COULD Benji be the oldest pooch in Sale?

Dog owner Linda Barr was delighted when family pet Benji won over judges to be crowned winner of the ‘Best Veteran’ award at the recent Fun Dog Show in Worthington Park.

Sale Division Girlguiding and Sale District Scouting organised the dog show to raise funds for the both groups and other categories included ‘Waggiest Tail’, ‘Loveliest Eyes’ and ‘Most Handsome Dog’ – it even boasted a ‘Retrieve the Sausage’ competition.

After her pooch scooped the best vet award, Linda was interested to see if Benji was indeed the oldest dog in town.

Benji was a stray when he came to live with Linda and her family 15 years ago and at his first vet’s visit he was estimated to be around five years old. If the vet’s calculations were right, this would make Benji the ripe old age of 20. That’s 105 in human years, according to the modern scientific formula.

It is generally believed that one human year equates to an average of about seven years in dog terms – and in that case Benji would be 140.

Britain’s oldest dog title is held by a Yorkshire terrier called Jack, who is 26.

Linda said: “He is a very valued member of our family and has watched our children grow up and have children of their own.

“He does like to sleep a lot these days but is still ready for his two walks every day, and has his teeth cleaned every night with meat flavoured dog toothpaste and a brush.

“Our grandchildren lie with him in his basket, crawl all over him and he doesn't mind at all.”

Could your dog be a contender for the ‘Oldest Dog in Sale’ title? We would love to hear from you; email sam.editorial@messengergrp.co.uk.

If you would like your pet to be considered for our new ‘Pet of the Week’ feature on the Messenger website, email a photo, along with your pet’s name, age and its likes and your name and address to sam.editorial@messengergrp.co.uk.