World's Oldest Living Dog?

World's Oldest Living Dog? AG WORLD 28-2-21 There's a 27-year-old dog in England that is alert, active and healthy. Its owner claims that it's the world's oldest living dog. Affectionately known as "Bramble", her owner, Anne Heritage, in Bridgewater, Somerset, believes the purebred Papillion owes its longevity to a combination of genetics and her totally vegetarian diet which consists of rice, lentils and vegetables. Adequate exercise is also a factor. Bramble is taken for a walk four times a day and a weekly swim. The half hour dip was deemed necessary therapy for a back injury the aged dog sustained last year, and which doctors said could have paralyzed her. A canine hydrotherapy pool in Stolford helps keep her limber, though she does have a touch of arthritis. Bramble narrowly escaped death at the tender age of two. Just one day after Heritage took her home from an animal rescue center, the kennels flooded and the other dogs drowned. "So she's been incredibly lucky," says Heritage."She's an inspiration and just goes to show that if you do eat the right things and keep on exercising, you can extend your life." A 14-year study conducted by University of Pennsylvania and published in the May, 2002, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, states that a calorie-restricted diet in dogs results in extending their life a median 1.8 years longer than the average dog. Of course, Bramble has far surpassed this average, and is living proof of the study's secondary conclusion û that dogs on such a diet are also slower to develop chronic diseases, such as osteoarthritis, so quality as well as quantity of life is extended. The world's longest-lived dog ever was reportedly an Australian cattle dog called Bluey, who herded cattle and sheep in Australia for nearly 20 years before retiring. Bluey died at the age of 29 years and five months in 1939, according to AnimalNews.com.

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