Aged dogs spontaneously develop many hallmarks of human aging and Alzheimer’s disease, including memory decline, learning impairments, and neuropathological changes such as amyloid deposition. These features make them uniquely positioned as translational models for testing prevention and intervention strategies.
Paulina R. Davis and Elizabeth Head (2014) reviewed age-dependent learning and memory tasks used in canine models, alongside neuropathological correlates of cognitive decline. They highlighted several intervention studies showing reduced pathology in dogs through dietary enrichment, antioxidant supplementation, immunotherapy, and statin treatment.
The authors emphasize that multi-targeted approaches, such as combining antioxidants with behavioral enrichment, appear more effective than single-pathway interventions. Notably, canine trials have shown strong predictive validity for human outcomes—such as immunotherapy responses—strengthening their translational relevance.
While prevention studies in dogs can be lengthy and resource-intensive, they offer major advantages: dogs age more rapidly than humans, enabling longitudinal interventions within a 3–5 year timeframe. This supports their use as a bridge between rodent experiments and human clinical trials in the development of Alzheimer’s prevention strategies.
Source: Davis, P. R., & Head, E. (2014). Prevention approaches in a preclinical canine model of Alzheimer’s disease: benefits and challenges. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 5. Authors: Paulina R. Davis, Elizabeth Head. Publication Date: March 21, 2014. Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2014.00047
