Fight over World's Oldest Dog
By
Eric Shackle
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![](http://www.pencilstubs.com/images/Magazine/Supporting/BlueDogSeries.jpg) |
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Blue
Dog Series by George Rodrigue http://www.georgerodrigue.com/ |
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©2009 Rodrigue Studios http://www.georgerodrigue.com/ |
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Dog owners, TV stations and newspapers in the United States and Britain
are embroiled in a lively dogfight to discover The World's Oldest Dog.
Naturally, they favor their local pooches. But they can't all be right.
The competition began last December, when Lee Lutz, in the Times Beacon
Record, on the North Shore of Long Island, New York, asked,
"Is this dachshund the oldest dog in the world?" He drew
attention to a 19-year-old wire-haired dachshund named Chanel.
A few months later, the global spotlight focused on Chanel when she
celebrated her 20th birthday. The Guinness Book of Records listed her as
The World's Oldest Dog. Pictures of a cute little mutt wearing goggles and
a colorful sweater, looking like a First World War aviator in an aerial
dogfight, were seen on TV and in newspapers by millions of dog lovers (and
dog haters too).
In April 2009 OhmyNewsInternational rained on the pooch's picnic with a
story, Chanel
is NOT the World's Oldest Dog. We said many dogs had lived much longer
than Chanel, but were not eligible to be listed by Guinness, which insists
on their ages being documented. That's not always possible.
We said that the 100th birthday of Bluey, a famous Australian cattle dog
born on June 7, 1910, is to be celebrated next year by people living in
Rochester, a country town 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Melbourne,
Victoria.
Bluey worked among sheep and cattle for 20 years, and survived until Nov.
14, 1939, when he was put down. He had lived for 29 years, five months and
seven days, on a diet of kangaroos and emus. He was the world's oldest
dog, a record that has never been beaten.
On May 22, 2009 TV station 10-KLFY in New Iberia, Louisiana, reported
that a "terier mix" named Max, owned by Janelle Derouen of New
Iberia, was laying claim to the Guinness Book of World Records title of
"Oldest Dog in the World." The report said:
"Max is a terrier mix who's been part of Janelle Derouen's family
just a few weeks after his birth on August 9th, 1983. That makes Max
almost 26 years old.
Janelle says Max is in remarkably good shape. He suffers from cataracts,
so he wears doggie goggles when he's out in the sun, and a touch of
arthritis has slowed him down, but not by much."
When Janelle spotted our story on the current record holder, Chanel, she
knew she had to let the world know about her incredible canine. We'll keep
you posted on Max's quest for the title of world's oldest dog, but in the
meantime, Max isn't letting his sudden celebrity go to his head.
You can see a video of Max and his owner here:
Serendipitously, George
Rodrigue, a Cajun artist, grew up in New Iberia. His Blue Dog series
of paintings, known worlwide, are thought to have been inspired by his dog
named Tiffany.
Apparently oblivious of Max's claim to the title, Florida's St.Petersburg
Times promoted another contestant on May 30. A story
by Stefan Jaeger was entitled "St.Petersburg Man Says He Owns the
World's Oldest Dog". It said:
Joe Slatton of St. Petersburg wasn't impressed when he learned NBC's Today
Show had featured what it deemed the world's oldest living dog at
21. Slatton says that at the time the show aired May 6, he was most
likely out walking his 23-year-old Shih Tzu, Smokey. "My wife told
me about the show," Slatton said: "Of course she knew, too,
that Smokey was way older than that dog on TV."
Smokey, golden brown with all his hair, is not only older, but more
active. He loves his walks and has his own wardrobe.
Slatton, 78, and Mary, 76, his wife of 55 years, took in Smokey nine
years ago when the dog's former owner moved to a place where she
couldn't have a pet.
Records at the VCA St. Petersburg Animal Hospital show Smokey was born
Jan. 18, 1986. That was two days before the first federal Martin Luther
King Jr. Day was celebrated and 10 days before the space shuttle
Challenger disaster.
The rival claims of Max and Smokey failed to cross the Atlantic, because
on June 1, Andy Crick wrote
in the London tabloid The Sun:
Yorkshire terrier Sammy is 23-years-old which makes him two years older
than the current canine world record holder...
The pensioner pooch has had half his teeth out and can barely see or
hear. But owner Doug Percival, 73, has only had to take him to the vets
ONCE since he got him as a two-year-old pup.
He puts his longevity down to them looking after each other and
twice-weekly treats from the fish and chip shop.
We were about to award the WOD (World's Oldest Dog) crown to Max, when we
stumbled on a story in The Daily Mountain Eagle, in Jasper,
Alabama. Staff reporter Jennifer Williams has discovered a pooch that's a
year older than Max!
![](http://www.pencilstubs.com/images/Magazine/Supporting/TaffyGayle.jpg) |
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Brenda
and Barney Harvill with their 26-year-old poodle,Taffy Gayle |
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©2009 Jennifer Williams /Daily
Mountain Eagle |
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"Brenda and Barney Harvill of Curry don’t mind that their poodle,
Taffy Gayle, is blind, deaf and missing most of her teeth," Williams
wrote.
"Taffy Gayle has been the couple’s baby since they could never have
children of their own. 'We’ve been so partial to her. Never having any
children, I just think it’s a blessing that God’s let us keep her this
long,' Brenda Harvill said.
"Taffy Gayle was born Sept. 22, 1982... The puppy was given Brenda
Harvill’s middle name, Gayle, when she was registered with the American
Kennel Club.
"Harvill likes to buy infant clothing at the thrift store and play
dress-up with her. The little dog’s wardrobe includes T-shirts, sweaters
and a pink party dress. Taffy Gayle doesn’t have to live on a strict
diet of dry dog food. She is fed Vienna sausages as a treat. She also eats
any potted meat, stewed chicken and ground hamburger.
"On her birthday, Taffy Gayle gets her own little cupcake with a
candle in it. She also wears her party dress that day to celebrate."
You can read much more about this
tiny dog by visiting The Daily Mountain Eagle.
Summing up, it seems that Louisiana's Max, at 25 going on 26, is not quite
the max, Alabama's Taffy Gayle, 26 last September, is probably the world's
oldest living dog. She will even beat Australia's Bluey as the oldest dog
of all time if she clings to life for three more years.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown is trying to
find his city's oldest dog. One of his readers who calls herself
rozzzzzzy wrote this comment:
No category for the smelliest dog? If you ever add it, let me know! We
adopted a black, long-haired pug named Snowball, changed his name to
Jack Black, after which we discovered that no matter what he was fed,
even treats with chlorophyll, he can clear a room in seconds. Feed him
chicken, and he can clear a stadium. Even my teenagers, who find passing
gas extremely humorous, run from rooms with their t-shirts over their
noses, and NO ONE wants to let the little fellow sleep with them,
despite taking dibbies on our other two dogs.
Well, that may account for Chicago being called The Windy City. |
Published 2009-06-13 11:59 (KST) in OhmyNews,
International Art & Life produced by the OhmyNews Journalism
School whose Syllabus states "Hundreds of people have learned
the theory and practice of citizen journalism (at) The school,
located in a small village on Kanghwa Island (south of Seoul),
offers numerous courses on journalism writing, digital media
techniques and writing practice, taught in Korean and English
by... (Todd Thacker)
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