Meet Skippy, the 26-year-old Border Collie who is believed to be the oldest dog in Ireland, and perhaps even the world.
The County Mayo dog has been a loyal companion to Pat since he was just a pup.
His owner Patrick 'Pat' Geraghty, 84, has raised Skippy since he was just a few weeks old after he got him from renowned dog breeder Joe Dean in 1995.
Skippy is now the equivalent age of between 130 to 145 in human years and has lived long past the average life expectancy for a Border Collie - which is between 12 and 15 years old, the Irish Mirror reports.
Pat said that he feeds Skippy two tins of Brandy dog food a day - as he doesn’t like any other brand - one in the morning and one in the evening.
He also said that he loves to eat scraps from his Irish stew but will only eat it if it has a drop of gravy on top as well.
Pat told the Irish Mirror : "We’re good buddies.
"It’s my turn to look after him now, you know.
"He’s been good to me when he’s had his health but he’s down and out now and I have to give him water four times a day and feed him three times a day - but I don’t mind."
Skippy was a farm dog and worked on the farm up until about two years ago. However, as he gets older his mobility has greatly reduced. He now has trouble getting up on his back legs and needs to be lifted to stand up and is also hard of hearing.
Skippy has never slept outside a day in his life and sleeps in a shed in the yard with straw as bedding underneath him. Pat said Skippy is “well looked after” and is a very clever dog but he’s always had a fear of fire and wouldn’t come into the house if the fire was on as he “knew it was dangerous”.
While they don’t have official records to verify Skippy’s age, Pat’s nephew, Pearce Prior, said that he also remembers Skippy as a small puppy from visits home to Ireland in the 90s.
Pat also broke a toe around the same time he got Skippy as a puppy and said he would be able to confirm the date that happened from records in Mayo General Hospital.
Pat’s neighbour, Fergus Sweeney, posted a photo of Skippy and Pat together on Twitter which caught many people’s attention online as they were amazed at the dog’s old age.
Fergus said he believes the secret behind Skippy’s long life could be down to the way of life and the fresh sea air on the Erris peninsula.
"I’d say it’s all down to a really natural life," Fergus said.
"Really healthy food, living outside and the fresh air. That’s definitely something to do with it.
"Up until a year ago Skippy would be sitting at the gate and he would be chasing my car - a lot of local people on the road, they all remember Skippy sitting at the gate, that was his location."
Fergus continued: "We got to see Skippy today in the shed and he was still quite eager to get up and get out of the shed but he just not able to do things anymore. But he’s very responsive and he responds massively to Pat, his master.
"They’re very close and Pat feels he has to do whatever he can for Skippy now at this stage of his life because Skippy was so loyal for his whole life."
