FRANKLINTON -- It is said that all dogs go to heaven. But Roxie apparently believes that heaven can wait.

Maybe the 21-year-old Chihuahua, who has lived all but the first six months of her life in Franklinton with Brenda Ratley and family, still has some earthly business to take care of before she gives up the ghost.

If so, it must involve deep meditation, since that’s largely how the tiny, grizzled girl spends her time in these days of her doggie dotage.

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“Sometimes she gets a confused look on her face and just stares at the wall,” said Ratley.

Roxie exudes the quiet, intense, pervasive energy that often comes with very, very old age.

According to some reports, the average lifespan range for a Chihuahua is between 10 and 17 years. The common belief is that one year in the life of a small dog is comparable to seven years in the life of a human. That would make Roxie about the same as a 147 year-old woman.

That’s the same age as Chanel, the New York dachshund who was recently celebrated as the Guiness World Record oldest living dog. In fact, Roxie has a few weeks on Chanel, but she’s not counting.

The dachshund can have the glory, the Chihuahua would generally like to be left alone.

The old gal is doing pretty good.

“She used to be solid black,” said Ratley. “Now we say she’s ‘possum colored.”

Just a little bit of black remains on the tips of her ears and along her back. But although Roxie has lost most of her color and all but three of her teeth, and her hearing is not as good as it used to be, but she is generally healthy, just like she always has been, said Ratley.

“She was born April 3, 1988,” she said. “We got her when she was six weeks old. She was so little we could put her in our shirt pocket. There were three in the litter. Her daddy was Rocky, a Chihuahua we had. It wasn’t an intentional breeding, but it happened. That was how she got her name…Rocky…Roxie.”

True to the temperament of her breed, the pup was not shy.

“She was very, very spunky,” said Ratley. “The neighbors had rottweilers that would come in the yard, and she would chase them away. It looked really funny. She’s not too feisty any more.”

But Roxie’s not completely hobbled, either. She’s actually remarkably spry for her advanced age. She can patrol her front yard and even get back up the small step into the house with only a moment’s pause to gather her strength.

Roxie’s favorite current past time, however, is lounging on her spot at the end of a couch in the living room.

“If anybody gets in her place, she paces back and forth until they move,” said Ratley. “She can get up on the couch by herself most of the time, but sometimes she has to get a little help.”

Roxie loves baths and table food, and she didn’t want anything to do with the snow that blanketed her lawn last winter. She’s cold-natured anyway. She’s a sweater girl, said Ratley.

And the old grey gal is much-loved.

“She’s one of the family,” said Ratley.

Tuesday morning, Roxie sat in her spot, resting and not overly interested in the visitor in her home. She was not rude. She was quiet and pretty much unmoved.

Ratley said Roxie is “not always in this world.” Perhaps she gets lost in happy memories of chasing dogs many times her size or of the treats she can no longer chew. Or maybe she is spending some time visiting heaven, getting to know how it feels, easing into her transition.

There is no telling how long heaven will wait for Roxie.

And Ratley savors every minute that the grand old grizzled girl occupies the spot at the end of the couch.