What is the difference between a mature, senior, and geriatric dog? - Prestige Animal Hospital
Sure. We generally call mature dogs adult dogs. We tend to keep it simple and bulk them under seven, between three and seven years or two and seven years old. Now, again, it all depends on the size and breed of your dog. But a senior pet may be between seven to 10, or even in big dogs, between six and seven. And then you get to the geriatric pets who tend to have more issues like arthritis, are more fragile and slowing down, and who have different needs than your mature and senior pets.
What is the difference between a mature, senior, and geriatric dog? - Animal Hospital of Statesville
Great question. So the general definition is where the dog is in their life. Our mature dog is no longer a spring chicken, but they are mature, so, for example, a small breed dog may be between the ages of five to seven. A senior dog for a smaller breed (because they tend to live a little longer) would be about 10 to 13. And then our geriatric would be more like 15 to 18. So I know I didn't align those up precisely, but that’s the basic timeline.
Our mature, large or giant breed dogs would be more like three to five years old. And so you think about a three-year-old being young, but in a giant breed dog, that lifespan might be 9 to 10 years, so that would be mature. The senior would be more like the six to eight years old, and then the geriatric is 9 to 10 or 11.