James Gorman writes for The New York Times about what we can learn from the ways dogs age. Scientists are looking at how dogs age as a way to better understand how we age and to help us improve the way we age. Yes, there are similarities!
The similarities between the aging process for dogs and human beings appear from the get-go. Dogs act differently as adolescents than they do as newborns or elders. As “teenagers,” they are harder to train and less willing to respond to a command.
A dog’s DNA also changes as it ages. The process, methylation, does not change a dog’s genes, but it does change the level of gene activity, as is the case with people. Studying the DNA of dogs to see why some live a long life could help us understand why some of us live longer than others.
Dogs’ personalities also change over time, according to a study of labrador retrievers, published in Nature. Much like us, they tend to mellow in their dotage. They move around less. They are less anxious. And, they tend to be easier to get along with.
Perhaps most interesting, some dogs–in this case, Border collies were studied–are mature from a young age, much like some young people. These mature dogs don’t tend to experience as significant personality changes as they grow older, just like human beings who are mature from an early age.
Like us, dogs experience greater pain as they age and develop chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and hypothyroidism. And, they often gain weight when they are older.
Researchers like studying the aging process in dogs because their life span is far shorter than ours. It is easier and faster to research a dog’s life cycle than our own!
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