Experiencing challenging life situations can have an impact on the well-being and survival of social species, including humans. However, we still have limited knowledge about how these effects change throughout a person's lifetime and how different aspects of the environment influence them. In this study, we used companion dogs as a model to investigate the connections between a dog's social environment and its health as it gets older. The researchers analyzed survey data from the Dog Aging Project, which included information on 21,410 dogs. From this analysis, they identified five factors that accounted for 33.7% of the variations in a dog's social environment. They found that financial difficulties and home problems were associated with poorer health and limited physical mobility in companion dogs. On the other hand, social support, such as living with other dogs, was linked to better health, even after taking into account the dog's age and weight. It's worth noting that the impact of each environmental factor varied: social support had a much stronger effect compared to financial factors, approximately five times stronger. These associations between the environment and health also varied depending on the dog's age, with a stronger relationship between the owner's age and the dog's health observed in younger dogs compared to older ones. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of income, stability, and the owner's age in determining the health of companion dogs, providing valuable insights into potential approaches to promote healthy aging in all species.
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Read the full study on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37388194/

© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Foundation for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health.