February 29, 2024 • 40 mins
In honor of this leap year I am re-releasing one of my favorite episodes:
When my dog Chance began to show his age, I was desperate for a solution that would restore his youthful spirit. That's when Leap Years, a revolutionary anti-aging supplement for dogs, entered our lives and transformed Chance's golden years. In episode of the Baroo Podcast, I sit down with the minds behind Animal Bioscience—CEO Nick Sinclair, Chief Veterinary Officer Jenny Rentko, and holistic veterinarian Dr. Heather Oxford. We discuss the incredible advancements Leap Years is making in canine longevity and share uplifting stories from pet owners who've seen their furry companions thrive.
Leap Years has recently become the first daily supplement clinically proven to slow the effects of aging in dogs.
Resources:
Shop - Leap Years
Clinical Trial Results - https://leapyears.com/results/
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Pet parent question or story of canine companionship to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com or call 424-273-5131.
*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dogs make the best companions for humans.
This podcast aims to help makehumans better companions for
their dogs.
Welcome to the Baroo Podcast, amodern lifestyle podcast for
dogs and their people.
I'm your host, charlotte Bain.
I've been caring for otherpeople's dogs for more than 15
(00:21):
years and, while I've learned alot in my career, I definitely
don't know at all, so I'vecollected an ever-evolving
roster of amazing dog people andI learn new things from them
all the time.
Hi you guys.
(00:44):
Thank you so much for joiningme for another episode of the
Baroo Podcast.
In this episode, I talk aboutAnimal Bioscience, a new
anti-aging company for pets,originally founded by David
Sinclair.
David Sinclair is a professorin the Department of Genetics at
Harvard Medical School and oneof the world's leading
researchers on aging andage-associated diseases.
(01:07):
I chat with Animal BioscienceCEO Nick Sinclair, chief
Veterinary Officer Jenny Rankoand Dr Heather Oxford, a
holistic veterinarian whospecializes in mobility and
anti-aging in our pets.
I chat about AnimalBioscience's new supplement,
leap Years, which aims to helpslow the effects of aging in our
(01:27):
pets.
My dog, chance, has been takingleap years as part of their
compassionate use program forclose to three months now, and I
am pretty thrilled to say thatwe are already seeing some
improvement in his mobility andhis cognitive function.
So let's just jump into thechat, alright, you guys.
(01:52):
Well, first of all, thank youso much for jumping on and
chatting with me about leapyears.
I will be, I think, the firstto say we have been on leap
years.
My 15 year old dog, chance, hasbeen on leap years for I think
close to I'm it's three monthsnow, I would say and I can
(02:13):
confidently say that I startedseeing some subtle shifts in him
after about two weeks and Iwould say that mobility wise,
his mobility has improvedslightly, his cognition has
improved slightly and overallhe's just like his spirit has
kind of lifted a little bit it'sthe only way that I can put it.
(02:37):
His spirit has lifted a littlebit.
So this is kind of prettyexciting stuff for us.
He's been always doing well at15, but he was starting to go a
little bit, making some poorchoices, I would say cognitively
, and slowing down aches andpains and whatnot.
So we were really excited toget started on this and the fact
that we're seeing these shiftslike so quickly after getting
(03:01):
started on the leap years iskind of mind blowing.
So before we start talkingabout the science of leap years
and a bit about how it works andkind of what it is.
I want to jump into how, whatthe inspiration was behind leap
years and how you all kind ofgot together to create this
(03:22):
fabulous supplement for ourcanine companions.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Excellent.
Well thanks, charlotte.
So Animal Biosciences wascreated as part of a larger
company that was addressinglongevity in humans.
Animal Biosciences becameindependent of that company and
we've been looking at targetingaging and age related decline in
(03:48):
dogs.
Our first product, as youmentioned, is leap years.
That came about through sciencethat was developed through
Harvard by my brother, davidSinclair, who's a leader in the
longevity space, and a lot ofthis science started in yeast
(04:09):
and in mice and we're shown tohave efficacy in extending
lifespan.
As those molecules were used tomove into human trials.
We established AnimalBiosciences to translate that
science to help longevity inpets.
Over the last five years we'vespent a couple of years
(04:31):
developing the molecules, makingsure that they're safe,
well-manufactured, and then wespend about three years doing
trials to make sure that they'reeffective and to prove that
they work.
So Animal Biosciences reallygrew out of our love of animals
and wanting them to be aroundlonger, and the great thing is
(04:53):
being able to translate thisscience to these dogs means that
the results that you're seeingwe're seeing across the board
with the dogs that we'retreating, and it's a really
great feeling to help old dogswhen there's so few treatments
for old dogs.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Right, okay, collaborate.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah.
So when Animal Biosciences wasowned by the parent company, we
were establishing a pathway totherapeutics and drugs rather
than supplements.
We threw a mutual friend.
We got introduced to Ginny, whoat the time was running a small
and large animal hospital herein Massachusetts.
(05:35):
Ginny joined as a consultant,advising us on the animal health
industry in general animalhealth and helping us establish
what sort of things we needed tolook for in our program of
developing these molecules.
Safe to say that a few yearsinto that, Ginny decided that
(05:57):
our company was a lot moreexciting than running a hospital
, and that was in 2019 whenGinny came on board.
Oh gosh right before thepandemic yeah.
Yes, and we've had sometumultuous times.
Our company increased in size,then decreased in size.
At one stage it was just Ginnyand I literally working out of
(06:21):
our home offices through thepandemic and getting this
company off the ground.
But with investment from somegreat angel investors and a lot
of hard push, we've been able totake it from that all the way
through to the company that itis today, so it's been great.
I'm sure Ginny has plenty tosay about that.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That's right About coming on board.
Sure Well, nick tells the storyof how we began to work
together, but from myperspective as a veterinarian,
you don't often get a chance toimpact the profession in a broad
way, and the whole businessabout changing the paradigm of
(07:02):
aging and looking at senior dogsin a new way giving them a
longer health span was soexciting that this is really
something new for the wholeveterinarian profession as well
as pet parents.
But it was such a greatopportunity it was hard to
resist.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So, Dr Heather, how did you and Ginny and Nick all
connect?
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Oh, that's an interesting story.
I met, actually, david Nick'sbrother through a client of mine
in 2019.
And David started talking to meabout this new company that he
was founding called AnimalBiopsychiatry, and just
(07:53):
informing me about what theirvision was and what kind of
research they were doing andwhat they were looking to try to
do for companion animals in thenear future.
And he then put me in touchwith Nick and Ginny, and then
they further educated me in theproduct that they are developing
(08:14):
, and I've just been somewhatobsessed with anti-aging
medicine for humans and petsever since then.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I love that, and you're the reason that you are
the one that introduced Chanceand I to the products, so
supplements.
So we are grateful to you forthat one, oh thank you.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'm just so happy to have something that is showing
so much improvement in our pets,I can imagine.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So can we talk about how it works and what exactly it
is?
Can we talk about the sciencebehind it In ways, in terms that
maybe those of us who aren'tscientifically minded would
understand?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Make you an answer to that.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Sure.
So lip use is a two-part systemthat works at the cellular
level.
So it works in every cell inyour body.
As we age, there's an enzyme inevery cell that declines.
It's as we age.
From about middle of mid-agethis enzyme declines and every
(09:30):
cell needs this enzyme tofunction properly.
And if you remember back to yourscience days of the,
mitochondria is the powerhouseof the cell and generating
energy within the cell.
This enzyme exists within yourmitochondria and as it declines,
your mitochondria starts notfunctioning as well as it should
(09:51):
and it leads to mitochondrialdysfunction.
