You know how people (and some soap operas) compare human life to sands slipping through an hourglass?

It’s actually more like a clock – the epigenetic clock, to be exact.

An epigenetic clock is a biochemical test that can be used to measure age, and is based on DNA methylation levels.

Researchers have used this test to study the lifespan of a range of living creatures, including human beings and dogs.

According to Popular Mechanics, scientists recently studied DNA methylation, or chemical modifications to certain DNA segments, within the genomes of 104 labrador retrievers, all ranging between four weeks and 16 years of age.

It turns out that humans and puppers age in similar ways.

Ultimately, certain regions of both the Labrador and human genome—areas with high rates of mutation—show similar rates of methylation. A dog’s life stages largely sync up with our own; puppies and babies start teething at roughly equivalent ages, for example.

Your dog will reach puberty at around 10 months which explains why they get super energetic at around that time. They will also likely die before turning 20.

The researchers also devised a new way to calculate your dog’s age. We all grew up working it out by multiplying their age in years by seven, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

To calculate the age, you’ll have to multiply the natural logarithm of your pup’s age by 16 and then add 31.

Here’s the equation: 16 x ln(your dog’s age in human years) + 31.

Rather than try and figure that formula out for yourself, you should use the ‘dog age calculator’. Click on this link, scroll down to the midpoint of that page, and you’ll see the live calculator, which looks like this:

If you’re wondering why your dog reaches middle-age at around two, it’s because their epigenetic clock ticks a bit faster than yours, but slows down as they age.

This explains why most pups leave this world when they’re around 12. They’re actually closer to 70 in dog years.

I know that’s probably the last thing in the world that you want to think about, so to end on a happier (and cuter) note, check out the winners of this year’s Dog Photographer of the Year competition.

Speaking of competitions, is your puppy the coolest pet in South Africa?

If so, here’s your chance to prove it. 

[source:popularmechanics]