Dr. Amanda Tinkle, project manager of the Dog Aging Project, is back to share some exciting updates about this massive canine health study design to help unlock the key to increasing the “healthspan” of our dogs.  Based on notes and feedback from “citizen scientists” who have enrolled their dogs in the program, Dr. Tinkle and her colleagues noticed comments and concerns about cognitive canine decline.  She chats with Karen and Jean (both owners of senior dogs) about the project’s new area of focus specifically on senior dogs,

Ironically, the Dog Aging Project didn’t set out to specially focus on senior dogs, rather its goal is to study how dogs age.  To date, thousands of dog-lovers have turned into citizen-scientists to record and share information about their dogs’ lifestyle, habits, nutrition, general health and behavior.  As Dr Tinkle and her colleagues continue pouring through information shared by dog owners, other areas of focus will emerge.

Dr. Tinkle and her colleagues still are actively enrolling dogs of all ages, from all across the United States, including purebred and mixed breed dogs, to join the Dog Aging Project.  They are especially interested in large breed, active dogs (agility, working dogs, etc.) and dogs from the mid-west and south-east.   Poppy is very proud to be dog number 31, 934 in the program.   Join this important effort and nominate your dog at dogagingproject.org