How can we help our four-legged friends live longer…and, what can we learn from them? Enter the Dog Aging Project, whose mission is focused on not just lifespan but healthy aging. With more than 50,000 dogs currently enrolled—all voluntarily based on a wide call for participation to pet owners—this open science project makes its data available to researchers around the world via a cloud platform hosted by MIT and Harvard. Both the organization itself and students at universities around the world are also using the information to expand knowledge of the human aging process; even though dogs age more rapidly than humans, they experience the same diseases of aging, they are genetically diverse, and they share our environment. Not surprisingly, research shows that dogs with other canine or human companions were more active, healthier and had better aging outcomes, mirroring what we know about people: Connection and community are critical to staying healthy as we age.