Now the things that go on inyour mitochondria are things
like energy production orefficient energy production,
repair of DNA mutations andthose sorts of things, and
dealing with mutations withinthe cell.
All happen within themitochondria, in and around the
(10:11):
mitochondria.
So as the health of thesemitochondria decline, so does
the health of the cell, and ifit's every cell in your body, so
does the health of the entireanimal.
So one part of what we do isreplaces this enzyme, this
coenzyme, which is called NAD.
The other part to our two-partsystem is a thing called a
(10:33):
sandalitic.
So sandalitic are cells in yourbody that essentially should
have died and don't.
They stick around.
They're often known as zombiecells.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And these zombie cells float around.
Now it's good to have somezombie cells in your body.
They're there for immunity,they're there for wound healing.
They do have some purpose.
But if there's too many of themthey actually cause levels of
inflammation and they secreteproteins and other things that
can even inflame the cellsaround them and make them
(11:07):
sandalitic cells or havesenescence.
So molecules have beenidentified to start taking or to
take these senescent cells outof the body and that's done in a
pulse dose, so it's not takenevery day, it's taken once off
and then again once off and itclears out these sandalitic
(11:27):
cells.
So the combination of clearingout the sandalitic cells that
cause inflammation and consumethis NAD molecule so as it's
declining, the sandalitic cellsare also eating it up, using it
up.
So when we clear out thesandalitic cells and the
inflammation and then add theNAD in, that NAD is going to all
(11:48):
the good cells and it's beingused up to revitalize the
mitochondria and the good cells.
When we revitalize every cell,we see that across the body.
So that could be muscleimprovements, because it's
revitalizing the muscle cellsand making them more efficient
and work better, can increaseblood flow as the mitochondria
(12:09):
get more stimulated moremitochondria.
We can see it, as you said, incognition.
We're seeing results wherethese molecules can be affecting
the mitochondria in the cellsin the brain but also affecting
blood flow to the brain.
So we don't necessarily, withthese molecules, target any one
(12:29):
disease.
What we do is target theunderlying cellular processes
that we decline as we age and wecan revitalize those cellular
processes and hence we seerevitalization of the animal.
So it started as a.
We think we can increaseactivity in dogs, give them a
(12:50):
little bit more energy or alittle vim of vitality and, as
we've done our trials, we'veactually been increasingly
surprised of what the totaleffect is.
It affects sleep, it affectsactivity, it affects what we see
as motivation.
The dogs want to get up more.
(13:11):
Even if they're declined andaged, they have more want to get
up.
So it's been a very interestingjourney and the science has
shown to prove itself effectiveas we've moved through it.
So it's been great.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
What has been one of the most surprising things that
you've discovered, thatsomething maybe you didn't
expect in your trials.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah, I think you know we've done this double
blind placebo controlled trialin older dogs.
So these are pet parents whobring their dog to the hospital
to enter this clinical trial andso we compare dogs that get a
placebo to the dogs that get thetreatment.
And, interestingly, in thebeginning this is a six month
(13:59):
trial and in the beginning thereseems to be a placebo effect,
meaning that anytime a petparent gives something to their
dog, maybe we perceive thatthey're getting better.
So we were very interested inthat.
We were surprised.
You know how do you get aplacebo effect in a dog clinical
trial?
But over time the two groups,the control group and the
(14:21):
treated group really change,meaning that what you're
observing, charlotte, in yourdog is similar, that this joie
de vivre, this this Nickdescribes it this motivation to
be moving more and to have moreengagement.
I think the most surprisingthing for us was that dogs are
(14:44):
more engaged with their owners.
So sometimes when dogs getolder, they may sleep more
during the day, may haverestlessness at night.
The other thing that we see isthat it has an impact on the
circadian rhythm of dogs.
Now the circadian rhythm iswhen you sleep and when you
awake.
So we're seeing that dogs sleepmore soundly and then during
(15:08):
the day they're more active thanthey had been, when sometimes
the older dogs get mixed upabout day and night.
So yeah, so that's.
That was a very interestingfinding as well.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That's fantastic.
So what about you, Heather?
What are some of the mostamazing results that you've seen
in your clients that are onleap years?
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, I have seen I was a bit surprised.
I felt confident that theproduct was going to work, but I
was.
I was a bit surprised by howquickly it worked.
Yeah, and in the older patientsso my, my large dogs that are
(15:51):
on it, that you know, our 14 to15, I've even got a 17 year old
patient that's on it.
They, yes, and those patients,the older they are, it seems
like the faster the ownersreport some sort of change to me
(16:12):
, which is really, really cool.
So I've seen dogs start sleepingthrough the night within seven
to 10 days of being on it.
I've seen, I've had one ownertell me that their dog was
running through the backyardlike a horse, you know, like,
(16:36):
seem to have good coordination.
And, yeah, and this is a dogwho's, you know, fairly wobbly
and has, you know, decreasedcoordination.
Clients tell me that in theirdogs, who were previously not
eating breakfast anymore formonths, within 10 days of
(16:56):
starting leap years, theystarted having a voracious
appetite in the morning, whichleads me to believe that they're
probably getting better sleep.
Maybe their hormone regulationis improving and that's what's
improving their appetite,possibly.
And then I had the probably themost extreme response that I've
(17:22):
had, or the most extremeobservation is in a 15 year old,
smaller dog who had yeah, so,who had lenticular sclerosis,
which I don't know if you'refamiliar with that, but that is
the bluish, hazy change thathappens in the eyes of older
(17:45):
dogs.
So, right in the black pupil itstops being completely crystal
clear, black and it startschanging to like a haziness.
It's not the same as cataracts,but that's just an aging change
that happens in the eye.
And the client sent me a beforeand after picture which was 10
(18:06):
days difference, and the, thehaziness in the eyes, definitely
seems to be decreasing.
So it was something completelyunexpected, yeah, yeah, and I, I
don't know we I don't thinkwe'll ever be able to figure out
if it was completely the, thesupplement that's doing it, but
(18:27):
it is.
We know that it's an agingchange and we know the
supplement is targeting thoseaging mechanisms.
So it could, it could quitepossibly be the reason for the
reversal in the eyes.
I'd like to think so.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I will say that I forgot to mention that the other
day.
My dog always gets very excitedwhen he meets a dog on a walk,
right, and it just.
He loves dogs and he has fromthe get go and he usually gets a
little bit of a zip in his stepif he meets a new dog.
He met a new dog on the walkand then took off running full.
But he's 15 years old, fullbore, I'm not kidding, like he
(19:05):
was two years old.
He's staring at me right nowbecause he knows I'm talking
about him.
He fit like he.
I had him on leash and I healmost pulled me over.
He was going as fast as hepossibly could down the block
and around the block and I waslike, oh, you are going to
really be hurting like the nextday.
But he actually he wasn't, hewas totally fine.
It was pretty incredible and Ican only I mean, the only thing
(19:27):
that I can think of is thatsomehow the leap years have this
effect on him and, as you cantell, I'm a huge fan.
Well you, know.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
It's good to hear this because this has been our
observation and and these are,you know, in our clinical trial,
we're monitoring cognition,we're looking at memory, we're
looking at executive function,and what you're describing is
what the pet parent is seeing asas a result of improvement in
these areas.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So do you think that that's like them?
Do you think like it's acognitive reaction they just
forget that they're 15 andthey're just generally feeling
so good as it or it's likeliterally a physical physically
he can run In that way that hehasn't been able to run for for
the last ten years, or his brainis just sending him a signal
(20:16):
that well.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I just that's a great question and you know,
mitochondria are in every celland it was starting to tell.
Talk about the mitochondria inthe muscle.
