Science
We're interested in one of the biggest questions in animal health:
How do we help dogs spend more of their lives healthy, active, and feeling like themselves?
Human health is entering a longevity era. Aging is no longer discussed only as time passing. It is discussed as movement, metabolic health, recovery, strength and the quality of ordinary days.
Our pets deserve the same ambition, with the same intellectual honesty.
How we talk about this
The science of pet longevity is moving quickly. So are the claims.
We think those two things should be kept separate.
Some interventions have been tested directly in companion dogs. Others have promising effects in laboratory animals. Some have a plausible mechanism and almost no clinical evidence at all.
Better Years tells you which is which.
When evidence is preliminary, we call it preliminary. When a study was done in mice rather than dogs, we say so. When something has not been proven, we do not call it proven.
The goal is not to sell a trend. It is to help build the science of better aging for the animals we love.
01
Aging
Understand what changes in movement, recovery, metabolism and the texture of ordinary days.
02
Measure
Identify signals and biomarkers where scientifically appropriate. We will not invent numbers.
03
Intervene
Explore evidence-supported health and wellness interventions, classified honestly.
04
Learn
Improve recommendations as better evidence becomes available.
More isn't always better.
More growth hormone, more testosterone, more NAD+, more peptides: none of those is automatically a younger dog. The goal is better health for the individual animal. That means a veterinary evaluation, an honest baseline, interventions proportional to the evidence, and a willingness to change course. Veterinary care comes first. Emerging therapies should complement it, not replace it.
None of the interventions on this page has been proven to extend the lifespan of healthy companion dogs.
Research we are watching
A watchlist is not a catalog. These are areas with enough canine or translational signal to follow closely. We are not selling them as proven longevity therapies.
Geroscience
Clinical EvidenceRapamycin / mTOR
The most developed direct canine geroscience program. Short-term randomized studies in companion dogs have evaluated safety and cardiac measures. The Dog Aging Project's TRIAD trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of whether rapamycin can improve healthy aging. That is the bar. It is not a Better Years product.
- The Dog Aging Project, Dog Aging Project Source
- Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD): study design and rationale, GeroScience / PMC (2025) Source
A trial protocol, not a completed lifespan result.
- A randomized controlled trial of short-term rapamycin in 24 middle-aged companion dogs, GeroScience (2017) Source
Metabolic health
Emerging ResearchNAD+ / NMN / NR
Cellular coenzyme biology, not a peptide. NMN has published short-term safety research in dogs. Early aging and cognition work in companion dogs exists, including combination studies that make it hard to credit the NAD precursor alone. This is the first thread of our Metabolic protocol, not a longevity claim.
- Nicotinamide mononucleotide indexed literature in dogs, PubMed Source
A literature search is not a lifespan trial. Early canine safety work is not proven healthy-aging benefit.
Mitochondria
Preclinical EvidenceElamipretide / SS-31
A mitochondria-targeting tetrapeptide studied in canine heart-failure models for cardiac and skeletal-muscle mitochondrial function. In 2025, FDA granted accelerated approval of elamipretide (Forzinity) for Barth syndrome in humans. That is not approval for dogs, and it is not a healthy-aging result in Labradors.
- Elamipretide indexed literature in dogs, PubMed Source
Canine papers in this set are largely experimental heart-failure models, not companion-dog longevity trials.
- FDA grants accelerated approval to first treatment for Barth syndrome, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2025) Source
Human Barth syndrome. Not a canine or longevity indication.
Regeneration
InvestigationalTB-500
A thymosin beta-4-related fragment with popular adoption well ahead of direct evidence. We keep an educational page because people search it. It is not in Restore. Direct therapeutic characterization remains weak.
- Thymosin beta-4 indexed literature, PubMed Source
TB-500 is discussed as a related fragment. That is not a proven canine medicine.
Evidence library
Citations link to real sources. Empty citation lists mean we have not yet attached a paper. Empty does not mean one was invented.
Aging
EstablishedCanine aging as a scientific field
Companion dogs are increasingly studied as a model of aging. Large research programs exist to understand how dogs age and which measures might relate to healthy years. This is category context, not a Better Years product claim.
- The Dog Aging Project, Dog Aging Project Source
Peptides
Emerging ResearchPeptides as biological signals
Peptides are short amino-acid chains. Some function as signals in tissue repair, inflammation, metabolism and aging biology. That is a description of a research area. It is not evidence that a specific Better Years product produces a specific clinical outcome in dogs. Peptides are a wedge. Pet longevity is the category.
No citations attached yet.
Peptides
Preclinical EvidenceBPC-157
BPC-157 is a short peptide studied in laboratory and rodent models for possible roles in tissue-repair signaling. Published canine pharmacokinetic and toxicology work exists. That is how the peptide behaves in dogs, not proof it improves recovery, mobility, or lifespan. Better Years classifies companion-dog efficacy as preclinical. Restore is BPC-157. It is not a proven canine clinical outcome.
- BPC-157 indexed literature, PubMed Source
Published work is predominantly laboratory and rodent-model research, plus some canine pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies. A literature search is not a companion-dog efficacy trial.
Metabolic health
Emerging ResearchNAD+ / NMN / NR
NAD+ is a cellular coenzyme involved in energy metabolism. Precursors such as NMN and NR have early canine safety research and limited aging-related work in dogs. Combination studies make it hard to isolate the NAD precursor. This is the first metabolic-health research thread, not a proven longevity therapy.
- Nicotinamide mononucleotide indexed literature in dogs, PubMed Source
Mobility
EstablishedMobility and everyday quality of life
Comfortable movement is one of the most visible parts of a dog's daily life. Changes in gait, jumping and walk length are among the first things owners notice. Veterinary evaluation comes first when those changes appear.
No citations attached yet.