Opt-in research

Every walk you log can count for canine longevity research.

Tailmates is working to radically extend canine lifespan. Opt in, and the walks you log join a de-identified dataset for that research. The app works exactly the same either way.

One walk for you. One data point for the research.

How to turn it on What gets shared

Off unless you turn it on. No points, no badges, nothing traded for it.

What a walk shares

What a walk shares, and what it never does.

When a walk ends, the app keeps everything it always keeps for you. With the switch on, the research dataset also gets a separate row with its date, distance, duration, pace and active minutes, filed under a research code instead of your dog's name.

Your walk, in the appYours

Where you walkedStays with you
Time of day7:42 AM
Your dogName and photo
DateOct 5
Distance1.84 mi
Duration41 min
Pace22'17" a mile
Active minutes38

The research rowDe-identified

research coderd_7f3a9c…
walk_date2026-10-05
distance_m2960
duration_s2460
pace_s_per_km831
active_minutes38
consent2026-08-v3

Goes to research, only with the switch on

The date of the walk
Distance, rounded to 10 meters
Duration, rounded to 10 seconds
Pace
Active minutes, from your phone's motion read

Never goes

Your route, or a single location point
Where you walked, or where you live
The time of day
Your name, email or account
Your dog's name or photos
Anything you post, say in chat or record

Each row also notes which version of the consent covered it. Only walks you log yourself count, and only while the switch is on. Walks the app's checks flag, like a drive, are left out.

What the research uses

What the research is built to use.

Walks come first. The aim is the whole picture of how a dog ages, followed over years: weight and body condition, health records and medications, and how they line up with how long and how well dogs live. Each part has its own switch, off until you turn it on.

Walks and activity
Date, distance, duration, pace and active minutes.
In the dataset
Body condition and photos, over time
Body condition check-ins and the photos added with them, compared across the years.
Switch in the app, not in a dataset yet
Medications and supplements
The name, dose, how often and the start and stop dates, to study how they relate to aging.
Switch in the app, not in a dataset yet
Vet records and lab results
Records your connected vet practice shares, and bloodwork results.
Switch in the app, not in a dataset yet
Weight, breed and age
Your dog's weight log, breed and age, so every change can be read in context.
Planned, needs its own consent
Longevity assessments, over time
Each Longevity Estimate the app makes, followed from year to year.
Planned, needs its own consent

Planned parts reach research only after a new version of the consent names them, and only for dogs whose owners turn them on. Reading photos for signs of age, like coat, eyes or gait, needs a new consent too. Tailmates never reads pharmacy or prescription systems.

Who can use it

Kept inside Tailmates. Published only as findings.

Tailmates

Tailmates can use it to study canine health and longevity, and to build and test health and longevity methods, like the longevity score. That is all the consent allows.

Outside researchers

None has access today. Any outside researcher would need our approval and would have to follow our access controls and data-use requirements.

Everyone

We publish methods and findings in the open, as totals and summaries. Raw records and anything that identifies you or your dog are not published.

How to opt in

One switch, in the app.

Open Settings
In the app, open Profile, then Settings. Under Privacy, choose Research and data contribution.
Turn on Walks and activity
That's the switch for walks. The other switches are saved as your choices too, but only walks reach a research dataset today.
Change it any time
Turn it off in the same place. New walks stop going in, and your dog's walks leave the live dataset right away. Analyses already completed stay as they are.

From version 1.2.2, new members are also asked once, after their first walk. The switch starts off.

The research question new members see after their first walk: a switch labelled Contribute my walks to research, off, with the five things it shares and a Continue button — The question after the first walk, from version 1.2.2.

Methods and findings

Read the work.

The papers behind the longevity score are public as editorial previews. They are not peer reviewed yet.

Design and computational verification of a transparent canine health-and-longevity compositeHow the longevity score is computed, where every number comes from, and what it does not yet claim. Editorial preview on Frontier Science, not yet peer reviewed.Prospective validation of a dynamic multimodal canine health and longevity modelThe plan for testing the model against real outcomes, written before the data is in. Editorial preview on Frontier Science, not yet peer reviewed.

Findings: none yet. The questions worth answering need many dogs and years of walks. When we publish a finding, it will be listed here.

The science behind the score

Questions

The short answers.

Is it on by default?

No. Every switch starts off, and nothing goes to research until you turn one on.

What do I get for opting in?

Nothing, on purpose. No points, no badges, no perks. Tailmates works the same either way.

Does my route go in?

Never. Not the route, not a single location point, and not where the walk happened.

Could anyone find my dog in the dataset?

The dataset holds no names, accounts, photos, routes or places. Each dog appears only as a research code that only Tailmates could link back, and only Tailmates can open the dataset.

What happens if I turn it off?

New walks stop going in, and your dog's walks leave the live dataset right away. Analyses already completed, and results already published, stay as they are, because changing a finished analysis would make it impossible to check.

What about the other switches?

Body condition, lab results, medications, diet, vet records, end of life and contact are saved as your choices, but nothing from them reaches a research dataset yet. If that changes, this page will say so.

Your dog. Your data. Your call.

One walk at a time.

Get Tailmates