How old is your Maltese in human years?
Maltese dogs are famously long-lived and maintain their youthful appearance for years.
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Based on the UCSD epigenetic aging study (Wang et al., 2020) and breed-specific lifespan data. Estimates only — your vet knows Your dog best.
About Maltese aging
The average Maltese lives between 12 and 17 years, with 15 years being typical. Maltese dogs are famously long-lived and maintain their youthful appearance for years.
Life stages for Malteses
Based on a typical lifespan of 15 years, here's roughly when your Maltese enters each life stage:
- Puppy: birth to 6 months — rapid physical and mental development.
- Junior: 6 to 12 months — adolescence, social maturation.
- Adult: 1 year to ~8 years — peak health and energy.
- Mature: ~8 to 11 years — early signs of aging may emerge.
- Senior: 11 to 15 years — slower pace, more rest, extra care.
- Golden years: 15+ years — every day is a gift.
How we calculate Maltese age
Our calculator uses the UCSD epigenetic formula published by Wang et al. in 2020, which maps dog age to human age based on DNA methylation patterns. Breed-specific lifespan data comes from the American Kennel Club and peer-reviewed veterinary studies. For a Maltese specifically, this gives you a more personalized result than generic calculators.
Maltese age chart in human years
This table is calculated for the Maltese's own 15-year average lifespan, so the life-stage column differs from a generic dog age chart. Human-year figures use the epigenetic formula; the AAHA column shows the size-adjusted method for comparison.
| Maltese age | Human years (epigenetic) | Human years (AAHA) | Life stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 31 | 15 | Junior |
| 2 years | 42 | 24 | Adult |
| 3 years | 49 | 28 | Adult |
| 4 years | 53 | 32 | Adult |
| 5 years | 57 | 36 | Adult |
| 6 years | 60 | 40 | Adult |
| 7 years | 62 | 44 | Adult |
| 8 years | 64 | 48 | Mature |
| 10 years | 68 | 56 | Mature |
| 12 years | 71 | 64 | Senior |
| 14 years | 73 | 72 | Senior |
| 16 years | 75 | 80 | Golden years |
Rows stop at 17 years, the upper end of the reported range for this breed. Individual dogs vary — these are population averages, not a prediction for your dog.
How the Maltese compares
At an average of 15 years, the Maltese sits 2.6 years above the 12.4-year average across all 180 breeds we track, and 1.4 years above the 13.6-year average for the 49 small breeds in the dataset. It ranks joint #2 of 49 among small breeds by average lifespan (tied with 3 others), and lives longer than roughly 96% of the breeds we list.
Maltese age: frequently asked questions
How old is a 1-year-old Maltese in human years?
A 1-year-old Maltese is roughly 31 in human years. The UCSD epigenetic formula (16 × ln(age) + 31) puts the first year of a dog's life far ahead of a human's first year, which is why a one-year-old dog is already a young adult rather than a toddler.
How old is a 7-year-old Maltese in human years?
A 7-year-old Maltese is about 62 in human years by the epigenetic method. The older "multiply by seven" rule of thumb would say 49, and the size-adjusted AAHA method gives about 44 for a small dog — the three methods disagree because dogs age fastest early in life, not at a constant rate.
What is the average lifespan of a Maltese?
Malteses live about 15 years on average, with a typical range of 12 to 17 years. Smaller dogs generally have longer average lifespans than larger ones, so the senior threshold arrives comparatively late.
When is a Maltese considered a senior dog?
Using the last quarter of the average lifespan as the senior threshold, a Maltese enters its senior years at roughly 11 years old — about 69 in human terms. Before that, the mature phase runs from around 8 to 11 years.
How much does a Maltese weigh on average?
An adult Maltese averages about 3 kg (7 lb), which places it in the small size class. Size class matters for age conversion because the AAHA size-adjusted method applies a different yearly rate to each class.
At what age does a Maltese reach the human equivalent of 60?
The epigenetic curve crosses human age 60 at about 6.1 dog years — the same for every breed, because the formula is based on DNA methylation rather than breed. What differs per breed is how much of its expected 15-year lifespan remains at that point.
Why do different Maltese age calculators give different results?
Because they use different models. This page reports the UCSD epigenetic clock from Wang et al. (2020), which maps dog age to human age through DNA methylation patterns. The AAHA method instead adjusts by body size, and the "×7" rule is a folk approximation with no research basis. For a Maltese at 10 years the epigenetic method gives about 68 human years.
How old is a 2-year-old Maltese, and a 5-year-old?
A 2-year-old Maltese is roughly 42 in human years and a 5-year-old is about 57. The gap between those two ages is smaller than the gap between birth and age one, because the aging curve is logarithmic — it rises steeply at first and then flattens. Across a full 15-year lifespan a Maltese reaches roughly 74 human years.
Similar breeds
Compare Maltese aging with other breeds
Lifespan is the single biggest factor in how a dog's age maps to human years. These breeds make useful comparisons for a Maltese: