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Knowing your dog's age is not only important to, for example, calculate the equivalence between the years you are with you and your age in "dog years", but in addition, each stage of the dog's life requires a series of care and a specific food.
If your dog has been with you since a puppy, it won't be difficult for you to notice the changes that take place so much in your body, in your size and in your personality. However, there comes a time when the puppy stage ends and the dog becomes an adult, so you should be aware of this important change so that you know how to take care of your dog at this time and in the next stages of its life. Continue reading this PeritoAnimal article to know at what age does a dog become an adult.
What changes happen when you become an adult
As with humans, puppies go through several growth phases from the moment of their birth and there are several stages that they go through before reaching adulthood.
THE adult stage is the stage longer in your puppy's life, in which he finally reaches not only his definitive size, but also what his personality will be, leaving behind the shy and even nervous character that characterizes this period of the puppy and teenager. Also, when you reach adulthood, your puppy will reach sexual maturity.
Having a good relationship with your puppy before it becomes an adult is essential. This implies forming a affective bond with him, as well as giving him the necessary training to educate him and make living together more simple and pleasant for the whole family. that's why, before reaching adulthood, your puppy must have learned the rules that guided its behavior, in addition to being exposed to contact with people outside the family and other puppies in order to optimize its stage of socialization.
Likewise, throughout its adult life the puppy will need a varied diet based on protein, so we recommend that you ask your veterinarian for advice on what is most convenient for your furry friend according to its breed, size and size. your state of health.
At what point does a dog become an adult?
You've certainly heard that each human year is between 7 and 9 years for your dog, but the truth is that this calculation is not at all accurate for knowing the dog's age, especially because it doesn't apply to all dogs in the same way and because does not let you know what stage of life your dog is at.
More than knowing how old your puppy is on the human scale, it's much more important to know the phase he is going through, and one of these, the longest of all, is the adult phase.
The time to reach adulthood depends on the race and it even varies between puppies of the same breed, as each one develops differently, at its own pace. What is certain is that females leave the offspring stage faster than males. Although it varies from dog to dog, you can get an idea of when your dog stops being a puppy:
- In small races a puppy between 9 months and 1 year is considered an adult.
- In middle races it is usually between 1 year to a year and a half.
- In big races will have to wait until 2 years.
- In giant races this period extends between 2 and a half and 3 years.
As you can see, as the size of the dog increases, it will take longer to reach maturity, but generally two years old are usually considered adults, this is a way to make the calculation easier.
This maturity that we talk about is usually mainly physical, since personality and character, although they should also be defined when reaching the respective age, will depend a lot on the way you raised your puppy, the training you gave him, genetics and opportunity that gave you to satisfy all your needs at each stage of growth.
In addition to the calculation we have already explained to you, you will also be able to find out if your puppy has reached adulthood when it stops growing and overcoming the rebellious stage that characterizes canine adolescence. Obviously, the latter will only be possible with a lot of patience and good training.
We hope this article will be useful for you to find out when your puppy becomes an adult.
Also read our article that will help you know if your puppy is going to grow a lot!