So if you have Active cells inmuscles and you have active
cells in the brain and activecells in the heart, you know
this is an end result of of allof these things, that this is
(20:37):
what we're talking about.
Is this new idea about cellularhealth and that the cells are
in every different kind oftissue in the body?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So it's hard to answer your question, but I
think it is an observation thatis readily made and it's it's
really interesting that a lot ofthe pet parents that we speak
to and In our clinical trialhave observations of quality of
life measures.
So we don't specify those inour trial.
(21:07):
We ask them to pick a measurethat's important to them and
then report on that measurelater.
Might be my dog used to jump onthe couch and they can't jump
on the couch anymore.
They used to run five miles,now they're down to one.
I'd like them to be back tofive miles again and we're
finding significant differencein these key measures in quality
of life.
And it's interesting to seethat you know the things that
(21:30):
make a difference, whether it'sengagement or the things that
owners really notice, becauseowners know the most about their
dogs than than anyone else.
Right, they're pet parentsafter all.
Of course we know every themost about our, but it's it's
it's as we assess that or as we,you know, get the feedback from
this.
Everybody is noticing a distinctchange in quality of life and,
(21:54):
as you say that the Vim or thethe want to go and have some
activity.
It's not just I'm able to havethe activity.
They actually show signs thatthey want to be more active.
So it's interesting.
It's not physical or cognitive?
I think it's a combination ofboth and I think you know, the
same way that any aging dog orcaring for any dog, throughout
(22:16):
its lifespan, there's a lot offactors to it.
There's, you know, how muchexercise they get, what the
nutrition is like, what sort ofenrichment, or you know
stimulation or neurologicalStimulation they have affects
the dogs long term.
Right, can you say that?
You know activity affectscognition.
For sure, if you're active allyour life it's less likely to be
(22:38):
cognitive decline in you inyour elderly time.
So is it.
Is it relational, causational?
Can't really say.
But do we see an effect in allof the things, be cognition or
activities, 100%?
And they seem to go hand inhand.
The more engagement, the moreactivity.
The more activity, the moreengagement.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Okay, so they feel each other, yeah, yeah yeah,
well, we've got.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
We use tracking devices To show the activity of
the dogs on the trial, so theywear a tracking collar and we we
measure it over time and whatwe found at baseline or the
placebo dogs, is they'rerestless at night.
They engage with their ownersin the morning a little bit.
They're restless during the day.
They engage in the afternoon.
(23:24):
Their restless after that.
We found with our treated dogsthat they're they sleep more
soundly and then theirengagement and their activity
when they're in with theirowners goes up significantly.
So we're actually seeing moreengaged, more activity
associated with owner time orparent time.
And then the flat line duringthe day they're sleeping a lot
(23:46):
more soundly, they're not pacingand restless or the owners are
not engaging with them.
And again in the evening we seeanother spike and the activity
goes up relative to theengagement with the owners.
So we can actually correlatedata for activity directly with
Engagement.
So again that, are they moreengaged so they're more active,
or are they more active becausethey're more engaged?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
When does that aging process start?
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yeah, well, that's a.
That's a great question and Ithink the aging process can
start really at any time and alot of the, a lot of the factors
that determine aging and ourrate of aging Um are different
for different dogs at just as itis for different humans.
(24:32):
So we can see our dogs startaging, um, we can.
We can see them to start muchyounger if maybe they haven't
been fed a good quality diet, um, maybe they don't have the the
greatest lifestyle, like, maybethey're couch potatoes, maybe
they don't get very muchexercise, um, maybe they're
overfed, so they're.
You know, we have a we have apet obesity problem.
(24:55):
So, you know, we, that is afactor and that can that can
accelerate aging.
So, um, you know, I think thethe onset of aging and the rate
of aging is definitelyIndividual and it's based on a
lot of different factors.
But what we can look for ineach individual pet as signs of
aging would be signs ofdecreased strength, and that can
(25:20):
manifest, as you actually canlook at your pet and see that
there are bony prominences nowthat you maybe never used to be
able to see, like, maybe you cansee the outline of their hip
bones now, or their spine, yeah,which you didn't use to, and
that is a sign of muscle loss oratrophy, um, and that is a huge
(25:42):
marker for aging.
And another thing would be, youknow, maybe the pet is less
active, their endurance is, youknow, declining, so they're not
wanting to take as many walks,or maybe they're not able to
take as long of walks.
They're sleeping much more,especially during the day.
Uh, maybe they're not sleepingas much at night.
(26:04):
This is really common.
They're kind of that sleepweight cycle gets kind of
flip-flopped, so they're outmost of the day but then they're
like up all night.
Um, there are changes in theirappetite, uh, you know.
So, where they're not like,like I was saying, like they're
not wanting to eat as much inthe morning, they have no
appetite in the morning, andthen they have like increased
(26:26):
appetite during the afternoonand evening, and that seems to
be all linked with that sleepwake cycle disturbance and it's
actually there's actually Achange in their cortisol levels,
which is really important, andthat's a really important
hormone when it comes to aging.
So, you know, and it happens inpeople too, it's, you know, the
(26:49):
sure, the, the.
When we're supposed to have themost cortisol Is the morning
time because we're waking up,there's some stress, um, and the
cortisol gives us thatresistance to stress, um, and if
we're not sleeping through thenight we don't have that, and so
Pets and us will have, we'llhave a harder time getting
(27:09):
through our day, um.
So that's that all this stuffseems to be linked and we're
finding out more and more in thecurrent research that's coming
out Pretty much daily when itcomes to anti aging.
But those are just you knowsome Um, more um, you know more
um prominent signs that you canlook for in your pets.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Is there an age that a dog should start, something
like leap years?
Or have you found that it worksbetter in older dogs?
Or you should start them youngto prevent the aging?
What is the science telling youabout that?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Well, interestingly, we see the greatest effect in
the oldest dogs.
Now you may say, okay, theyhave the most mitochondrial
dysfunction in their cells, theyhave the most senescent cells.
So when you fix both of thoseproblems maybe they see a bigger
improvement.
We see that for sure.
(28:10):
Now the question is you knowwhen do you start something like
this?
And ideally you know you wouldstart it before you see any
cognitive decline or anydecrease in activity, to
preserve that baseline, thatbaseline of where they are.
So I would say, the earlier thebetter.
You know you don't have tostart it in a two year old, but
(28:34):
depending on what the diseasesare that a dog may have you know
someone with arthritis from badhips, being of a certain breed,
or something like that.
Or you know any older dog.
Once a dog is considered older,and that varies by breed, of
course then I would say thatwould be the time that you'd
(28:57):
want to implement this.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
We've read that you're considered an older, like
a senior dog starting at seven,right, and you're saying that
that varies depending on thebreed and size of the dog, or is
it?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I mean, of course, if you're a seven year old great
Dane, you're at a really elderlygreat Dane versus.
Do you have any great Danes inyour study?
Interestingly, most dogs in ourclinical trial.
So we have several differenttypes of studies going on, but
in the clinical trial most dogsare between 25 and 45 kilograms.
(29:29):
So that's those that's, youknow.
60 to 80 pounds.
So they're all.
Yeah, there's a large proportionof large dogs, yeah, so anyway,
yes, that seven seems to be amagical number.
You know, when we start feeding, maybe senior diets and that
sort of thing, but if you, ifyou're a larger breed dog, it is
(29:50):
a lot earlier.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah.
So we recommend, I think youknow, as a rule of thumb,
preventative starts aroundmidway through their expected
lifespan.
So if there are, you know ifthere are expected lifespan is
10, you would start four or five.
