Jack just turned at least 117 (in dog years, of course). You’d think he would have had a pretty stress-free life, but his good looks and killer personality just weren’t enough to stop his previous owners from planning to abandon him. He was around 10 years old at the time.
Ray Bunn of Hartlepool, Co Durham first heard of the Yorkie’s fate through his daughter, who had taken Jack only to discover that he and her pup fit together like two corner puzzle pieces.
She then offered him to her dad, and the moment was magical. Bunn told the Mirror:
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My daughter told me about it and asked me to go round and the first time I saw him, he came running over to me and jumped into my arms. I didn’t even hold my arms out—the bond was instant. He very quickly became a big part of the family, and now we’ve had him for 16 years.
At 26, Jack has surpassed the previous “oldest dog” in Britain, who passed at 25. He’s got a touch of arthritis and some discomfort in his back and legs, but short walks are his favorite—especially when passersby still think he’s a puppy.
“He’s on tablets,” Bunn says, “but he’s all right, and eats and drinks fine.” That’s one tough little dog, especially when the first ten years of his life were not the easiest. And Mrs. Bunn certainly agrees:
He has done so well. He is getting on a bit now and sleeps a lot, but other that that he is doing brilliantly. We go caravanning in the summer and he comes with us. He just goes waltzing in and out and everyone loves him to bits. He’s so cheeky.
Jack once had a brother, according to Bunn, but he had been “fed to a rottweiler,” which made Jack’s future uncertain. The decision to take him in was a no-brainer for the family, who knew they could give him all the love he needed, and more. Bunn said:
He has always felt at home here. He’s generally a very happy dog and we all love him.
Is that it, then? Is love what keeps the fountain of youth flowing? We doubt that Jack would argue it.
