‘The most measured dog in the world': Bryan Johnson wants his pooch to live forever by his side. Can you prolong your pet’s life?

His new dog, named Katara, is a professionally trained Belgian Malinois. She’s almost two years old, with plenty of life ahead of her. Johnson doesn’t want that to ever change.

“She’s going to become the most measured dog in the world,” said Johnson.” We’re going to do a whole bunch of longevity therapies on her because dogs are amazing.”

Here’s why Johnson’s so interested in Katara’s health — and how the pet wellness industry wants to sell those same ideas to you.

Bryan Johnson’s interest in pet longevity isn’t just for his dog’s sake

From the beginning, Katara was part of Johnson’s personal longevity strategy.

“I got a dog,” reads one of Johnson’s X posts from August. The post included a picture of Johnson, Katara, and Johnson’s girlfriend Kate Tolo. “Dog owners have about a 24% lower risk of dying early. What should I do now?”

If he was looking for a long-lived canine companion, a Belgian Malinois is a good choice. Unlike many purebred dogs — especially ones big enough to serve as a guard dog — Belgian Malinois are a relatively healthy breed, living up to 10 to 14 years.

They’re also very high energy, making them a great companion for a man who exercises as frequently as Johnson does. Their intelligence makes them very trainable, another good trait for guard dogs.

It turns out that Katara’s role as a longevity guinea pig — guinea dog? — isn’t solely for her benefit either.

Right now, Johnson is starting her longevity routine by figuring out the best foods for her health. But he’s thinking of branching out into medications as well — and he believes medication testing on dogs could benefit humans, too.

“It’s remarkable how much dogs and humans have in common,” said Johnson according to Business Insider. “When you read through the literature on dogs, and you just replace humans with dogs, there are so many similarities.”

Dog drug trials can be both expensive and time-consuming, but they’re both shorter and less expensive than human trials. Johnson is counting on that.

“The path for drug approval is substantially faster for dogs than humans, so you can get a lot of scientific work done in a shorter period of time,” Johnson told Business Insider.

Johnson isn’t the only one who wants their pet to live forever — the pet wellness industry is taking advantage of it

You don’t need to wait for Johnson’s research to invest in pet longevity for your own pet. The pet wellness industry sold $3 billion worth of pet supplements last year.