Last August, I posted a blog about a Pomeranian-mix named Betsy on her 20th birthday. Not many dogs enjoy 20 good years. So I couldn't pass up a chance to say, happy birthday, as she adds one more candle to her cake. Tomorrow, the former injured stray turns 21—that’s pushing well past the century mark in canine years. She’ll be celebrating the big day with her peeps James and Meryl Tulin, her three veterinarians, and her canine sisters, a five-year-old Golden Retriever named Lily and a ten-year-old Shih Tzu named Winnie.
While she may not be the oldest living pup in the world (that title belongs to a 26-year-old mixed breed pup named Pusuke in Sakura-shi, Japan, according to the Guinness World Records), she is a member of a very small and esteemed club.
"She is a most remarkable animal and still top dog in our household,” James Tulin says. Last year, Chessman Cookies, steak and chicken were favorites for the Scottsdale, Ariz., senior citizen. But Tulin says she has a new love, “Dunkin Donuts French Cruller each morning!” I wonder what she’ll get for her birthday.
Do you have a long-lived dog? What's his or her secret?