World's Oldest Dog Dies

Posted September 1, 2009, 10:18 am in Pets


Chanel the dog has died. We know, at first glance, that seems like a terribly sad headline. But read on! Chanel wasn’t an ordinary dog. At the age of 21, she was the oldest dog in the world.

No, she didn’t take special vitamin supplements, and she never ran a triathlon. In fact, once, she ate an entire bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups, and you know chocolate is like kryptonite to our canine friends. So what do her owners attribute her longevity to? Nothing more and nothing less than a warm and loving home. Oh, and some help from a higher power. Her owner believes dogs are God’s angels sent to watch out for people.

Denise Shaughnessy found Chanel at an animal shelter and it was love at first sight between her and the six-week old scraggly wire-haired dachshund. Denise was in the Army, and the two spent nearly a decade living in Germany before finally settling in Long Island, New York.

As Chanel got older, Denise became curious and checked the Guinness Book of World Records only to find no entry for oldest dog. She told them about Chanel, and in May, a Guinness World Records representative presented her with a certificate proclaiming her the oldest dog in the world.

Publicity from this presentation elicited a flurry of furry reactions from owners of dogs said to be much older. Published reports point to word of a 26-year-old pooch from Louisiana who’s documentation is said to be currently under review.

But for little Chanel the controversy has ended. She passed away with the official title of oldest dog in the world.



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