What to Expect from Dogs in Different Life Stages

When we make new friends, we would like to know about their habits and behaviours to better understand them. The same goes for the man's best friend. That’s right, we’re talking about your dog, that will get old before you know it. It is good to know about each and every life stage to better prepare for what is coming. 

According to research, if you have a purebred dog, they are expected to live up to the average age of 11.9 years. On the other hand, a crossbreed may have an average age of 13.1 years. The other factors that may affect your dog's ageing process include the degree of care, dietary patterns, and genetics. Dogs live through four stages of their life; Puppy, Adolescence, Adulthood, and Senior. Let us go through each of them, so you know what to expect. 

Puppy

From birth till the age of 6 and 18 months, the initial period is considered the puppy stage. Your puppy will be born blind, deaf with an inability to regulate its body temperature. They are as vulnerable and weak as they could be. Therefore, this is the time when you have to take the optimal care for them, and be very particular about their diet. After 2 to 3 weeks of birth, they start seeing and hearing things, and you can easily begin to train them. This is the ideal time to prepare your puppy. 

Before you take them out for a walk with a leash in your hand or socialize with other dogs, make sure that they get to spend the first 8 weeks of their life with their family and siblings. Let them be together in their kennel before you get to have ownership over them. This period is vital for the healthy development of a puppy. 

Adolescence

The dogs hit adolescence anywhere between 6 and 18 months of their life. This is where you need to handle your friend very tactfully and spray and neuter them. The reason being, due to hormonal changes, they might act just like a human teen and show mood swings if not correctly taken care of.  

Your dog's attention span may reduce, and they tend to be cranky and rigid. The stage lasts at around 18 to 24 months if you have a smaller breed, while the large breed dogs may show adolescent behaviour till about 36 months. Ideally, you need to be patient yet consistent when it comes to training during this stage. Being harsh and strict does not help at all. Be polite but consistent to tackle the behavioural issues of your pet. 

Adulthood

Now that your small breed dog is 18 months old, it has grown into an adult. However, large breed owners might have to wait until 3 years to have an adult dog. Overall, your dog must have been streamlined by now, and you enjoy it while playing and walking around. This is an ideal stage to go hiking, playing, running together with your dog. 

Seniors

Your dog will be considered a Senior in the age bracket of 7 and 10 years and beyond. As they grow older quickly, you should cherish every stage of their life. A senior dog develops a grey muzzle, slows down a bit, and needs more medical attention than ever. The average lifespan of larger breeds is shorter (11 to 12 years) than the smaller breeds as they can get up to 20 years, some even more.

This was a brief insight into the various life spans of your dog. It is important to know beforehand to prepare accordingly.