Dogs Fed Once a Day are Smarter, Healthier, and May Live Longer

Preliminary Results from Foundation-Endorsed Research

Based on observational data from 24,238 pet dogs in the United States, the Project has issued these preliminary findings related to one aspect of the ongoing work:

• Adult dogs fed once daily have better average cognitive scores and are less likely to have gastrointestinal, dental/oral, orthopedic, kidney/urinary, and liver/pancreas health conditions than dogs fed more frequently.

• Being fed once a day lowered the risk of nine types of canine health problems, including cancer, dental issues, and kidney and urinary complications. Similarly, dogs fed only once daily scored lower on tests of cognitive problems.

The Foundation encourages you to join in this important work. Our goal is to have enough Cairns participating in the study to allow Cairn-specific results to be separated out from the overall findings.

If you join the study, you’ll be asked to provide information on your dog’s health, diet, lifestyle, behavior and so on, as well as your dog’s medical records and the results of at-home behavioral assessments.

To nominate one of your dogs, click the Sign-Up button below. We appreciate your support of on-going research to improve the health of our breed.