HELPFUL HINTS

By HELOISE

LITTLE ROCK — DEAR READERS: Ever wonder how old your dog is in human years? The old adage to “multiply your dog’s age by seven” is actually incorrect. The truth is that small dogs and large dogs age at different rates. Small dogs will actually live much longer than theirbigger canine friends ... some toy breeds can live up to 20 years.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hasdrawn up a chart that provides an average age calculator. Keep in mind that this is just an average, not an exact scientific formula: DOG AGE = HUMAN YEARS 1 year = 12 years 2 years = 24 years 3 years = 28 years 5 years = 36 years 7 years = 44 years 9 years = 52 years 11 years = 60 years 13 years = 68 years 15 years = 76 years

Some signs of old age are problems with hearing, seeing and loss of teeth. Joint pain is very common in older dogs, but there are lots of new arthritis medications for your best friend. Some signs that your dog might be slowing down are limping, slowness to follow commands and loss of interest in fetching games. Try to keep in tune with your geriatric dog - Fido’s signals will be a good indicator of how he’s feeling - and some days will be better than others. Veterinary care has come a long way in my lifetime. You should be able to keep Fido comfortable well into his old age with a bit of extra care.

DEAR HELOISE: Animal shelters are always happy to get donations of used, clean linens. We always drop off our old bedsheets and towels, and recently, a down quilt that has seen its day. They were thrilled and said the quilt would be used to put animals on after surgery. Talk about recycling!

- Gayle, New York Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or e-mail

HELOISE@CompuServe.com

HomeStyle, Pages 42 on 11/21/2009

Make a comment on this story.