Dog Aging Project Builds Landmark Multi-Omic Cohort to Decode Aging Biology
The Dog Aging Project enrolled 976 companion dogs to collect longitudinal multi-omic data—epigenome, microbiome, metabolome—as a translational aging model.
Summary
The Dog Aging Project (DAP) launched a precision cohort of ~1,000 companion dogs to study aging mechanisms through longitudinal multi-omic profiling. Stratified by life stage, sex, size, and geography, 976 dog-owner pairs were recruited via private veterinary clinics across the US. Biospecimens—blood, urine, feces, and hair—were collected and processed for complete blood count, chemistry panels, flow cytometry immunophenotyping, metabolomics, fecal microbiome sequencing, and epigenomic profiling. Data management was handled through a custom REDCap platform. The cohort is already in its second and third annual collection waves, building a rich longitudinal dataset. All data are openly accessible to researchers worldwide, positioning dogs as a powerful translational model for human geroscience.
Detailed Summary
Understanding how aging unfolds at the molecular level requires large, well-characterized cohorts with high-quality longitudinal biospecimens—something that is extremely difficult to achieve in human studies due to cost, time, and biological complexity. Companion dogs offer a compelling alternative: they share human environments, develop many of the same age-related diseases, and age roughly 7–10 times faster, compressing decades of biological change into a tractable study window.
The Dog Aging Project (DAP) designed the Precision Cohort specifically to capture multi-omic aging signatures across the canine lifespan. Approximately 1,000 dog-owner pairs were recruited into stratified groups based on life stage (puppy through senior), sex, body size (a strong proxy for lifespan in dogs), and geographic region across the United States. This stratification ensures that the cohort captures sufficient variation in aging trajectories to power longitudinal analyses.
Biospecimen collection was performed in collaboration with primary care veterinary clinics, an innovative distributed model that avoids the bottleneck of centralized research facilities. From 976 enrolled dogs, researchers collected blood (for CBC, chemistry, flow cytometry immunophenotyping), urine (for urinalysis), feces (for microbiome characterization via sequencing), and hair (for epigenomic profiling via DNA methylation). A custom REDCap-based electronic data capture system was developed to coordinate participant management, logistics, sample tracking, and survey data in a secure online environment.
The resulting dataset is among the most comprehensive multi-omic aging resources in any non-human species. It integrates clinical chemistry, immune cell phenotyping, untargeted metabolomics, gut microbiome composition, and genome-wide DNA methylation—all collected longitudinally, with the cohort already entering its second and third annual collection cycles. Associated metadata capture pre-analytical variables such as sample handling conditions and processing times, enabling rigorous quality control in downstream analyses.
A defining feature of the DAP Precision Cohort is its open-data model. Researchers worldwide can apply for data access, making this a community resource for geroscience. The infrastructure, methodology, and distributed clinic-based collection model demonstrated here offer a scalable blueprint for future longitudinal aging studies in dogs and potentially other companion animals. The translational potential is significant: molecular aging clocks, immune aging signatures, and microbiome-health correlations developed in this cohort could illuminate parallel mechanisms in human aging.
Key Findings
- 976 companion dogs enrolled across strata of life stage, sex, size, and US geography for longitudinal multi-omic aging research.
- Biospecimens collected include blood, urine, feces, and hair, yielding CBC, metabolomics, microbiome, epigenome, and flow cytometry data.
- A custom REDCap platform was built to manage distributed data collection across private veterinary clinics nationwide.
- The cohort is already in its second and third annual collection waves, enabling true longitudinal aging analysis.
- All data are openly available to global researchers, establishing a shared community resource for translational geroscience.
Methodology
Prospective longitudinal cohort study enrolling ~1,000 companion dogs stratified by life stage, sex, body size, and geography; biospecimens (blood, urine, feces, hair) collected annually via distributed private veterinary clinics. Data capture managed through a custom REDCap implementation with multi-omic assays including DNA methylation, metagenomics, metabolomics, CBC, clinical chemistry, and immunophenotyping.
Study Limitations
The cohort relies on owner participation and private veterinary clinics, which may introduce selection bias toward healthier or more health-engaged dog-owner pairs. Pre-analytical variability across dispersed collection sites, despite metadata controls, may affect some sensitive multi-omic assays. Canine-to-human biological translation requires careful validation given species differences.
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