Posted on 09/04/2009 3:23:21 PM PDT by JoeProBono
BERLIN - Following the death of purportedly the world's oldest dog this week aged 21, a German woman came forward on Wednesday claiming her pooch was 25 — with a tattoo of her birthdate in her ear to prove it.
The death of Chanel the wire-haired dachshund — the equivalent of 147 for a human — in the United States made headlines around the world on Tuesday, prompting Verena Wulf from Bavaria to phone her local radio station.
"My Penny is 25," Wulf told SWR3, and came to her family in 1986. "The vet at the time put her age at about one and a half."
The radio station tracked down the vet, Johannes Pohl, who said Penny, a Bernese mountain dog, was his first patient when he opened his practice more than 23 years ago.
Penny, the equivalent of 175 years old for a human, has difficulty walking and her hearing and eyesight are no longer what they were. She shares her bed with the family cat.
But the vet was upbeat: "She has a strong heart — I think Penny will be around for a while longer," Pohl said.
I love your dogs face. I have never heard of a Landseer-Newfoundland. There is a very famous painter of dogs named Sir Edwin Henry Landseer 1802-1873. I wonder if he had anything to do with the founding of the breed. I am sure you could look him up on line and she his work if you are interested.
I don’t remember seeing that painting but I have several books with many others. Landseer was a great painter. I am trying to be.
That’s my thought, but her vet seems to vouch for her.
I don’t want my dog yakking all day! :)
I didn’t know that. It’s not a breed I’m real familiar with, altho a number of my golden friends also have Berners.
Not old for a border? I doubt that. 16 is old for any dog.
There was a classic humor short story about that. A man visiting a third world country bought a potion from a street vendor, that would “make a dog’s tongue shrink, so it can talk. Just one tablespoon a week, and when you stop, the dog’s tongue will go back to normal.”
So he gave a spoonful to his dog. It worked, but the dog became a major pain, criticizing him, demanding things, talking to his friends behind his back and giving away secrets, and finally lying to his girlfriend so she stomped off and left him.
So he didn’t give the dog any more, though it kept demanding more. And the dog reverted back to his sweet, ignorant and pleasant personality. Then he remembered that the vendor said, “...when you stop...”, and understood why he was so sure he would stop.
Aww... They are such wonderful dogs.
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