Welcome to Long Living Pets Research Academy

I'm Thomas Sandberg the founder of Long Living Pets Research Projects a 30-year observational study into longevity and cancer in pets. I'm on a mission to extend the life of dogs and cats. I am seeing results far beyond what I anticipated back in 2000 when I started. 

I'm 18 years into this study and I have over 5000 dogs and cats participating as of January 2018. The goal is 10K dogs and 5K cats. The unique part of this study is that they are all fed a raw food diet. Which makes it the world's longest and largest observational study into raw feeding. The results from the 18 first years are extremely encouraging. 

I started this 'Academy' to share my findings with you and for you to share your findings with me and other members. This is a private membership networking community where we can share what we have experienced with our pets using a natural approach to pet healthcare. 

I have collected a lot of data over the past 18 years from the participants in my study. I'm ready to start sharing some of my findings so more pets can benefit and hopefully live longer healthier lives. 

I have learned more from pet owners in my study than from any other source. You can't go to school anywhere to obtain this information.  I hope this will be as rewarding for you as it has been for me. 

I learn something new every day, especially from my extensive product testing and research. I have discovered products that can help pets and products that do nothing. I will share the results with the community. 

Some wonder why they have not heard of my studies before. The reason is that I have been very private and careful about sharing my findings in the public domain. For a short time about 10 years ago I was sharing more just to find out that individuals and companies used my findings to promote themselves and their products. That is not acceptable to me. 

Until recently I have kept this low profile. Still, the interest (word by mount) for my research has grown significantly over the past two years. The time I spend on helping (consulting) pet owners take up a lot of time to a point that I can't help everyone that asks me for assistance. That is difficult to accept knowing how much it affects me when I have a pet in distress. I do not charge for my consulting since I see this as a valuable addition to my research. I do only charge a small fee for phone consultations. If I did not I would be on the phone all day long. The consulting is done in a private forum on an individual basis. I hope to move that part under this platform. 

I consult pet owners in exchange for their story and that becomes part of my research documentation as individual case files. I have learned a lot from these cases and find it to be my most valuable source of information when it comes to health issues in pets. 

I want to help more pet owners and have been looking for ways to do that. Recently a friend turned me on to Mighty Networks as an option for a community type platform.  I like their fresh new approach to creating communities and think it is a perfect fit for us. 

If you seek information about possible ways for our pet(s) to live longer and lower the risk of chronic diseases please join our community. I will share my findings from the first 20 years of my study. I hope pet owners and professionals see this as a place to find information, answers and also share their experiences to the benefit of everyone. I can't promise any kind of results, but I can share my observations and leave it up to you to make your own decisions. 

Together we are stronger and by sharing information that we have examined and discussed will hopefully give us some authority and recognition. Right now there is too much misinformation and confusion online. This makes it very difficult for someone seeking good information when it comes to keeping their pet healthy. 

In my opinion, that is not complicated and I can prove that. There are too many opinions and suggestions that complicates things like the diet. What is the right thing to feed a dog and cat? What is balanced food? That is a huge subject and confusing to many. The sad result from this confusion is fear of doing something wrong. So many will, therefore, do nothing. I totally understand that. Fear is not a productive state. It keeps us in a safe known place. Unfortunately, this state is often not the best for our pets. To me, there is nothing more frustrating to understand that there are better options for our pets but not having the knowledge to do it. It comes down to: Who do you trust? 

I believe we can remove that fear and help anyone sitting on the fence started on a good food diet. We can make you never think about balanced diets and micronutrients the way you may think of it now. There is a simple solution for this that few teaches. I will share this. 

Based on the data from my study, dogs and cats can live much longer than they do today compared to current lifespan statistics. By sharing this we can help more pets live longer healthier lives. Nothing means more to me than to spend more years with my pets. We all outlive our pets many times during our lifetime. Losing a pet hurts so much every time. I never get used to it. 

