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Golden Retriever Lifetime Study

THE FIRST
FIVE YEARS

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With a repository of lifestyle data and biological samples collected annually from more than 3,000 dogs, the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study provides a vital foundation and resource to identify nutritional, genetic, lifestyle and environmental risk factors associated with cancer and other major diseases in dogs.

  • 2012

    Study Launch

  • 2013

    Pilot Study of First 50 Dogs

    Test the experimental design, sample collection and data management systems to ensure the success of the study before open enrollment

    Enrollment Opens to the Public

  • 2014

    1,500 DOGS ENROLLED, HALFWAY TO FULL ENROLLMENT

  • 2015

    FULL ENROLLMENT OF 3,044 DOGS

    FIRST PUBLICATION ON STUDY DESIGN AND GOALS

    • “The Golden Retriever Lifetime Study: establishing an observational cohort study with translational relevance for human health” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, June 2015
    • Synopsis: lack of accurate data on disease incidence is a major obstacle in veterinary medicine today

  • 2016

    PRELIMINARY STUDY FINDINGS PRESENTED

    • Age at spay/neuter may impact risk of overweight/obesity
    • More information to come as the cohort ages

  • 2017

    5-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

    98% PARTICIPANT RETENTION AND 85% STUDY COMPLIANCE

    FIRST STUDY USING A SUBSET OF SAMPLES

    • Nested studies use cohort samples to answer further health questions
    • This study describes the normal gastrointestinal microbiome of 24 dogs in the cohort, and provides the framework for investigations into the role of the microbiome in health and disease

IT ALL ADDS UP

Input

  • Geographically dispersed dogs
  • Lifestyle and activity data
  • Environmental exposures
  • Diet history
  • Annual biological sample sets
  • Detailed lifetime health outcomes

Output

  • Incidence of cancer and other health outcomes in golden retrievers
  • In-depth information on interactions between genetics, nutrition and environment leading to the most commonly diagnosed and impactful cancers in golden retrievers including lymphoma, osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and mast cell tumors
  • Discovery of biomarkers for cancer and other diseases

Cancer Diagnosis Breakdown

DOGS IN CITIES, PLAINS & SUBURBS