Coronation Street fans question how old Ken Barlow's dog Eccles is
She's been around a while!
by Carena CrawfordOver the past 14 years, Coronation Street has seen a number of cast changes, but one character who has stayed the same is Eccles, Ken Barlow's beloved dog.
The cobbles has been home to a number of four-legged characters over the years, including Chesney Brown's (Sam Aston) Great Dane known as Schmechiel and Steve McDonald's (Simon Gregson) Jack Russell, Rover.
The ITV soap just wouldn't be the same without a couple of furry friends!
But what fans want to know is: just how old is the longest-running dog on the ITV soap?
Read more: Coronation Street fans upset as Eccles the dog poisoned
Eccles has starred on Coronation Street since 2006, originally belonging to Lena Thistlewood (Maria Charles), until she passed away, and was given to Deirdre Barlow's mother, Blanche Hunt (Maggie Jones).
But when Deirdre died in 2010 after developing a brain tumour, Eccles was left to her husband Ken (William Roache) who has taken care of her ever since.
Since she first appeared on the ITV soap, Eccles has had four different owners, three of which have died.
Fans have been questioning Eccles' age and how long she has left on the soap, with a thread started on Reddit when a user asked: "How old is that dog now?"
Going on to say: "Blanche inherited him in 2006 and he was already a full grown adult, having been implied that Blanch's friend had him for a while. He's AT LEAST 16 years old now and shows no signs of deterioration!"
Another commented: "That dog will outlive them all, probably even Amy and Simon!"
A third fan quipped: "Do you think they'll be a plot twist where it turns out Tracey's been replacing him with an identical dog, like a child's goldfish?"
How old actually is Eccles?
Despite fans believing that Eccles was an older dog when she began on Coronation Street she was actually just a year old.
The beloved Border Terrier, who is played by Tessa, was born in 2005 and first appeared on the soap in early 2006.
The Express.co.uk asked dog expert Dr Jessica May from FirstVet about Eccles' advancing years: "Whilst definitely not unheard of, 15 is at the upper end of the range of what we'd expect border terriers to live to, although it is possible for some to live even longer.
"On average, a border terrier is likely to live a little over 12 years."
Does that mean we can be expecting Eccles to move on sometime soon?
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