Their expected lifespan is 16,then you're going to be starting
around seven or eight.
(30:13):
Having said that, you know youcan start earlier, that earlier
than that, preventatively, youmay not see any any change
because it's warding off decline.
It's prophylactically wardingoff decline as opposed to
addressing something that'salready an issue.
Around two thirds of lifespanis when we really start seeing a
(30:34):
decline in dogs and startseeing really significant change
like the effect of these dogs.
So once you're getting to aboutthree quarters of lifespan,
that's when people are reallystarting saying my dog is old,
he's really decrepit, he'sreally going downhill.
And those are a lot of the dogsthat we treat and that's where
(30:54):
we see the most bounce back.
I guess it's all relative tobaseline.
The further away they are fromthe baseline of a healthy dog,
the more we can bring them backclose to that baseline.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
You know, Nick, thanks for bringing that up.
Aha, which is the AmericanAnimal Hospital Association,
they recently put out aguideline on this business about
two thirds of the lifespan.
You know that you, instead ofsaying seven years old, or you
know how old a dog is, based onnumerical year.
As Nick said, two thirds of alifespan puts you in that senior
(31:30):
category.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That makes more sense , right yeah, so two thirds of
the lifespan based on theirbreed.
Based on their breed.
Okay, what if they're mixed up?
Rescue?
Yeah well, like my dog, yougotta sort that one out.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Get the DNA test and find out what their breeds are.
Right, it's a real crap.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah over there?
Yeah, clearly 15.
Well, that's hybrid vigor foryou.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So, how?
How well, this is just sofantastic.
So how can this improve thehuman animal bond?
Right, how can this improve thequality of life of our pets?
Obviously, but how can itimprove our, the bond that we
have with our pets and theexpectations that we have of our
pets?
Right, I think.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
I can go to.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I think the biggest impact this has on human animal
bond is really related to that,that sense of engagement.
We all know all of us haveexperienced an old dog they tend
to disconnect a little.
More they're asleep, morethey're not willing to, you know
, follow you around, do theactivities you do over your day,
(32:47):
but you know they're moreinclined to interact with you
less frequently the older theyget.
What we're finding is that thatfrequency of interaction gets
increased and the time that youspend with your dog increases
because the dog has more energyand more time to spend, more
want to be with you.
(33:09):
Yeah, but I think the other,the flip side of that is, as our
dogs age, it's very difficultto do anything for them.
We all have that sense of whatcan I do for my aging dog.
Often we treat disease, wetreat the symptoms of disease
and then we there's not muchelse we can do we just say, okay
(33:32):
, it's, there's a lump, let'sremove it.
They've, you know they've gotdiabetes or they've got an issue
that we can treat.
But apart from that, the old mydog is just slowing down.
There's never been anything toactually treat that or do
anything about that.
Right, that ability to do thatfor your dog, I've found, is
(33:55):
improves that human animal bond,that ability to be able to help
them give back what they'vegiven to you.
That's huge, and increasing theactivity and that that
engagement in that moment andthroughout the day is, you know,
really makes a difference in anold dog's life.
I think that's the biggestimprovement for the bond.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Well, charlotte, you, you know, right, you know what
it's like to have an older dogLike you're.
You might be worried that thetime is growing short.
You may want to provideeverything you possibly can to
provide comfort, and that justthose things in and of
themselves improves the humananimal bond.
(34:35):
And when we were talking aboutyou know what, what is leap
years?
And we said, well, it's morelife in your dog.
And then then all of a suddenit came to us and it's more dog
in our lives, right, so it'sright, and so that's how we get
filled up with our older dog isthat they are more with us and
(34:56):
more engaged and so moresatisfying for the relationship
between us.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Absolutely.
Yeah, it's.
It can be anxiety producingwhen you have an old dog and you
don't quite know how you canhelp them.
All you can Um, and it kind oftakes.
It does take a little bit ofthat anxiety away.
Knowing that I'm seeing thesechanges in him, right Right, I
still know that he's old, Istill know that he's 15, but
(35:22):
seeing that he's got a littlebit more vim and vigor, you know
, helps alleviate some of myanxiety.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
Well, I mean, that's the whole idea is to improve
what we're calling the healthspan.
You know that it's an older dogbut remains healthy.
You know, maybe remains diseasefree or for stalls some of
those very common diseases ofaging.
Yes, right, I was just going tosay it was interesting.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
When we started the journey, we were actually
looking at increasing longevity.
So we're going to increaselifespan, right.
And then we really quicklybecame apparent that nobody
wants to expend lifespan Ifhealth span doesn't get extended
with it.
It's about the quality of life.
Nobody wants an old, sick doglonger.
What we want is healthier dogsand if that makes them live
(36:09):
longer, then all the better.
I mean, that's the ultimate.
So we very quickly set down apathway when we're developing
leap years to say how does thishelp your dog enjoy life more?
It's not about more of it, it'sabout enjoying what they've got
and the great.
What we think is and what we'reseeing in some of the dogs that
(36:30):
have been on it a longer timeis they do have a better quality
of life.
And you know they still get oldand they still pass away.
But you know that that lastlittle bit's been.
You've helped them along withthat last little bit and that's
what we focus on.
It's that quality piece, notthe extension.
That's about the quality of it.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Is there any dog that this is not a good fit for?
Are there side effects or dogswho might have allergies or
anything?
Speaker 3 (36:58):
like that.
Well, that's a great questionand a very important one, and
both of the compounds that makeup leap years are natural
products and they're found, youknow, if you ate enough apple
skin or if you you know.
So they're found in lots offood products, so they are safe,
(37:19):
and we've tested leap years upto 30 times, you know, so that
if a dog ate a whole jar of allthe chews, you know what would
happen, and so it was veryreassuring to see that there's
no effects in regard to that.
So, yes, so we're prettyconfident around the safety of
(37:40):
leap years.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
And the nice thing is that the leap years product can
be given with most anythingthat senior pets are going to be
on supplement wise, Like mostof their issues are gonna be
like joint related anddiscomfort related and
antioxidants and things likethat.
(38:01):
And so this, the leap years,you know it's a safe product and
we don't have to worry about,you know, like a major drug
interaction or something likethat.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Right, I think that's gonna be my next question, so
and we specifically yeah, wespecifically chose ingredients
that A are palatable for dogsbut there's no animal proteins
in there at all.
These are all compounds thatare low allergenic we can't say
hypoallergenic, but lowallergenic proven to be safe in
animals without animal protein.
(38:37):
So, yeah, we made sure that weaddressed that.
We know that there's a lot ofdogs out there with allergies of
various sorts.
Right.
So a very cognizant of thatwhen formulating the product to
make sure we had them allcovered and sensitive temi.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
my dog has a super sensitive temi.
He's thriving on these.
I mean he's had no nothingadverse happened whatsoever.
Good to hear.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
We're your best testimonial.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Well, I'm from Romeo yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
I've had quite a few veterinarians tell me that they
smell really yummy, and they'dwanna eat them and I'm like okay
.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, what would happen?
Speaker 2 (39:12):
if we had to hold another podcast but what if we
ate them?
Speaker 1 (39:15):
What would happen?
All right, well, thanks so much, you guys.
Do you have anything that youwanna add?
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, that's it.
No, I'm glad to hear that yourhuman animal bond has improved
as a result of it.
Well, we couldn't ask for morethan that, so kudos to you Well
thank you so much and so movingforward.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
How do people come to find leap years when we found
them through Dr Heather?
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Yeah, we're on the web at leapyearscom and we're
also on Instagram and Facebookat leapyears4dogs, with the
number four Got it, so all one.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I'll put all those in the show notes and stuff, all
right, you guys?
