Talk:Aging in dogs/GA1

Here are my suggestions for improving this article to meet the GA criteria: When you have those information, code them in according to WP:CIT.
 * "The aging profile of dogs varies according to their adult size (often determined by their breed): - smaller dogs often live over 15 - 16 years, medium and large size dogs typically 10 to 13 years, and some giant dog breeds such as mastiffs, often only 7 to 8 years." - What's with the : - smaller dog...? The punctuation needs fixing.
 * "since the first year or two years representing some 18-25 years" - should specify that first two years of a dog represent 18-25 years of a human.
 * I personally don't think that it's a good idea to link words in the main body to an external link. Probably should put the calculator under "External links"
 * Once again, under "One size fits all", should specify which year is human and which year is for the dog.
 * And once again, probably shouldn't put an external link in the middle of the article for "Size/breed specific calculators"
 * "Emotional maturity occurs, as with humans, over an extended period of time and in stages......and full maturity around 3-4 years, although as with humans learning and refinement continues thereafter." - cite this statement!
 * With the entire Aging Profile section, it seems that there is too many comparisons between dog age and human age. I recommend using more terms like "Emotional maturity", "adulthood", "full maturity", "socio-sexual interest" as you have done in that paragraph, to describe the phases of aging in dogs.
 * These are the sentences that can be reworded in Aging Profile:
 * "popular myth suggests that "one dog year equals seven human years" or the like" - remove "or the like"
 * "which suggests that the first two years equal 10.5 years each, with subsequent years equalling four human years" - which suggests that the first two dog years each equaling to 10.5 human years, with subsequent dog years equalling four human years.
 * "This is more accurate but still fails to allow for size/breed, which is a significant factor" - This is more accurate but still fails to take size and breed into consideration, which is a significant factor.
 * "a one-year-old dog or cat has generally reached its full growth and is sexually mature" - is the mentioning of cat necessary?
 * "In all but large breeds" - In all breeds excluding large ones
 * "small-breed dogs (such as small terriers) then become geriatric at about 11 years" - take out the word "then"
 * "A random-bred dog (also known as a mongrel) has an average life expectancy of 13.2 years in the USA and much of Europe." - cite!
 * Under Sorted by breed, the first sentence should be rephrased. I suggest something like: "An experiment conducted by Michell in 1999 showed these following data." And once again, probably best to not have a external link (Dog Longevity Website) in the main body itself. Use an inline citation, and the link can be accessed under "References".
 * On my monitor, the table appears squashed and cramped. The last digit in the left Exp. column are cut off. Probably divide it into 2 columns instead of 3.
 * Under Factors affecting left expectancy, expand and elaborate more on Diet, it even has a tag there.
 * put [Ref 6] in the very end of the paragraph instead of inside the brackets.
 * "and may develop dietary or skin problems or go deaf." - go deaf? become deaf is more encyclopedic.
 * Try not to leave a gap between the sentence and the citation. Stick them right next to each other.
 * Should not wikilink things that don not have an article.
 * Errm. Illnesses and Behavior, needs and adaptability sections obviously need expanding.
 * Put [ref 9] alongside [ref 8].
 * In Handling aging in dogs, probably not a good idea to start a section with a large quote. Put that quote underneath the list.
 * Once again, don't wikilink things that don't have an article.
 * The list in Handling aging in dogs doesn't sound like an encyclopedia. It sounds like a "how to care for your old dog" guide. Try changing the tone of language to sound more encyclopedic.
 * References 4, 7, 8 and 9 need to be fixed. When citing a website, you need to include these:
 * the author that wrote the information
 * the publisher that published the info
 * a title for the link
 * the date that it is written
 * the date you retrieved the source.

Because there are so many things that need to be improved. I have failed this article. You can nominate it again when the suggested improvements are made. Oidia (talk) 07:06, 24 September 2007 (UTC)