More than 3,000 purebred Golden Retrievers across the U.S. are enrolled in a $32 million research project that is hoped to bring insights to the causes of cancers and other diseases common to Goldens and other breeds. They became part of the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study before the turned 2 years old and will be tracked for life. Colorado State University and the Morris Animal Foundation are conducting the study.
Source: Washington Post, December 14, 2017 (paywall).
The study began in 2012. It has produced no major revelations yet: its oldest participants and 7 and not widely afflicted with cancer or other ills. But annual surveys have yielded interesting tidbits about the dogs’ lives. One in five sleeps with its owner. Forty percent swim at least once a week. Twenty-two percent drink or eat from a plastic bowl, and about one in four eats grass.