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Thanks, charlotte.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Okay, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Thank you, thanks for having us, bye guys, bye guys.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the Brewer
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please don't forget to rate and
follow us wherever you listen topodcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram, at barupodcast, and
if you have a story of cancompanionship that you want to
(40:22):
share with me, a comment or evena question, I'd love to hear
from you.
You can email me, charlotte, atthe barucom.
All right, you guys, let's chatnext week.
Dogs make the best companions for humans.
This podcast aims to help makehumans better companions for
their dogs.
Welcome to the Baroo Podcast, amodern lifestyle podcast for
dogs and their people.
I'm your host, charlotte Bain.
I've been caring for otherpeople's dogs for more than 15
(00:21):
years and, while I've learned alot in my career, I definitely
don't know at all, so I'vecollected an ever-evolving
roster of amazing dog people andI learn new things from them
all the time.
Hi you guys.
(00:44):
Thank you so much for joiningme for another episode of the
Baroo Podcast.
In this episode, I talk aboutAnimal Bioscience, a new
anti-aging company for pets,originally founded by David
Sinclair.
David Sinclair is a professorin the Department of Genetics at
Harvard Medical School and oneof the world's leading
researchers on aging andage-associated diseases.
(01:07):
I chat with Animal BioscienceCEO Nick Sinclair, chief
Veterinary Officer Jenny Rankoand Dr Heather Oxford, a
holistic veterinarian whospecializes in mobility and
anti-aging in our pets.
I chat about AnimalBioscience's new supplement,
leap Years, which aims to helpslow the effects of aging in our
(01:27):
pets.
My dog, chance, has been takingleap years as part of their
compassionate use program forclose to three months now, and I
am pretty thrilled to say thatwe are already seeing some
improvement in his mobility andhis cognitive function.
So let's just jump into thechat, alright, you guys.
(01:52):
Well, first of all, thank youso much for jumping on and
chatting with me about leapyears.
I will be, I think, the firstto say we have been on leap
years.
My 15 year old dog, chance, hasbeen on leap years for I think
close to I'm it's three monthsnow, I would say and I can
(02:13):
confidently say that I startedseeing some subtle shifts in him
after about two weeks and Iwould say that mobility wise,
his mobility has improvedslightly, his cognition has
improved slightly and overallhe's just like his spirit has
kind of lifted a little bit it'sthe only way that I can put it.
(02:37):
His spirit has lifted a littlebit.
So this is kind of prettyexciting stuff for us.
He's been always doing well at15, but he was starting to go a
little bit, making some poorchoices, I would say cognitively
, and slowing down aches andpains and whatnot.
So we were really excited toget started on this and the fact
that we're seeing these shiftslike so quickly after getting
(03:01):
started on the leap years iskind of mind blowing.
So before we start talkingabout the science of leap years
and a bit about how it works andkind of what it is.
I want to jump into how, whatthe inspiration was behind leap
years and how you all kind ofgot together to create this
(03:22):
fabulous supplement for ourcanine companions.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Excellent.
Well thanks, charlotte.
So Animal Biosciences wascreated as part of a larger
company that was addressinglongevity in humans.
Animal Biosciences becameindependent of that company and
we've been looking at targetingaging and age related decline in
(03:48):
dogs.
Our first product, as youmentioned, is leap years.
That came about through sciencethat was developed through
Harvard by my brother, davidSinclair, who's a leader in the
longevity space, and a lot ofthis science started in yeast
(04:09):
and in mice and we're shown tohave efficacy in extending
lifespan.
As those molecules were used tomove into human trials.
We established AnimalBiosciences to translate that
science to help longevity inpets.
Over the last five years we'vespent a couple of years
(04:31):
developing the molecules, makingsure that they're safe,
well-manufactured, and then wespend about three years doing
trials to make sure that they'reeffective and to prove that
they work.
So Animal Biosciences reallygrew out of our love of animals
and wanting them to be aroundlonger, and the great thing is
(04:53):
being able to translate thisscience to these dogs means that
the results that you're seeingwe're seeing across the board
with the dogs that we'retreating, and it's a really
great feeling to help old dogswhen there's so few treatments
for old dogs.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Right, okay, collaborate.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah.
So when Animal Biosciences wasowned by the parent company, we
were establishing a pathway totherapeutics and drugs rather
than supplements.
We threw a mutual friend.
We got introduced to Ginny, whoat the time was running a small
and large animal hospital herein Massachusetts.
(05:35):
Ginny joined as a consultant,advising us on the animal health
industry in general animalhealth and helping us establish
what sort of things we needed tolook for in our program of
developing these molecules.
Safe to say that a few yearsinto that, Ginny decided that
(05:57):
our company was a lot moreexciting than running a hospital
, and that was in 2019 whenGinny came on board.
Oh gosh right before thepandemic yeah.
Yes, and we've had sometumultuous times.
Our company increased in size,then decreased in size.
At one stage it was just Ginnyand I literally working out of
(06:21):
our home offices through thepandemic and getting this
company off the ground.
But with investment from somegreat angel investors and a lot
of hard push, we've been able totake it from that all the way
through to the company that itis today, so it's been great.
I'm sure Ginny has plenty tosay about that.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
That's right About coming on board.
Sure Well, nick tells the storyof how we began to work
together, but from myperspective as a veterinarian,
you don't often get a chance toimpact the profession in a broad
way, and the whole businessabout changing the paradigm of
(07:02):
aging and looking at senior dogsin a new way giving them a
longer health span was soexciting that this is really
something new for the wholeveterinarian profession as well
as pet parents.
But it was such a greatopportunity it was hard to
resist.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So, Dr Heather, how did you and Ginny and Nick all
connect?
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Oh, that's an interesting story.
I met, actually, david Nick'sbrother through a client of mine
in 2019.
And David started talking to meabout this new company that he
was founding called AnimalBiopsychiatry, and just
(07:53):
informing me about what theirvision was and what kind of
research they were doing andwhat they were looking to try to
do for companion animals in thenear future.
And he then put me in touchwith Nick and Ginny, and then
they further educated me in theproduct that they are developing
(08:14):
, and I've just been somewhatobsessed with anti-aging
medicine for humans and petsever since then.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I love that, and you're the reason that you are
the one that introduced Chanceand I to the products, so
supplements.
So we are grateful to you forthat one, oh thank you.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I'm just so happy to have something that is showing
so much improvement in our pets,I can imagine.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
So can we talk about how it works and what exactly it
is?
Can we talk about the sciencebehind it In ways, in terms that
maybe those of us who aren'tscientifically minded would
understand?
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Make you an answer to that.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Sure.
So lip use is a two-part systemthat works at the cellular
level.
So it works in every cell inyour body.
As we age, there's an enzyme inevery cell that declines.
It's as we age.
From about middle of mid-agethis enzyme declines and every
(09:30):
cell needs this enzyme tofunction properly.
And if you remember back to yourscience days of the,
mitochondria is the powerhouseof the cell and generating
energy within the cell.
This enzyme exists within yourmitochondria and as it declines,
your mitochondria starts notfunctioning as well as it should
(09:51):
and it leads to mitochondrialdysfunction.
Now the things that go on inyour mitochondria are things
like energy production orefficient energy production,
repair of DNA mutations andthose sorts of things, and
dealing with mutations withinthe cell.
All happen within themitochondria, in and around the
(10:11):
mitochondria.
So as the health of thesemitochondria decline, so does
the health of the cell, and ifit's every cell in your body, so
does the health of the entireanimal.
So one part of what we do isreplaces this enzyme, this
coenzyme, which is called NAD.
The other part to our two-partsystem is a thing called a
(10:33):
sandalitic.
