World's 'oldest dog' Maggie dies peacefully, sleeping in her basket

Maggie the Kelpie, believed to be the world's oldest dog, passed away while asleep in her basket Sunday night.

Maggie, who belonged to Australian dairy farmer, Brian McLaren, was 30 at the time of her death. That's approximately 200 in human years. According to McLaren, Maggie had been happy and healthy up until two days before her death, when she began to deteriorate.

"She was still going along nicely last week," McLaren told local newspaper The Weekly Times. "She was walking from the dairy to the office and growling at the cats and all that sort of thing."

Though McLaren doesn't have any birth certificates for Maggie, he argues that he purchased her four years after his 34-year-old son's birth. 

The oldest dog in the world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records, died in 1939 at the age of 29. 'Bluey' worked as a farm dog, shepherding sheep and herding cattle. Because Maggie doesn't have any paperwork, Guinness was unable to verify her age.

The average dog lives about 15 years. Maggie was deaf and going blind at the time of her passing.

"I'm sad, but I'm pleased the way she went," McLaren told The Weekly Times. 

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