Promising new research into extending canine longevity could buy you and your dog some precious extra time . Three boxes of ashes sit on Mark Vette’s desk. There’s Monty, the shaggy giant schnauzer cross who was one of his famous “driving dogs ”.
Reggie, the golden lab he taught how to fly a plane. And Tommy, his Jack Russell, who once had to be rescued by the fire service after getting stuck in a sea cave. All three died within six months of each other in 2022.
“I haven’t had the heart yet to go and distribute them around the beach, which is what I want to do,” he says. “There’s been a lot of tears and a lot of heartache. You don’t quite want to let them go.
” Vette couldn’t begin to count the number of dogs he’s farewelled in his decades as an animal behaviourist and trainer (Hercules, from the Toyota “bugger” ad, was one of his, too)..