So sandalitic are cells in yourbody that essentially should
have died and don't.
They stick around.
They're often known as zombiecells.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And these zombie cells float around.
Now it's good to have somezombie cells in your body.
They're there for immunity,they're there for wound healing.
They do have some purpose.
But if there's too many of themthey actually cause levels of
inflammation and they secreteproteins and other things that
can even inflame the cellsaround them and make them
(11:07):
sandalitic cells or havesenescence.
So molecules have beenidentified to start taking or to
take these senescent cells outof the body and that's done in a
pulse dose, so it's not takenevery day, it's taken once off
and then again once off and itclears out these sandalitic
(11:27):
cells.
So the combination of clearingout the sandalitic cells that
cause inflammation and consumethis NAD molecule so as it's
declining, the sandalitic cellsare also eating it up, using it
up.
So when we clear out thesandalitic cells and the
inflammation and then add theNAD in, that NAD is going to all
(11:48):
the good cells and it's beingused up to revitalize the
mitochondria and the good cells.
When we revitalize every cell,we see that across the body.
So that could be muscleimprovements, because it's
revitalizing the muscle cellsand making them more efficient
and work better, can increaseblood flow as the mitochondria
(12:09):
get more stimulated moremitochondria.
We can see it, as you said, incognition.
We're seeing results wherethese molecules can be affecting
the mitochondria in the cellsin the brain but also affecting
blood flow to the brain.
So we don't necessarily, withthese molecules, target any one
(12:29):
disease.
What we do is target theunderlying cellular processes
that we decline as we age and wecan revitalize those cellular
processes and hence we seerevitalization of the animal.
So it started as a.
We think we can increaseactivity in dogs, give them a
(12:50):
little bit more energy or alittle vim of vitality and, as
we've done our trials, we'veactually been increasingly
surprised of what the totaleffect is.
It affects sleep, it affectsactivity, it affects what we see
as motivation.
The dogs want to get up more.
(13:11):
Even if they're declined andaged, they have more want to get
up.
So it's been a very interestingjourney and the science has
shown to prove itself effectiveas we've moved through it.
So it's been great.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
What has been one of the most surprising things that
you've discovered, thatsomething maybe you didn't
expect in your trials.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah, I think you know we've done this double
blind placebo controlled trialin older dogs.
So these are pet parents whobring their dog to the hospital
to enter this clinical trial andso we compare dogs that get a
placebo to the dogs that get thetreatment.
And, interestingly, in thebeginning this is a six month
(13:59):
trial and in the beginning thereseems to be a placebo effect,
meaning that anytime a petparent gives something to their
dog, maybe we perceive thatthey're getting better.
So we were very interested inthat.
We were surprised.
You know how do you get aplacebo effect in a dog clinical
trial?
But over time the two groups,the control group and the
(14:21):
treated group really change,meaning that what you're
observing, charlotte, in yourdog is similar, that this joie
de vivre, this this Nickdescribes it this motivation to
be moving more and to have moreengagement.
I think the most surprisingthing for us was that dogs are
(14:44):
more engaged with their owners.
So sometimes when dogs getolder, they may sleep more
during the day, may haverestlessness at night.
The other thing that we see isthat it has an impact on the
circadian rhythm of dogs.
Now the circadian rhythm iswhen you sleep and when you
awake.
So we're seeing that dogs sleepmore soundly and then during
(15:08):
the day they're more active thanthey had been, when sometimes
the older dogs get mixed upabout day and night.
So yeah, so that's.
That was a very interestingfinding as well.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
That's fantastic.
So what about you, Heather?
What are some of the mostamazing results that you've seen
in your clients that are onleap years?
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, I have seen I was a bit surprised.
I felt confident that theproduct was going to work, but I
was.
I was a bit surprised by howquickly it worked.
Yeah, and in the older patientsso my, my large dogs that are
(15:51):
on it, that you know, our 14 to15, I've even got a 17 year old
patient that's on it.
They, yes, and those patients,the older they are, it seems
like the faster the ownersreport some sort of change to me
(16:12):
, which is really, really cool.
So I've seen dogs start sleepingthrough the night within seven
to 10 days of being on it.
I've seen, I've had one ownertell me that their dog was
running through the backyardlike a horse, you know, like,
(16:36):
seem to have good coordination.
And, yeah, and this is a dogwho's, you know, fairly wobbly
and has, you know, decreasedcoordination.
Clients tell me that in theirdogs, who were previously not
eating breakfast anymore formonths, within 10 days of
(16:56):
starting leap years, theystarted having a voracious
appetite in the morning, whichleads me to believe that they're
probably getting better sleep.
Maybe their hormone regulationis improving and that's what's
improving their appetite,possibly.
And then I had the probably themost extreme response that I've
(17:22):
had, or the most extremeobservation is in a 15 year old,
smaller dog who had yeah, so,who had lenticular sclerosis,
which I don't know if you'refamiliar with that, but that is
the bluish, hazy change thathappens in the eyes of older
(17:45):
dogs.
So, right in the black pupil itstops being completely crystal
clear, black and it startschanging to like a haziness.
It's not the same as cataracts,but that's just an aging change
that happens in the eye.
And the client sent me a beforeand after picture which was 10
(18:06):
days difference, and the, thehaziness in the eyes, definitely
seems to be decreasing.
So it was something completelyunexpected, yeah, yeah, and I, I
don't know we I don't thinkwe'll ever be able to figure out
if it was completely the, thesupplement that's doing it, but
(18:27):
it is.
We know that it's an agingchange and we know the
supplement is targeting thoseaging mechanisms.
So it could, it could quitepossibly be the reason for the
reversal in the eyes.
I'd like to think so.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I will say that I forgot to mention that the other
day.
My dog always gets very excitedwhen he meets a dog on a walk,
right, and it just.
He loves dogs and he has fromthe get go and he usually gets a
little bit of a zip in his stepif he meets a new dog.
He met a new dog on the walkand then took off running full.
But he's 15 years old, fullbore, I'm not kidding, like he
(19:05):
was two years old.
He's staring at me right nowbecause he knows I'm talking
about him.
He fit like he.
I had him on leash and I healmost pulled me over.
He was going as fast as hepossibly could down the block
and around the block and I waslike, oh, you are going to
really be hurting like the nextday.
But he actually he wasn't, hewas totally fine.
It was pretty incredible and Ican only I mean, the only thing
(19:27):
that I can think of is thatsomehow the leap years have this
effect on him and, as you cantell, I'm a huge fan.
Well you, know.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
It's good to hear this because this has been our
observation and and these are,you know, in our clinical trial,
we're monitoring cognition,we're looking at memory, we're
looking at executive function,and what you're describing is
what the pet parent is seeing asas a result of improvement in
these areas.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
So do you think that that's like them?
Do you think like it's acognitive reaction they just
forget that they're 15 andthey're just generally feeling
so good as it or it's likeliterally a physical physically
he can run In that way that hehasn't been able to run for for
the last ten years, or his brainis just sending him a signal
(20:16):
that well.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I just that's a great question and you know,
mitochondria are in every celland it was starting to tell.
Talk about the mitochondria inthe muscle.
So if you have Active cells inmuscles and you have active
cells in the brain and activecells in the heart, you know
this is an end result of of allof these things, that this is
(20:37):
what we're talking about.
Is this new idea about cellularhealth and that the cells are
in every different kind oftissue in the body?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So it's hard to answer your question, but I
think it is an observation thatis readily made and it's it's
really interesting that a lot ofthe pet parents that we speak
to and In our clinical trialhave observations of quality of
life measures.
So we don't specify those inour trial.
