Calling ALL Dogs!
March 5, 2020 - 3 minutes readThe Dog Aging Project. What’s in a name? After reading the word aging in Dog Aging Project you may be wondering if only particular age groups of dogs can be nominated. Is it a study for puppies? A study for senior dogs? For the middle-aged ones?
The answer is… YES! YES! And YES! 
What about mixed breed dogs? Purebred ones?
YES and YES!
The Dog Aging Project is enrolling companion dogs of ALL ages, ALL sizes, ALL breed backgrounds, and ALL health conditions from every corner of the US. Each dog is unique, and their unique environment, lifestyle, and health history provide important data for our scientific team to analyze.
At the Dog Aging Project, we are focused on learning what factors in a dog’s life contribute to healthy aging. The success of our project depends on including the widest variety of canine companions. Why is this our focus? Because companion dogs are our obsession!
We are studying companion dogs because they share many life experiences with their human companions. Maybe they’re lounging on the couch and sharing snacks. Maybe they’re herding livestock or going on walks. They might even be offering comfort to kids at school or patients in the hospital in their free time. ALL of the dogs involved in our project are living at home with their families and leading normal canine lives.
Companion dogs and their humans have other things in common too. We share adventures together and sometimes even share the same food. We live in the same environment, get exposed to the same toxins, and even develop the same diseases of aging. A companion dog’s lifestyle is so similar to our own that what we discover about healthy aging in dogs can be translated to healthy aging in humans.
The dogs in the Dog Aging Project Pack will help us understand the factors that determine healthy longevity precisely because their life experiences are so diverse. This is why we are committed to studying companion dogs of all ages and from all walks of life. As our project proceeds, we’re building relationships with our participants, both human and canine. We love hearing about the rich variety of experiences you enjoy together, and we gain the most knowledge from the most diverse population of dogs!
Let’s give a big WOOF and HURRAH from the rooftops! We are definitely Calling ALL Dogs!