The Dogslife Project
DOGSLIFE: Longitudinal Study of Canine Health
The Dogslife project is the first prospective nationwide epidemiological study of canine health. The project aims to collect information about the health and lifestyle over a 12 month period of approximately 3,000 Labrador Retrievers registered with the Kennel Club, using a web-based information collection platform. The project will provide reliable estimates of disease prevalence within the studied cohort, as well as enabling the identification and quantification of environmental and lifestyle factors which contribute to the risk of disease.
Any Labrador Retriever registered with the Kennel Club and born after the 1st January 2010 can join the project; owners can find more information by visiting the website www.dogslife.ac.uk. Each dog has its own page where owners can enter information about their dog’s health and activities at regular intervals. Owners will be able to follow their own pet’s progress, and see how he/she compares to other puppies at the same stage in their life. The website will contain information about responsible pet ownership, as well as publishing the findings of the project in “real-time”.
The project is a collaboration between scientists at The Roslin Institute [University of Edinburgh], Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies [University of Edinburgh], Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research [University of Manchester], Faculty of Veterinary Science [University of Liverpool] and The Kennel Club. Funding has been kindly granted from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust to collect the cohort of dogs and information about their first year of life. It is hoped the project will be expanded in the future to include other breeds and longer follow-up of the cohort.
Further information can be obtained by visiting the website (www.dogslife.ac.uk) or e-mailing dylan.clements@ed.ac.uk
The project partners are:
The University of Edinburgh (Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute)
Dr Dylan Clements
Professor Kim Summers
Dr Mark Bronsvoort
Mr Ian Handel
Mr Damon Querry
The University of Manchester
Professor Bill Ollier
Dr Lorna Kennedy
The University of Liverpool
Professor Kenton Morgan
The Kennel Club
Professor Jeffery Sampson