(21:07):
We ask them to pick a measurethat's important to them and
then report on that measurelater.
Might be my dog used to jump onthe couch and they can't jump
on the couch anymore.
They used to run five miles,now they're down to one.
I'd like them to be back tofive miles again and we're
finding significant differencein these key measures in quality
of life.
And it's interesting to seethat you know the things that
(21:30):
make a difference, whether it'sengagement or the things that
owners really notice, becauseowners know the most about their
dogs than than anyone else.
Right, they're pet parentsafter all.
Of course we know every themost about our, but it's it's
it's as we assess that or as we,you know, get the feedback from
this.
Everybody is noticing a distinctchange in quality of life and,
(21:54):
as you say that the Vim or thethe want to go and have some
activity.
It's not just I'm able to havethe activity.
They actually show signs thatthey want to be more active.
So it's interesting.
It's not physical or cognitive?
I think it's a combination ofboth and I think you know, the
same way that any aging dog orcaring for any dog, throughout
(22:16):
its lifespan, there's a lot offactors to it.
There's, you know, how muchexercise they get, what the
nutrition is like, what sort ofenrichment, or you know
stimulation or neurologicalStimulation they have affects
the dogs long term.
Right, can you say that?
You know activity affectscognition.
For sure, if you're active allyour life it's less likely to be
(22:38):
cognitive decline in you inyour elderly time.
So is it.
Is it relational, causational?
Can't really say.
But do we see an effect in allof the things, be cognition or
activities, 100%?
And they seem to go hand inhand.
The more engagement, the moreactivity.
The more activity, the moreengagement.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Okay, so they feel each other, yeah, yeah yeah,
well, we've got.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
We use tracking devices To show the activity of
the dogs on the trial, so theywear a tracking collar and we we
measure it over time and whatwe found at baseline or the
placebo dogs, is they'rerestless at night.
They engage with their ownersin the morning a little bit.
They're restless during the day.
They engage in the afternoon.
(23:24):
Their restless after that.
We found with our treated dogsthat they're they sleep more
soundly and then theirengagement and their activity
when they're in with theirowners goes up significantly.
So we're actually seeing moreengaged, more activity
associated with owner time orparent time.
And then the flat line duringthe day they're sleeping a lot
(23:46):
more soundly, they're not pacingand restless or the owners are
not engaging with them.
And again in the evening we seeanother spike and the activity
goes up relative to theengagement with the owners.
So we can actually correlatedata for activity directly with
Engagement.
So again that, are they moreengaged so they're more active,
or are they more active becausethey're more engaged?
Speaker 1 (24:07):
When does that aging process start?
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yeah, well, that's a.
That's a great question and Ithink the aging process can
start really at any time and alot of the, a lot of the factors
that determine aging and ourrate of aging Um are different
for different dogs at just as itis for different humans.
(24:32):
So we can see our dogs startaging, um, we can.
We can see them to start muchyounger if maybe they haven't
been fed a good quality diet, um, maybe they don't have the the
greatest lifestyle, like, maybethey're couch potatoes, maybe
they don't get very muchexercise, um, maybe they're
overfed, so they're.
You know, we have a we have apet obesity problem.
(24:55):
So, you know, we, that is afactor and that can that can
accelerate aging.
So, um, you know, I think thethe onset of aging and the rate
of aging is definitelyIndividual and it's based on a
lot of different factors.
But what we can look for ineach individual pet as signs of
aging would be signs ofdecreased strength, and that can
(25:20):
manifest, as you actually canlook at your pet and see that
there are bony prominences nowthat you maybe never used to be
able to see, like, maybe you cansee the outline of their hip
bones now, or their spine, yeah,which you didn't use to, and
that is a sign of muscle loss oratrophy, um, and that is a huge
(25:42):
marker for aging.
And another thing would be, youknow, maybe the pet is less
active, their endurance is, youknow, declining, so they're not
wanting to take as many walks,or maybe they're not able to
take as long of walks.
They're sleeping much more,especially during the day.
Uh, maybe they're not sleepingas much at night.
(26:04):
This is really common.
They're kind of that sleepweight cycle gets kind of
flip-flopped, so they're outmost of the day but then they're
like up all night.
Um, there are changes in theirappetite, uh, you know.
So, where they're not like,like I was saying, like they're
not wanting to eat as much inthe morning, they have no
appetite in the morning, andthen they have like increased
(26:26):
appetite during the afternoonand evening, and that seems to
be all linked with that sleepwake cycle disturbance and it's
actually there's actually Achange in their cortisol levels,
which is really important, andthat's a really important
hormone when it comes to aging.
So, you know, and it happens inpeople too, it's, you know, the
(26:49):
sure, the, the.
When we're supposed to have themost cortisol Is the morning
time because we're waking up,there's some stress, um, and the
cortisol gives us thatresistance to stress, um, and if
we're not sleeping through thenight we don't have that, and so
Pets and us will have, we'llhave a harder time getting
(27:09):
through our day, um.
So that's that all this stuffseems to be linked and we're
finding out more and more in thecurrent research that's coming
out Pretty much daily when itcomes to anti aging.
But those are just you knowsome Um, more um, you know more
um prominent signs that you canlook for in your pets.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Is there an age that a dog should start, something
like leap years?
Or have you found that it worksbetter in older dogs?
Or you should start them youngto prevent the aging?
What is the science telling youabout that?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Well, interestingly, we see the greatest effect in
the oldest dogs.
Now you may say, okay, theyhave the most mitochondrial
dysfunction in their cells, theyhave the most senescent cells.
So when you fix both of thoseproblems maybe they see a bigger
improvement.
We see that for sure.
(28:10):
Now the question is you knowwhen do you start something like
this?
And ideally you know you wouldstart it before you see any
cognitive decline or anydecrease in activity, to
preserve that baseline, thatbaseline of where they are.
So I would say, the earlier thebetter.
You know you don't have tostart it in a two year old, but
(28:34):
depending on what the diseasesare that a dog may have you know
someone with arthritis from badhips, being of a certain breed,
or something like that.
Or you know any older dog.
Once a dog is considered older,and that varies by breed, of
course then I would say thatwould be the time that you'd
(28:57):
want to implement this.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
We've read that you're considered an older, like
a senior dog starting at seven,right, and you're saying that
that varies depending on thebreed and size of the dog, or is
it?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I mean, of course, if you're a seven year old great
Dane, you're at a really elderlygreat Dane versus.
Do you have any great Danes inyour study?
Interestingly, most dogs in ourclinical trial.
So we have several differenttypes of studies going on, but
in the clinical trial most dogsare between 25 and 45 kilograms.
(29:29):
So that's those that's, youknow.
60 to 80 pounds.
So they're all.
Yeah, there's a large proportionof large dogs, yeah, so anyway,
yes, that seven seems to be amagical number.
You know, when we start feeding, maybe senior diets and that
sort of thing, but if you, ifyou're a larger breed dog, it is
(29:50):
a lot earlier.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah.
So we recommend, I think youknow, as a rule of thumb,
preventative starts aroundmidway through their expected
lifespan.
So if there are, you know ifthere are expected lifespan is
10, you would start four or five.
Their expected lifespan is 16,then you're going to be starting
around seven or eight.
(30:13):
Having said that, you know youcan start earlier, that earlier
than that, preventatively, youmay not see any any change
because it's warding off decline.
It's prophylactically wardingoff decline as opposed to
addressing something that'salready an issue.
Around two thirds of lifespanis when we really start seeing a
(30:34):
decline in dogs and startseeing really significant change
like the effect of these dogs.
