For those of you that have lost a pet, it is a very tough time indeed. Often, they have snatched away from us at an age where we don’t even feel that they have had the chance to live really. The dog aging process is one that is unique in many ways. For one, dogs do not follow the same pattern as the rest of the animal kingdom. Usually, the larger the animal, the longer it will live. For example, a lion will outlive a housecat, and a human will outlive a chimpanzee, but for dogs, it is the complete opposite. A tiny little Chihuahua can live for around 18 years old, but a Newfoundland is lucky to reach 10.
It is this conundrum that urged biologist Daniel Promislow to start the Dog Aging Project that is currently being carried out at the University of Washington. The project focuses on learning as much as possible about the dog aging process and using medications to prolong a dog’s life potentially. Currently, the team is awaiting confirmation of a grant application that would allow then to carry out a large study on dog aging that would involve as many as 10,000 dogs across the nation. At the moment they are recruiting dogs from all around the country that is of different sizes, breeds, and ages. To try and get a deeper understanding of the dog aging process the team will determine the genotype of every dog they study as well as measure epigenome, microbiome, and metabolome.
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As part of the ongoing research, the team is also using a compound called Rapamycin to see if this helps dog age better by protecting their cardiovascular health. So far this has been trialed on 25 dogs, and the results are promising with improvements seen in heart function in those that were given the treatment. If the grant is funded, further tests of this kind will be carried out. Promislow is also hoping to investigate as to way inbreeding affects life span and how outbreeding enhances it.
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