Weekly bar trip helped pooch to become world’s oldest!

LONDON - A weekly trip to the pub has helped a Beagle cross, named Lulu, to rake up 147 dog years making her the world’s oldest dog.

Lulu, who is 21 years old in human years, is deaf and walks with a limp.

But her owner Travis Buckley, 60, says the visit to the pub has kept her going for so long.

Travis has never forgotten to take Lulu to the Coach and Horses in Longford, Coventry and says she loves the attention she gets there.

“She has a habit of wandering off and instead of coming home she comes and sits in the corner of the pub waiting for me,” the Sun quoted Travis, as saying.

He said: “People who know her scoop her up and bring her there - she’s a lovely dog, she’s our little baby.”

Travis added: “The first time she came in to the pub she was so tiny she fell through a gap in the bench.

“She’ll play with all the little dogs but if a big dog comes in she just rolls on her back and plays dead. She’s a wise old girl.

“We do spoil her as well, if there’s a steak and a sausage in the fridge you can guarantee I’ll be having half a sausage for tea.

“She’s a bit deaf and almost totally blind and has been known to walk into the odd wall but is in good shape.

“Everybody round here knows her - they call her the dog of Longford.”

Travis’ daughter gave him Lulu in 1989 when she was just a six-weeks-old pup.

And both have been inseparable since.

Lulu’s historic birthday bash was celebrated in her favourite spot in the bar.

Dogs Trust veterinary director Chris Laurence pointed out that a social life could help dogs live longer.

He said: “It’s down to a mix of them being better cared for and there being much better veterinary care available now.

“I am sure that stress is a factor in dog’s life expectancy, so those that are socialised with do benefit from it.”

And now Lulu may soon get the official approval as the oldest dog in the world from the Guinness World Records.

A spokesman said: “Once an application is made it will take around six weeks to verify.

“The owners have to make an application, but we are looking for a new oldest dog and 21 years is certainly very old.”

Before Lulu, the title of world’s oldest dog was held by a New York mutt called Chanel, who died last summer at 21 years of age. (ANI)