So once you're getting to aboutthree quarters of lifespan,
that's when people are reallystarting saying my dog is old,
he's really decrepit, he'sreally going downhill.
And those are a lot of the dogsthat we treat and that's where
(30:54):
we see the most bounce back.
I guess it's all relative tobaseline.
The further away they are fromthe baseline of a healthy dog,
the more we can bring them backclose to that baseline.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
You know, Nick, thanks for bringing that up.
Aha, which is the AmericanAnimal Hospital Association,
they recently put out aguideline on this business about
two thirds of the lifespan.
You know that you, instead ofsaying seven years old, or you
know how old a dog is, based onnumerical year.
As Nick said, two thirds of alifespan puts you in that senior
(31:30):
category.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That makes more sense , right yeah, so two thirds of
the lifespan based on theirbreed.
Based on their breed.
Okay, what if they're mixed up?
Rescue?
Yeah well, like my dog, yougotta sort that one out.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Get the DNA test and find out what their breeds are.
Right, it's a real crap.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah over there?
Yeah, clearly 15.
Well, that's hybrid vigor foryou.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So, how?
How well, this is just sofantastic.
So how can this improve thehuman animal bond?
Right, how can this improve thequality of life of our pets?
Obviously, but how can itimprove our, the bond that we
have with our pets and theexpectations that we have of our
pets?
Right, I think.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
I can go to.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I think that.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I think the biggest impact this has on human animal
bond is really related to that,that sense of engagement.
We all know all of us haveexperienced an old dog they tend
to disconnect a little.
More they're asleep, morethey're not willing to, you know
, follow you around, do theactivities you do over your day,
(32:47):
but you know they're moreinclined to interact with you
less frequently the older theyget.
What we're finding is that thatfrequency of interaction gets
increased and the time that youspend with your dog increases
because the dog has more energyand more time to spend, more
want to be with you.
(33:09):
Yeah, but I think the other,the flip side of that is, as our
dogs age, it's very difficultto do anything for them.
We all have that sense of whatcan I do for my aging dog.
Often we treat disease, wetreat the symptoms of disease
and then we there's not muchelse we can do we just say, okay
(33:32):
, it's, there's a lump, let'sremove it.
They've, you know they've gotdiabetes or they've got an issue
that we can treat.
But apart from that, the old mydog is just slowing down.
There's never been anything toactually treat that or do
anything about that.
Right, that ability to do thatfor your dog, I've found, is
(33:55):
improves that human animal bond,that ability to be able to help
them give back what they'vegiven to you.
That's huge, and increasing theactivity and that that
engagement in that moment andthroughout the day is, you know,
really makes a difference in anold dog's life.
I think that's the biggestimprovement for the bond.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Well, charlotte, you, you know, right, you know what
it's like to have an older dogLike you're.
You might be worried that thetime is growing short.
You may want to provideeverything you possibly can to
provide comfort, and that justthose things in and of
themselves improves the humananimal bond.
(34:35):
And when we were talking aboutyou know what, what is leap
years?
And we said, well, it's morelife in your dog.
And then then all of a suddenit came to us and it's more dog
in our lives, right, so it'sright, and so that's how we get
filled up with our older dog isthat they are more with us and
(34:56):
more engaged and so moresatisfying for the relationship
between us.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Absolutely.
Yeah, it's.
It can be anxiety producingwhen you have an old dog and you
don't quite know how you canhelp them.
All you can Um, and it kind oftakes.
It does take a little bit ofthat anxiety away.
Knowing that I'm seeing thesechanges in him, right Right, I
still know that he's old, Istill know that he's 15, but
(35:22):
seeing that he's got a littlebit more vim and vigor, you know
, helps alleviate some of myanxiety.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
Well, I mean, that's the whole idea is to improve
what we're calling the healthspan.
You know that it's an older dogbut remains healthy.
You know, maybe remains diseasefree or for stalls some of
those very common diseases ofaging.
Yes, right, I was just going tosay it was interesting.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
When we started the journey, we were actually
looking at increasing longevity.
So we're going to increaselifespan, right.
And then we really quicklybecame apparent that nobody
wants to expend lifespan Ifhealth span doesn't get extended
with it.
It's about the quality of life.
Nobody wants an old, sick doglonger.
What we want is healthier dogsand if that makes them live
(36:09):
longer, then all the better.
I mean, that's the ultimate.
So we very quickly set down apathway when we're developing
leap years to say how does thishelp your dog enjoy life more?
It's not about more of it, it'sabout enjoying what they've got
and the great.
What we think is and what we'reseeing in some of the dogs that
(36:30):
have been on it a longer timeis they do have a better quality
of life.
And you know they still get oldand they still pass away.
But you know that that lastlittle bit's been.
You've helped them along withthat last little bit and that's
what we focus on.
It's that quality piece, notthe extension.
That's about the quality of it.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Is there any dog that this is not a good fit for?
Are there side effects or dogswho might have allergies or
anything?
Speaker 3 (36:58):
like that.
Well, that's a great questionand a very important one, and
both of the compounds that makeup leap years are natural
products and they're found, youknow, if you ate enough apple
skin or if you you know.
So they're found in lots offood products, so they are safe,
(37:19):
and we've tested leap years upto 30 times, you know, so that
if a dog ate a whole jar of allthe chews, you know what would
happen, and so it was veryreassuring to see that there's
no effects in regard to that.
So, yes, so we're prettyconfident around the safety of
(37:40):
leap years.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
And the nice thing is that the leap years product can
be given with most anythingthat senior pets are going to be
on supplement wise, Like mostof their issues are gonna be
like joint related anddiscomfort related and
antioxidants and things likethat.
(38:01):
And so this, the leap years,you know it's a safe product and
we don't have to worry about,you know, like a major drug
interaction or something likethat.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Right, I think that's gonna be my next question, so
and we specifically yeah, wespecifically chose ingredients
that A are palatable for dogsbut there's no animal proteins
in there at all.
These are all compounds thatare low allergenic we can't say
hypoallergenic, but lowallergenic proven to be safe in
animals without animal protein.
(38:37):
So, yeah, we made sure that weaddressed that.
We know that there's a lot ofdogs out there with allergies of
various sorts.
Right.
So a very cognizant of thatwhen formulating the product to
make sure we had them allcovered and sensitive temi.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
my dog has a super sensitive temi.
He's thriving on these.
I mean he's had no nothingadverse happened whatsoever.
Good to hear.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
We're your best testimonial.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Well, I'm from Romeo yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
I've had quite a few veterinarians tell me that they
smell really yummy, and they'dwanna eat them and I'm like okay
.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, what would happen?
Speaker 2 (39:12):
if we had to hold another podcast but what if we
ate them?
Speaker 1 (39:15):
What would happen?
All right, well, thanks so much, you guys.
Do you have anything that youwanna add?
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Yeah, that's it.
No, I'm glad to hear that yourhuman animal bond has improved
as a result of it.
Well, we couldn't ask for morethan that, so kudos to you Well
thank you so much and so movingforward.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
How do people come to find leap years when we found
them through Dr Heather?
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Yeah, we're on the web at leapyearscom and we're
also on Instagram and Facebookat leapyears4dogs, with the
number four Got it, so all one.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I'll put all those in the show notes and stuff, all
right, you guys?
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Thanks, charlotte.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Okay, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Thank you, thanks for having us, bye guys, bye guys.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of the Brewer
podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please don't forget to rate and
follow us wherever you listen topodcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram, at barupodcast, and
if you have a story of cancompanionship that you want to
(40:22):
share with me, a comment or evena question, I'd love to hear
from you.
You can email me, charlotte, atthe barucom.
All right, you guys, let's chatnext week.
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