How Long is 3 Months in a Dog’s Life? Your Guide to Your Dog’s Age

You’ve probably heard before that each human year is equal to that of 7 years for a dog. Well, contrary to popular belief, this is actually untrue! The following post outlines the actual age of a three-month puppy, the development stage that they should be at, and a guide on how to tell the different ages of your dog.

Table of Contents

• How Old is A Three-Month Puppy in Human Years?
• Can you Walk a 3 Month Old Puppy?
• Where Should a 3-Month-Old Puppy be in its Development?
  • Semi Independence: They Should Only be Left on Their Own for Short Periods
  • House Training will Get Easier
  • Teething Should Have Begun by 3-Month-Stage
  • Appearance of Possessive Traits
• How Old is a Puppy in Human Years?
• How Can You Calculate How Old a Dog Is?
  • Dog Age Calculator
• What Dog Breeds Have Long Average Lifespans?
• How Do I Help my Dog to Live a Healthy Life
• 3 Months in Dog Years? Not quite 1=7!
• 3 Months in Dog Years – FAQs

How Old is A Three-Month Puppy in Human Years?

A three-month-old puppy is equivalent to around four human years. This is the age at which puppies are usually weaned from their litter and handed off to their new families.

Can you Walk a 3 Month Old Puppy?

When puppies are young, it is important not to over-exercise them. Too much activity may result in exhaustion or joint damage. Young puppies need lots of rest and sleep to help promote growth.

The volume of exercise your puppy needs is also dependent on their breed. All puppies should have at least one to two walks per day, to stretch their legs and promote bone growth.

3-month-old puppies should have approximately 15 minutes of exercise per day, which should lead to 20 minutes at 4 months, and so on.

Where Should a 3-Month-Old Puppy be in its Development?

The following is a guide through the stages at which your 3-month-old puppy should be:

• Semi Independence
• Easier House Training
• Teething
• Start of Possessiveness

Semi Independence: They Should Only be Left on Their Own for Short Periods

Puppies at this age have just come from a litter where they would have constantly been surrounded by their brothers and sisters. It can be a big change for them when they leave the litter.

It is best to slowly increase the length of time that your pup is left on its own.

If you begin with 10 minutes after a few days of having them, and then slowly increase this as time goes on. Try not to make a fuss about leaving or coming back in because this will normalize this.

It can be difficult to do this if you need to leave for work and there’s nobody else at home. But you could always invest in an interactive puppy camera. This is set up to connect to your phone so that you can see what they are doing while you are out.

This will enable you to interact with your dog while you are out by talking to them and praising them. This will help to ease their nerves and make it a little easier for you to leave the house in the morning if you talk to them on your commute to work!

Adult dogs can be left on their own for much longer, but this needs to be built up. If you work outside of the house and you plan on getting a puppy, it is important that you have a plan for someone to be able to come and check on them while you are away.

House Training will Get Easier

At this early age, it is essential you make sure you’ve lots of puppy pads to hand for all their accidents. It is best to begin their housetraining from the very start as it can take a while, depending on your puppy. Some puppies pick it up quite quickly while some just take that little bit longer.

Whether you like it or not, accidents are going to happen, so its best to be prepared for when they do. Puppy pads are great because they help to eliminate the odor which is left behind by puppy urine.

Patience is key when you’re potty training your puppies, and make sure that you keep reinforcing their good behavior with praise and treats. It is a good idea to have odor removal spray to hand for accidents where they’re not supposed to go.

Using a wet cloth or disinfectant wont suffice in these situations. While you might think the smell has been masked, they will still be able to smell where they went last and think that it’s okay to go there again. This is not ideal if the spot they’ve chosen is carpet or a rug – mind you, anywhere that isn’t a puppy training pad!

Teething Should Have Begun by 3-Month-Stage

The main phase of teething usually begins at about 4 weeks old. So at 3 months, be prepared for them to bite you!

When they are at the 3-moth-stage, they will chew at just about anything.

It is best to have a good few chew toys scattered around them at all times to prevent unwanted chewing of your shoes or anything else they can get their paws (I mean teeth) on!

Make sure you praise them if they chew on the correct toys or teething rings, so that this behavior is reinforced.

Teething rings or other chew toys that are designed to be frozen are excellent for puppies at this age. They are safety sealed to ensure they don’t crack, and the cold temperature is brilliant to reduce any inflammation they may be experiencing in their gums, proving relief from the pain.

