Lily could be oldest living Golden Retriever in the world

A café in Bournemouth is attempting to find out if pooch Lily is the oldest living Golden Retriever at the grand old age of 16.

Golden Retrievers typically live between the ages of 10 and 12 years old.

Pause Cat Café in Bournemouth is now on a mission to find out if Lily can be crowned top dog.

It is believed the oldest living Golden Retriever was a pet named August, known as Augie, who lived to be 20 and passed away in March 2021.

Lily the Golden Retriever (Image: UGC)

Lily still has a “lust for life” and enjoys chasing a tennis ball at the beach near where she has lived since being rehomed to her human companion, Steff Cooke in 2010.

The pedigree papers she came with show her date of birth as September 7, 2006, and official name ‘Bottlebush Bettie’.

Lily and Steff (Image: UGC)

Steff said: “People always comment on her age, but it wasn’t until I looked online to see how long Retrievers usually live that I realised she could actually be the oldest.”

Lily the Golden Retriever (Image: UGC)

He added said: “Lily and I have both stayed alive longer than expected and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. She has got me through some tough times.

“Nothing beats the human-animal bond. I’m hoping this meet-up will give other animal lovers a chance to have some healing interaction and who knows, maybe we’ll find a Golden Retriever who can beat Lily’s record.”

Steff, 41, attributes his relationship with Lily to helping him cope with his chronic health challenges and is undertaking projects with Pause to encourage this beneficial human-animal interaction.

One such project is a meet-up for dogs and dog-lovers in Bournemouth.

Pause started as a non-profit rescue home and cat cafe in 2017, and its work has expanded to all animals, not just cats.

Anyone interested in meeting dogs and dog owners can visit tiny.cc/doggymeetup or if you know a retriever older than Lily, contact Pause on social media @PauseCatCafe.