147-year-old British Dachshund is the world's oldest dog

MEET Otto, the world’s oldest dog, who’s reached the grand old age of 147 in dog years and is still going strong.
Dachshund-cross terrier Otto, who lives in Shrewsbury and is 20 years old and six months, looks to have become the top dog after the death of the previous holder aged 21.
Chanel, also a Dachshund but from the US, died last month and now Otto is to continue flying the flag for Dachshunds as the world’s oldest canines.
Otto’s owner Peter Jones, from Shrewsbury, Shrops, said despite his great age the plucky dog is still going strong.
Mr Jones, 68, said his wife Lynn, 55, had owned Otto, who has no offspring, since he was a puppy and he is still going strong, although he is battling a few problems including arthritis.
Read more: They also have a certificate to prove his age and Guinness World Records are now investigating.
While 20-year-old humans are in the full flush of youth, the canine calendar works so that dogs age around seven years for every one human year, meaning even pensionable age is a distant memory for Otto.
Mr Jones, a retired sales manager, said: ‘When I saw this dog had died and he was the oldest in the world, I thought Otto must be getting on to being the oldest as well. ‘I thought it would be good to see if Otto is the oldest. My vet said to me that they hadn’t got any older dogs going to see them. He will follow me wherever I go and doesn’t go running off. If I go out, I come back and he’s sat by the door waiting.’ ‘He’s still going strong and he used to run like a greyhound and was really fast. ‘But in the last couple of years that has stopped, what do you expect when he is 147? ‘He’s got a bit of arthritis but apart from that he’s quite well.’ – DM