When the Rowe family – mother Tara, father Jason, and daughter Eloise – saw their dog Ralph for the first time at an adoption event in 2012, they knew they wanted him instantly.
“We were like, ‘Ralph, that’s our dog,'” Tara Rowe told Anderson Cooper in an interview.
Ralph was mellow but liked to play hard. He loved frisbee, camping in the mountains and swimming, and munching on carrots and ice cubes. People were amused by Ralph’s proportions: he had stubby legs and a big head.
“He gets a lot of attention because he looks pretty funny,” Tara told 60 Minutes.
Ralph helped his family through some difficult times. Eloise was born with esophageal atresia/tracheoesophageal fistula. She had multiple surgeries and experienced a range of complications throughout her life; some still persist today. Jason had a cardiac arrest while riding his bike eight years ago. He suffered an anoxic brain injury that resulted in permanent cognitive issues.
“Ralph was our unconditional love. Happy, comforting and always there when our world fell apart time and time again,” Tara told 60 Minutes Overtime. “It’s as if he could sense how much pain we were in, and could ease it.”
The Rowe family: Jason (left), Eloise (center), Tara (right), and Ralph (bottom). Courtesy Tara Rowe
In 2024, the Rowes noticed a significant change in Ralph’s behavior. He seemed anxious and confused, pacing around a mountain home they had been visiting for years. “He just couldn’t calm down. He just wasn’t comfortable. He was pacing, panting a lot,” Tara told Cooper. “He just wasn’t himself.”
In February 2025, Ralph took a cognitive test and was clinically diagnosed with dementia. He was then enrolled in the Dog Aging Project, a collaboration between dog owners, veterinarians and scientists to study dogs as they age.
“If, you know, Ralph can be a part of a study that helps to figure out what could work for dementia in dogs, like, ‘Yes. Let’s get answers,'” Tara said.
Over 50,000 dogs have participated in the Dog Aging Project so far and the scientists working on the initiative hope they can unlock the secrets of a longer, healthier life for dogs and humans.
Dr. Dirk Keene is a neuropathologist from the University of Washington who is part of the Dog Aging Project. He believes studying dogs with dementia can help scientists gain new insights into human diseases like Alzheimer’s.
- Want to live a longer, healthier human life? Dog brains might hold key information for longevity.
“To understand human disease and to be able to intervene and even prevent human disease… we have to find the right model. And in dogs, we think we have a really unique opportunity,” he told Cooper in an interview.
Keene showed Cooper four brains, sliced in half, on a medical tray: a human brain of someone who had dementia, a human brain of someone who didn’t have dementia, the brain of a dog that had dementia, and the brain of a dog that didn’t.
Keene noted the similarities in structure between the dog and human brains.
“You can see the dog brain has the same frontal lobe, temporal lobe, [and] occipital lobe,” he said.
And dementia changes brain size and structure in very similar ways in both humans and dogs: as the disease kills off neurons, the brain shrinks and the space in the middle cavity enlarges.
Cooper held the two human brain halves in his hands for comparison, noting that it looked like something had “completely fallen out” of the middle cavity in the shrunken brain.
“Yeah,” Keene replied, “it’s remarkable.”
Anderson Cooper holding two human brains: half a brain of someone with dementia (left) and half of a healthy brain (right). Dementia shrinks the brain and enlarges the space in the middle cavity as the disease kills off neurons. 60 Minutes
Last year, Cooper and the 60 Minutes team filmed a short-term memory test with Ralph that was conducted by comparative psychologist Evan MacLean.
Ralph was shown where a treat is hidden and then allowed to go get it seconds later. The first time, Ralph quickly forgot about the treat, wandered off and picked up a piece of lint off the floor. The second time, he walked up to MacLean and then walked away. The third time, he sniffed around and then wandered off again.
MacLean said Ralph showed signs of cognitive impairment in the test.
“A typical young dog will find the treat quickly and easily in this task, even if they are required to wait before they are released to search, ” MacLean told 60 Minutes Overtime.
“Not only does [Ralph] not know where the treat is hidden, he seems to forget that there is a treat hidden altogether. When he is released to search, he wanders aimlessly, as if he has entirely forgotten what happened seconds beforehand,” he explained.
In August last year, McGrath scanned Ralph’s brain using an MRI machine. She showed Cooper the results.
On the left side of a monitor was an MRI of a healthy dog without dementia, and on the right was an MRI of Ralph’s brain. The two images were noticeably different: Ralph’s brain had more white pockets.
MRI scans of a healthy dog’s brain (left) and Ralph’s brain (right). The white parts of Ralph’s brain are pockets of fluid that expand as the brain shrinks. 60 Minutes
“So all the white is fluid. So that’s the fluid that bathes your brain. Normally it should be kind of hard to see,” McGrath told Cooper. “On Ralph’s, you can see his brain has shrunken… as it shrinks, there’s nothing left to do but fill in with fluid,” McGrath explained.
“Is there anything you can do to help Ralph?” Cooper asked.
“Right now, just like in humans with Alzheimer’s disease, there’s no broadly effective treatment available,” McGrath said.
Sadly, Ralph passed away in December. But after his death, scientists were able to learn more from him.
Julie Moreno, a molecular biologist from Colorado State University, helped conduct a pilot study of the drug rapamycin with 12 dogs, all showing signs of dementia. One group of dogs, including Ralph, were fed a pill containing rapamycin. The rest were given a placebo.
As the dogs have died, Moreno has examined their brains. She found that the dogs who took rapamycin had fewer microglial cells, which produce inflammation commonly associated with dementia.
Ralph’s results were similar. Moreno shared a slide with 60 Minutes that showed noticeably fewer microglial cells in Ralph’s brain compared to the brain of a dog who was given a placebo.
A brain image of a dog with dementia who was given a placebo (left) and an image of Ralph’s brain (right). Ralph’s brain had fewer microglia (the teal-colored strands) which produce inflammation commonly associated with dementia. 60 Minutes
The Rowe family told 60 Minutes Overtime that they are happy Ralph could make a valuable contribution to the science of aging.
“Ralph was always going to be a memorable dog to anyone who crossed his path, but this contribution to science makes us especially proud of him,” Tara told Overtime.
“As a family, we’ve experienced medical concerns and moments of uncertainty where we may never have all the answers. The fact that Ralph was able to contribute to science — to be part of exploring the unknown of dementia – means more to us than we can fully put into words. It gives his life an added sense of purpose, and brings us comfort knowing he may help others in the future.”
In an interview with McGrath, Cooper asked if there was any way for dog owners to protect the brain health of their dogs.
“Well, the more skeptical answer is we’re still trying to figure it out,” McGrath said. “The more optimistic answer is… all the things you kind of hear about in humans seem to be doing the same thing in dogs. So keep them active. Keep them working. Keep them thinking, and [a] good diet.”
The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Nelson Ryland.