The Dog Aging Project

The Dog Aging Project is an innovative initiative that brings together a community of dogs, owners, veterinarians, researchers, and volunteers to carry out the most ambitious canine science project in the world. Our work is centered on two fundamental goals: understanding how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging and intervening to increase healthspan, the period of life spent free from disease. Dogs truly are science’s best friends. Though they age more rapidly than humans, they get the same diseases of aging, have a rich genetic make-up, and share our environment. By studying aging in dogs, we can more quickly expand our knowledge of the aging process not just in dogs but also in humans. The Dog Aging Project will follow tens of thousands of companion dogs for ten years in order to identify the biological and environmental factors that maximize health and longevity.