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How do vets estimate a dog's age? What signs do they look for?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | unspayed | 23 lbs

How can you tell the age of a dog?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on November 26th, 2018

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Estimating age in a dog is based on a lot of factors such as the teeth. It is not possible to evaluate this in pictures. This would require an examination but keep in mind that even then, it would only be an estimation of the age. She is adorable! Best of luck!

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    Answered By Jeffrey Milner

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 5th, 2018

    At a veterinary hospital, when we are presented with animals of unknown age, it is truly a best guess scenario without some additional diagnostics. We look at their teeth, checking for how many are present, if they're any juvenile teeth still remaining, and the level of tartar build-up / gingivitis. If an animal was living on the street for a long time, often we may be seeing advanced dental disease or a loss of teeth. However, this is because they were not cared for, and as a result, should be taken into consideration when estimating the age. Another thing that gives us an idea is the appearance of the eyes. Both iris atrophy and nuclear sclerosis are age-related changes, that we generally associate only with dogs 8 years or older. You can obtain pictures of both of these conditions through a simple search. Hope this helps.

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