Health & Research

Golden Retriever Lifetime Study Info for Puppy Buyers

Dear Golden Retriever Owner,

Congratulations on the recent addition to your family!

The Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA) would like to take a moment to tell you about an opportunity for you and your puppy to make a significant impact on the health of dogs. Morris Animal Foundation is conducting the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study that is enrolling 3,000 Golden Retrievers between 6 months and 2 years of age in the largest and longest study ever conducted to advance veterinary medicine for dogs.

While a study of this magnitude has never been done before in dogs, similar studies in humans, such as the Framingham Heart Study and the Nurses’ Health Study, have contributed a wealth of information that is improving and extending lives every day. These observational studies have provided invaluable information about human health, and we are incredibly excited that Morris Animal Foundation chose our breed for this groundbreaking study in dogs. By gathering noninvasive samples and observational data over the lifetime of enrolled dogs, researchers hope to identify potentially modifiable risk factors for the development of cancer and other diseases that affect Goldens. It is estimated that about 60 percent of Golden Retrievers die from cancer, so this study is of special importance to our breed, but will also benefit all dogs.

GRCA stands in strong support of this effort, and would like to invite you and your dog to join the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. To begin, please visit www.CanineLifetimeHealth.org to register and learn more. Once registered, if your dog meets the study criteria you will receive an email inviting you to apply for the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study.

Your participation will help ensure a brighter future for Golden Retrievers, and we hope that it will be rewarding for you to know that you and your dog made a difference. Thank you so much for considering this request!

Sincerely,
Rhonda Hovan
GRCA Research Facilitator

GRCA