I just recently (April 2018) lost my 18-year-old Dachshund due to injuries from a horrific accident. This was a huge loss to me and I had a very difficult time dealing with it (still have). I feel I failed to protect her.  She was such a sweet kind and soulful dog and did not deserve such an end to her life. She was my little longevity ambassador for my modalities. I will share the details when I'm ready. 

Why am I calling this an Academy?

Academy to me is a place of learning something you can't learn anywhere else. We are all researchers exploring what is the right way to care for a dog and cat. With the right way I mean for the animal not for us. If you are here and reading this you are a researcher, the type I want to be associated with. 

Definition of Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, higher learning, research, or honorary membership. The term academia refers to the worldwide human group composed of professors and researchers at institutes of higher learning.

My comment: I know it is a bit of a stretch calling this an academy but again it really is not. This is how I see it: There is no higher learning for pet owners that have taken the responsibility back from the professionals when it comes to applying a natural approach to health care for our pets. I would like to add pet owners that practice this to the category of 'higher learning'. Hands-on experience and feedback from those that practice a natural approach is more valuable to me than what anyone can teach me at this time. 

I want to make something very clear. There are wonderful veterinarians (allopathic and holistic) out there. I am not discounting them and their knowledge.  What I feel is missing is the responsibility we give up when we ask for help. This is mostly based on a lack of knowledge. The more we know about what our pets thrive on and the options we have when it comes to health care for our pets the better decisions we can make.  

That is what I hope this Academy can provide. Equip you with the knowledge to keep the responsibility for your pet when you ask for professional help. 

So, in my opinion, this is the highest form of learning and teaching for pet owners when it comes to how we can extend the life of our pets and also protect them from chronic diseases. I would like to see students become teachers. I define teachers as someone that share information to help others make good decisions.  

I just share what other pet owners have experienced with their pets. I'm so grateful for having that opportunity through my research projects. I have seen mindblowing transformation just changing the diet to what is appropriate for the particular species.  All species on this planet have preferred food sources that their digestive systems are designed for. The digestive system's main function is to digest and provide. Providing the right food is the key to avoid a body that is in dis-ease. 

The question is. Who is best suited to make sure this happens? The answer to this is the same for all species. Mother Nature.  Only when we humans get involved (with lack of knowledge) things go wrong. 

I always say keeping a dog healthy is not something we need to invent or develop. The answer has been there for thousands of years. All we need to do is to look at nature. What is a natural environment for dogs and cats? By the environment, I mean everything that can affect a dog's and cat's life. 

Nature has the answer to a healthy life for our pets. We just need to read it and interpret it correctly and not try to change mother nature's manual by winging it to our benefit and convenience. The sad fact is that we are creatures of convenience. That approach is killing our pets. 

That's a taste of education you will get from me and other members in this community. I hope you all pitch in to help each other. I'll do my best to answer everyone but any help from other pet owners is welcomed and appreciated. 

I can't have a community like this without your support. I thank you from the bottom of my heart if you join me on my mission. 

A special thanks to those that have registered for the raw feeding study. The results that will come from that will benefit thousands of pets worldwide.  These results can't be ignored.

I also want to say a special Thank You to those that have donated to my non-profit organization. Those donations regardless of size help me help more pets and it also gets me closer to open the research/rescue center I dream about every single day. I will share these plans with you inside this community. 

Many of you know that I also consult pet owners that have dogs and cats with chronic diseases. I share my findings from hundreds of cases I have studied. I do not charge for this. This is now taking more time than any other project I'm involved with. I have to find other ways to generate income so I can continue supporting pet owners fighting for the life of their pet. 

One way is to charge a small ($5/month) membership fee for participating in this community. I hope you understand and see this as a contribution to my work and service to our beloved pets. 

I have consulted with other communities and they told me a paid membership community attracts people with a stronger desire to help and participate. That's the key to me. I want to build a community of sharing so we can affect as many pet owners as possible inside and outside this community. Together we can make a stronger impact.  

Thanks for reading through this long introduction. It was written for those that do not know me very well. I hope you to see you inside and I will share much more. I also hope to learn something from you.