |
| 9 | 54 |
| 10 | 58 |
| 11 | 62 |
| 12 | 66 |
| 13 | 71 |
| 14 | 75 |
| 15 | 80 |
| 16 | 85 |
How Long Do Australian Shepherds Live in Human Years?
The average lifespan of the Australian Shepherd is 9.0 years. In human years, the Australian Shepherd lives for 54 years.
How Old is 1-year-old Australian Shepherd in Human Years?
A 1-year old Australian Shepherd is 14 years old in human years.
How Old is 2-year-old Australian Shepherd in Human Years?
A 2-year old Australian Shepherd is 21 years old in human years.
How Old is 3-year-old Australian Shepherd in Human Years?
A 3-year old Australian Shepherd is 26 years old in human years.
How Old is 5-year-old Australian Shepherd in Human Years?
A 5-year old Australian Shepherd is 37 years old in human years.
Your Australian Shepherd`s Age to Human Age (UCSD Method)
The limitation of this method is that it was derived from a study of Labrador Retrievers. This method is accurate if applied to a dog breed with a similar lifespan as the Labrador Retrievers. Labrador Retrievers have a lifespan of 12 years.
In 2020, the researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) developed a method for converting a dog`s age to its human age is based on what is called “epigenetics”. Epigenetics is the study of “how the way an animal lives changes the animal`s DNA”.
Using the methods of epigenetics, one can learn about a person`s life or a dog`s life simply by ‘scrolling’ through the DNA of the dog or the human (take that Instagram!).
With the techniques of epigenetics, scientists can look at a man`s, a dog`s, or a mouse`s DNA to figure out how old the man, the dog, or the mouse is, without anyone telling the scientist when the man, dog, or mouse was born. This is pretty cool.
This is kind of similar to counting the teeth of a horse to determine the age of a horse or counting the rings in a tree to determine the age of the tree, etc. However, the techniques used in epigenetics are way more accurate than crude methods of estimating age by counting teeth or rings. This is because the methods of epigenetics look at a dog`s DNA.
Furthermore, one can match the signatures of aging seen in a dog`s DNA to the signature of aging seen in a human`s DNA to convert a dog`s age to its equivalent human age.
According to the researchers, converting a dog age to human age makes sense because dogs (especially Australian Shepherds) and humans live together and share similar lifestyles. Our Australian Shepherds are exposed to the same environment as we do. We treat our Australian Shepherds as we treat ourselves.
We take our Australian Shepherds to the animal doctors just as we humans take ourselves to doctors for health checkups or treatment when sick. We give our Australian Shepherds vaccines and medications, human-style. In short, Australian Shepherds have similar lifestyles as humans do. Therefore, a dog`s life and human life will definitely mirror each other.
No other animal species has such an intimate relationship with humans as dogs do. Dogs and humans have come a long way together.
Furthermore, dogs and humans go through similar well-defined life stages: birth, baby stage, young age stage, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Therefore, converting a dog`s age to a human age is not a wild idea.
Based on their study of 104 Labrador Retrievers, the UCSD researchers came up with a neat formula for converting dog age to human age. Interestingly, this formula applies to aging in mice as well, and the researcher believes that the formula will apply to all dog breeds, and just not the Labrador dog breed that they used in their study.
The formula they came up with is this: human_age = 16 ln(dog_age) + 31
Use the calculator or table below to convert your Australian Shepherd`s age to its human age based on this formula. For the calculator, simply enter your Australian Shepherd age in the calculator to get its human age and its human birthday.
Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age Calculator (UCSD Method)
Below is a Australian Shepherd age to human age calculator that is based on the methods developed by researchers from UCSD.
| Australian Shepherd Age (Years) | Human Age (Years) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 31 |
| 2 | 42 |
| 3 | 48 |
| 4 | 53 |
| 5 | 56 |
| 6 | 59 |
| 7 | 62 |
| 8 | 64 |
| 9 | 66 |
| 10 | 67 |
| 11 | 69 |
| 12 | 70 |
| 13 | 72 |
| 14 | 73 |
| 15 | 74 |
| 16 | 75 |
| 17 | 76 |
| 18 | 77 |
How Old Are You in Australian Shepherd Years?
Since new research from UCSD has given us the formula to convert Australian Shepherd age to human equivalent age, then it is possible to reverse this formula to convert human age to Australian Shepherd age. Therefore, here, we have developed the reverse formula that allows you to convert your age to your Australian Shepherd`s equivalent age. Enter your age below to calculate your age in Australian Shepherd years.
Human Age to Australian Shepherd Age Calculator
| Your Human Age (Years) | Australian Shepherd Age Equivalent (Months) |
|---|---|
| 2 | 0 years, 1 months |
| 6 | 0 years, 2 months |
| 10 | 0 years, 3 months |
| 14 | 0 years, 4 months |
| 18 | 0 years, 5 months |
| 22 | 0 years, 6 months |
| 26 | 0 years, 8 months |
| 30 | 0 years, 11 months |
| 34 | 1 years, 2 months |
| 38 | 1 years, 6 months |
| 42 | 1 years, 11 months |
| 46 | 2 years, 6 months |
| 50 | 3 years, 3 months |
| 54 | 4 years, 2 months |
| 58 | 5 years, 4 months |
| 62 | 6 years, 11 months |
| 66 | 8 years, 10 months |
| 70 | 11 years, 5 months |
| 74 | 14 years, 8 months |
| 78 | 18 years, 10 months |
| 82 | 24 years, 2 months |
Conclusion on Australian Shepherd Age to Human Age
As your Australian Shepherd grows older, you will start seeing changes in your Australian Shepherd. Some of the common signs of aging in Australian Shepherd are Fading of Australian Shepherd Coat Color, Graying of hair, health problems like hearing loss and loss of sight, lower activity level, bad Australian Shepherd behavior like having accidents in the house, irritability, etc.
When your Australian Shepherd starts to show signs of aging, make sure you empathize with your Australian Shepherd. You may also consider getting health insurance for your Australian Shepherd so that you can better handle the cost associated with taking care of a senior Australian Shepherd.