By the age of two, the Labrador DNA was equivalent to a human in their early 40s, rather than the 14-year-old, which the traditional formula would suggest.

However, ageing slows in dogs over time, meaning that by the age of 10, a Labrador is similar to a person aged 68.

This ties in with the long-held formula for calculating the age of dogs, which was developed on the assumption that most canines lived until around 10, while humans lived until around 70.