Eric Shackle's Column

By Eric Shackle

Where on earth is the world's oldest dog? Poland is the latest country to claim the title, which the US and Britain have hotly contested for years.

"Poland's oldest dog - quite possibly the oldest woofer in the world - celebrated his 25th birthday in Poznan over the weekend in the company of two four-legged female admirers," Poznan-Life.com http://www.poznan-life.com/news/news/53-Poland reported.

"Minius, who was rescued some 25 years ago by the animal aid foundation Zwierzeta i My (Animals and Us), was presented with a special cake for his anniversary, which he shared with his two friends.

"Of course, as Minius was plucked from the Poznan streets, it's impossible to know when his true birthday actually is. He could actually be a mighty 26 or 27, making him quite possibly the oldest dog on the planet.

"His current owner says that Minius, a mixed breed, is still in good shape, but enjoys sleeping for much of the day...."

Posnan News http://www.thenews.pl/national/print.aspx?id=123871 says "The oldest dog in Poland or possibly in the world, has just celebrated his 25th – or 26th (it’s not certain) birthday.

"The story of Minius, a mixed breed, comes from animal aid foundation Zwierzeta i My in the mid-western city of Poznan.

"Minius was a two-year-old stray when he was taken in from an animal shelter by his first owner. When she died and he was found guarding her body, he was taken over by the Foundation and found a new home.

"His current owner says that Minius, in spite of his age, is in good condition but best likes to sleep."

Germany has a 25-year-old Bernese mountain dog called Penny, which is described as "the Methusalah among the dogs".
Here's a Google translation of a German website:

Bernese mountain dog Penny is true with 25 as the Methuselah among the dogs. Just recently, the news went through the headlines that dachshund lady " Chanel died " as the oldest dog in the world at the age of 21 years near New York. But reports from Bavaria, the mistress of the allegedly true Methuselah among the dogs have their say.

My Bernese Mountain Dog Penny like Chanel a dog lady, is already 25 years old and because of good Bavarian mountain air was still alive and kicking. As an absolute record holder among the old dogs subject to a Australian Cattle Dog, who made it up to 29 years.

In New York, the national newspaper USA Today published a story headed New world's oldest dog? German woman claims hers is 25: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/pawprintpost/post/2009/09/whose-dog-is-the-oldest-german-woman-claims-hers-is-25/1

America's nominee for the world title
is a terrier-mix named Max, owned by Janelle Derouen, in New Iberia, Louisiana.
Louisiana WBRZ-TV reporter Katherine Gouder wrote last September http://www1.wbrz.com/news/worlds-oldest-dog-in-new-iberia/

A woman and her best friend in New Iberia are waiting to hear back from officials at Guinness World Records. They're waiting to see if Max, a 26 year old mixed terrior, is the world's oldest dog.

Janelle Derouen says she's worried whether Max will still be around by the time the confirmation papers arrive. She sent the vet's record of Max's birth and puppy shots from August of 1983 to Guinness.

Max is already five years older than current record holder, Chanel, a dachshund who died this summer at 21 years old.

Guinness representatives say they've received thousands of claims for the record since Chanel's death.

You can read more about Max and see his photo at http://tinyurl.com/n8nne2

Surpringly, two of Britain's national newspapers have shown more interest in Max than have the US media. The Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205517/Max-terrier-worlds-oldest-dog-celebrates-26th-birthday.html and The Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6001090/Worlds-oldest-dog-turns-26.html both ran a story and pictures about Max celebrating his 26th birthday last year.

What was the world's oldest dog of all time?

An Australian cattle dog called Bluey. Born on June 7, 1910, his 100th birthday will be celebrated this year by people living in Rochester, a country town 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Melbourne, Victoria, not far from last year's disastrous bushfires.

Bluey worked among sheep and cattle for 20 years, and survived until November 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. According to Guinness, Bluey was the world's oldest dog, a record that has never been beaten.

You can see his photo and read more about him at http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=384908&rel_no=1

Australia wonders whether its current oldest dog, a Tenterfield Terrier named Daisy, aged 25, will live long enough to challenge Bluey's world record.

Daisy's owner, Julie Penlington, originally discovered the Tenterfield terrier at the Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge when the poor one-eyed pooch was five or six, so it's difficult to know Daisy's exact age.

Is Daisy the oldest pooch alive? Sarah Crawford asked, in Queensland's Sunshine Coast Daily http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2009/12/23/is-daisy-the-oldest-pooch-on-the-planet/ . She reported:

Daisy, the one-eyed tenterfield terrier from Mooloolaba, is not winning any beauty competitions, but she may be top dog in another category – the world’s oldest pooch.

The old girl has managed to conquer a long list of health problems and a stint on death row at the pound to reach the age of 25. That means she beats the Guinness World Record holder by four years.... Besides having only one eye, Daisy has had chronic asthma for five years and must be administered a puffer dose twice a day....

Ms Penlington, who is the president of 4 Paws Animal Rescue, picked up Daisy from the Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge 20 years ago. At the refuge, a vet had assessed Daisy as probably being six years old, but the age on her card was filled in as five years, to make her more attractive to potential owners.

“They had her there for nine months before I took her – she was rescued from the pound,” Ms Penlington said. “She had been running around the ginger factory at Yandina for a couple of weeks when she was picked up."

Ms Penlington said she was considering registering Daisy with Guinness World Records.

“The only reason I would do it is to let people see how a little rescued pet can come from adversity and with love and attention can live a long, full life,” she said.

Now comes news of a little-known Texan dachshund, Wiley, with his own blog,
http://tinyurl.com/y9bw4yb, who is said to have lived for 31 years. His grieving Aunt Maryee http://tinyurl.com/yl78o8x claims he was born on July 17, 1976, and crossed the Rainbow Bridge on January 24, 2008.

We found this reference to Wiley:
http://www.dailydachshundanddognews.com/2007/11/is-dachshund-worlds-oldest-dog.html

The Daily Doxie has recently had a number of hits from people looking for information on the life expectancy of a dachshund. So here is the answer: 12 to 15 years. But take heart, we have a number of readers whose wiener dogs have reached 17 and 18 years of age.

Thanks to the internet we also discovered, during the course of our research, a website entitled "Wiley, the 31-year-old Dachshund." Apparently, Wiley's owners have taken some steps to try and get him into the Guinness World Book of Records... but no luck.

It seems he might have outlived his breeder, who is needed to vouch for his puported longevity.Without the required papers, Wiley's not getting much respect for his claim to the aged dog throne. The Waco Tribune declined to print the news of his 30th birthday, leaving him to keep on keeping on via the internet where his last blog post, written September 23, is entitled, "I'm alive."