via Alamy

by James Gorman

“Dogs go through stages in their life, just as people do, as is obvious to anyone who has watched their stiff-legged, white-muzzled companion rouse themselves to go for one more walk.

“Poets from Homer to Pablo Neruda have taken notice. As have folk singers and story tellers. Now science is taking a turn, in the hope that research on how dogs grow and age will help us understand how humans ‘age. And, like the poets before them, scientists are finding parallels between the two species.’

“Their research so far shows that dogs are similar to us in important ways, like how they act during adolescence and old age, and what happens in their DNA as they get older. They may be what scientists call a ‘model’ for human aging, a species that we can study to learn more about how we age and perhaps how to age better.”

Read this article in its entirety at The New York Times.