American dog photographer Amanda Jones has spent decades photographing dogs in her studio, and for some of her clients she did something unusual: she photographed the same dog again, years later, in the same simple setting. The result is Dog Years: Faithful Friends Then & Now, a book of paired portraits showing dogs as puppies or young adults beside portraits of them in old age. The idea grew from her own long-haired dachshund, Lily, who had been photographed as a puppy and who died while the book was being made.
The pictures work because so little changes between frames. The white backdrop, the lighting and often the pose are almost identical, so your eye goes straight to what time has done: a muzzle gone grey, eyes a little cloudier, a body that sits rather than bounces. Some dogs look nearly unchanged after a decade. Others show every year.
Below are thirteen of the pairings, with the ages given for each dog, followed by a short look at what science says about how dogs age and why the old "seven dog years" rule is wrong.
Puppies and seniors, side by side
Briscoe: one year and 10 years
Briscoe opens the series, and he is a good example of a small dog who ages gently. His wiry coat and alert stance barely change across nine years; the main difference is a softer, slightly more settled expression. Small dogs often live well into their teens, so at ten Briscoe is a senior but not an elderly one.
Corbet: two years and 11 years
Corbet's dark coat makes the white hairs around his muzzle and eyes stand out clearly in the later portrait. Greying usually begins on the face, and in black dogs it can be the most visible sign of age. His gaze, though, is just as steady at eleven as it was at two.
Poppy: one year and seven years
Only six years separate Poppy's two portraits, yet the change in her face is noticeable. The long ears and loose skin that make her look so sweet as a youngster have deepened into a heavier, more mournful look. Seven is middle age for many medium-sized dogs, and the pair shows how early some breeds begin to look mature.
Fred: two years and 10 years
Fred's flat face and wrinkles are just as expressive at ten as at two, but the black mask around his muzzle has faded towards grey. Flat-faced breeds often have breathing and eye problems as they get older, so a senior dog like Fred benefits from regular veterinary checks. In the portrait, he looks thoroughly content.
Copper: three years and 10 years
Jones photographed Copper in close-up both times, which turns the pair into a study of a face. Over seven years the folds around his eyes have grown deeper and his expression has softened. It is one of the clearest examples in the series of age showing up in the eyes and jowls rather than the coat.
Pairs who grew old together
Kayden and Brodie: 11 months and five years, then seven and 12 years
Here two dogs share each frame, photographed at the same session both times. In the first portrait one is still a gangly youngster; in the second, both have settled into calm, grey-faced adulthood. Photographs like this capture something owners of multi-dog homes know well: companions often slow down together.
Sydney and Savannah: 16 and five months, then 10 and nine years
Sydney and Savannah were photographed as young dogs, one already more than a year old and one a small puppy, and again almost a decade later. Their tricolour coats have faded around the face, and their poses have gone from bouncy to relaxed. The pair is a reminder that dogs a few months apart in age can look like true contemporaries in later life.
Maddie and Ellie: seven and six years, then 14 and 13 years
Maddie and Ellie are photographed lying head to head, and the later portrait echoes the earlier one almost exactly. At six and seven their black coats are glossy; at thirteen and fourteen their muzzles are white and their eyes look tired but gentle. For larger dogs, reaching their teens is a real achievement, which makes this one of the most moving pairs in the book.
More faces from the series
Audrey: three years and 12 years
Audrey's slender frame and large ears give her an elegant look in both portraits. At twelve her muzzle has paled and her posture is more upright and still, but her lean shape is largely unchanged. Fine-boned dogs like her often keep a youthful silhouette even as their faces show age.
Rufus: six months and 13 years
Rufus spans the longest stretch of the group, from a curly six-month-old puppy to a 13-year-old senior. His coat has thinned and lightened, and the puppy roundness has gone, but his stance is still confident. Thirteen years with the same family is a long and full life for most dogs.
Maddy: five years and 10 years
Maddy was already an adult in her first portrait, so the five years between frames show the transition from prime to senior. The darker studio light used here emphasises the white hairs that have crept across her face. It is a reminder that aging is not only about puppies becoming old dogs; much of the change happens in middle age.
Abigale: four months and eight years
Abigale's puppy portrait shows a small, round-faced youngster still growing into her ears. At eight she is fully grown and alert, with a more defined face. Eight is not old for many dogs, and she shows fewer signs of age than most dogs in the series.
Lily, the dachshund who started it
Lily: eight months and 15 years
Lily was Amanda Jones's own long-haired dachshund, and her two portraits are the emotional heart of the project. The glossy, wide-eyed puppy of the first frame becomes a frail, white-faced fifteen-year-old in the second. Jones has said Lily inspired the series, and Lily died before the book was finished, which gives these images a weight the others do not have.
Fifteen is a good age for a dachshund, a breed that often lives into its early to mid teens. The pairing captures what every dog owner eventually faces: the years go by far faster for our dogs than for us.
How dogs really age
Speaking to the Daily Mail about the series, Jones observed: Some don't seem to age at all, yet others show the signs quite openly in their eyes, their jowls, and their gray hair.
Veterinary science backs up that variety.
The seven-year rule is a myth. Dogs mature much faster than humans in their first year or two and then age more slowly. A common rough guide treats a dog's first year as about 15 human years, the second as about nine, and each year after that as about five. A 2020 study by Tina Wang and colleagues, published in Cell Systems, compared chemical changes in the DNA of Labrador retrievers and humans and found that dogs age on a curve rather than in a straight line, with the fastest change early in life.
Size matters. Small breeds typically live 10 to 15 years and sometimes longer, while giant breeds average roughly 8 to 13 years. Larger dogs also reach their senior years earlier: about 11 for small dogs, 10 for medium, 8 for large and 7 for giant breeds.
The signs to look for include greying or whitening hair, cloudy eyes from cataracts, hearing loss, more sleep, weight gain, stiff joints and changes in toilet habits. Many of these can be eased with veterinary care, a suitable diet and gentle, regular exercise.
Why these photos stay with us
Part of the appeal of Dog Years is simple: the dogs are lovely. But the pairs also compress a whole shared life into two frames. Behind each portrait are years of walks, meals and evenings on the sofa that the photographs never show. If you have a young dog, these images are a gentle nudge to take more pictures now. If your dog is older, they are a reminder that a grey muzzle is a sign of a life well lived together.
Sources: Photographs by Amanda Jones, from her book Dog Years: Faithful Friends Then & Now; quote as given to the Daily Mail (2015); Wikipedia: Aging in dogs (lifespans, senior ages, Wang et al. 2020).
Related:
COMMENTS