Appearance of Possessive Traits

It is quite typical for puppies of this age to get quite possessive, but there are ways to counteract this behavior.

Take away a toy that they are playing with when they are playing with them, just for a few seconds, then return the toy to them with praise. It is also good to practice this with food.

This will hugely help to prevent your pup from becoming possessive.

How Old is a Puppy in Human Years?

The American Veterinary Medical Association has broken down dog years into an easy guide.

The first year of a dog’s life is the time they do the most growing, and mature to the equivalence of approximately 15 human years.

The second year of a dog’s life, their growth slows down, and is equal to approximately 9 human years.

Once a dog reaches two years old, each human year a dog will age approximately 5 years. As the years progress, this then changes depending on your dog’s size, with larger dogs aging quicker than smaller dogs because size plays an important factor in determining their growth.

Below is an easy-to-follow table outlining what age your dog is in human years, relative to their size:

Dog Size (Using Average weight fo breed)	Small (<9.5kg)	Medium (9.5-22kg)	Large (23kg+)
Dog Age in Years	Equivalent human age	Equivalent human age	Equivalent human age
1	15	15	15
2	24	24	24
3	28	28	28
4	32	32	32
5	36	36	36
6	40	42	45
7	44	47	50
8	48	51	55
9	52	56	61
10	56	60	66
11	60	65	72
12	64	69	77
13	68	74	82
14	72	78	88
15	76	83	93
16	80	87	120

How Can You Calculate How Old a Dog Is?

The above table is based on a few different factors, which are mainly physical. A 1-year-old dog is considered to be the equivalent of a 15-year-old teenager due to the fact that all of their teeth have developed, they have excellent strength, and are quite energetic. They have also reached or are approaching sexual maturity.

As they get older, their teeth start to change due to wear and tear, making them more susceptible to illnesses and sicknesses, just as elderly humans experience in old age too. As dogs get older you see them suffer from similar ailments to humans, such as arthritis, cloudy eyes, loose skin, and gray hair.

Dog Age Calculator

Age of Dog	Human equivalency	Indicator(s)
8 weeks	3- 4 years	All of their baby teeth have finished growing
7 months	8- 10 years	All permanent teeth have completely grown
1- 2 years	15- 24 years	Their teeth begin to become more dull and yellow
3- 5 years	28- 36years	Wear and tear of their teeth with plaque build-up becomes very common
5- 10 years	36- 66 years	Teeth and gums may begin to show signs of disease
10- 15 years	56- 93 years	Their teeth become well worn down, with lots of plaque. Some of their teeth may even begin to fall out

It has not yet been discovered why larger breeds of dog tend to age faster than that of smaller breeds. A great illustration of this is when comparing the life expectancy of a Great Dane (some only 6 years) versus a Chihuahua (max 20 years). When compared to that of other species, it is quite uncommon that smaller breeds (such as rodents or small birds) would outlive larger species of animal (whales, elephants).

So, for some unknown reason, smaller breeds seem to outlive their larger counterparts due to smaller dogs having a slower aging process.

What Dog Breeds Have Long Average Lifespans?

The following is a list of breeds (apart from the Chihuahua) that seem to have a longer average life expectancy:

• Maltese (females tend to live approximately 1 year longer than their male counterparts) – 15 years
• Toy Poodle – 18 years
• Jack Russell Terrier – 18 years
• Shih Tzu – 16 years
• Australian Shepherd – 15 years
• Beagle – 15 years
• Pekingese – 15 years
• Dachshund – 16 years

How Do I Help my Dog to Live a Healthy Life

While all dogs are different, there’s no method for improving their genetic predispositions to sickness.

There are many ways you can help your dog to lead a healthy life and improve their chances of living a long, healthy life both physically and mentally.

Making sure your dog receives a well-balanced diet of food they enjoy is essential to ensuring they receive all the nutrition they require to keep their muscles and bones as strong and healthy as they can.

Here are some foods you might want to feed your dog, but that you should read about first:

• Can Dogs Eat Guava
• Can Dogs Eat Black Rice
• Can Dogs Eat Yucca
• Spicy Food For Dogs
• Is Cake Bad For Dogs
• Can Dogs Eat Olives
• Are Edamame Beans Safe for Dogs

3 Months in Dog Years? Not quite 1=7!

I hope this has helped you understand which stage your little pooch is at in its development.

It is such a young time in their lives, so how you treat them at this age will pave the way to how they view the world and how they trust people.

So make it a loving foundation!

3 Months in Dog Years – FAQs