While I certainly support science, I would hesitate to put money into what is likely to be a very expensive pill.
10 years is the average lifespan of large breeds to begin with.
Second, a pill isn’t going to do anything about proclivities to cancer, which many breeds have. U.S. bred Golden Retrievers for one.
I doubt it will do anything about arthritis or dementia.
I think canine lifespans can be extended more successfully through excellent nutrition and vet care from birth and a healthy lifestyle of play, love and relaxation as in dogs leading a stress-free life doing what they want to do. I only wish I could afford to continue the human grade food I had been making for Diana and Freyja. They do get some supplemental table scraps. Steak tonight. They get their vaccines and a well-ness check once a year and of course flea meds. They live a pretty stress free life doing what they want. They get to do to the dog park and they hang out with me in the yard, their two most favorite things. Diana loves to patrol the yard and give warning to passing pedestrians. I’m not sure if that is raising her stress levels or lowering them. I only know when we are locked in the back yard waiting for the mail she periodically goes to the side gate and the minute she hears the front gate she is at the side gate wanting to be let back out again. I’ve watched the security cameras and she sleeps on the front porch and several times a night gets up, does the rounds of the yard front and back and then goes back to sleep. If this is what she wants to do, I let her. Breeders are already trying to breed for optimum health, testing for all sorts of conditions and breeding them out of bloodlines, but it is difficult to breed for longevity as by the time you know your dog is living longer than average, it is too late to breed them.
I am skeptical of cloning as well. I believe it’s been done. I just don’t believe those companies that claim they can clone your dog for thousands of dollars. After all, you can’t clone personality.
One Comment on “Science and the Nation Within”
While I certainly support science, I would hesitate to put money into what is likely to be a very expensive pill.
10 years is the average lifespan of large breeds to begin with.
Second, a pill isn’t going to do anything about proclivities to cancer, which many breeds have. U.S. bred Golden Retrievers for one.
I doubt it will do anything about arthritis or dementia.
I think canine lifespans can be extended more successfully through excellent nutrition and vet care from birth and a healthy lifestyle of play, love and relaxation as in dogs leading a stress-free life doing what they want to do. I only wish I could afford to continue the human grade food I had been making for Diana and Freyja. They do get some supplemental table scraps. Steak tonight. They get their vaccines and a well-ness check once a year and of course flea meds. They live a pretty stress free life doing what they want. They get to do to the dog park and they hang out with me in the yard, their two most favorite things. Diana loves to patrol the yard and give warning to passing pedestrians. I’m not sure if that is raising her stress levels or lowering them. I only know when we are locked in the back yard waiting for the mail she periodically goes to the side gate and the minute she hears the front gate she is at the side gate wanting to be let back out again. I’ve watched the security cameras and she sleeps on the front porch and several times a night gets up, does the rounds of the yard front and back and then goes back to sleep. If this is what she wants to do, I let her. Breeders are already trying to breed for optimum health, testing for all sorts of conditions and breeding them out of bloodlines, but it is difficult to breed for longevity as by the time you know your dog is living longer than average, it is too late to breed them.
I am skeptical of cloning as well. I believe it’s been done. I just don’t believe those companies that claim they can clone your dog for thousands of dollars. After all, you can’t clone personality.