Bobi, the oldest dog in world, has passed away

Guinness World Records (GWR) has confirmed that the world's oldest dog, a Portuguese pooch named Bobi, passed away on October 21, 2023 at the remarkable age of 31 years and 165 days.

“Despite outliving every dog in history, his 11,478 days on Earth would never be enough for those who loved him,” veterinarian Karen Becker, who met Bobi on multiple occasions, wrote on Facebook. “Godspeed, Bobi… you’ve taught the world all you were meant to teach.”

Whenever you adopt a dog, you always know that your furry friend probably won't live past fifteen years, maybe seventeen if you are very lucky. Afterall the average lifespan of a dog is 10-13 years according to PetMD. However, Bobi defied all the odds.

On May 11th, 2023, a very old puppy named Bobi celebrated his 31st birthday in the sleepy rural Portuguese village of Conquiros, surrounded by roughly one-hundred guests. 

“We’ve had a lot of journalists and people come from all over the world to take a picture with Bobi,” the elderly dog’s owner Leonel Costa explained to Guinness World Records. 

“They’ve come from all over Europe, as well as the USA and even Japan,” Costa continued. But what makes Bobi such a special doggo? Why his age of course! 

Bobi, was then the world’s newly-crowned oldest living dog, and he snagged the title in February when he took it over from an American chihuahua named Spike that had held it for two weeks. 

Photo by Twitter @GWR

Interestingly, a Guinness World Records press release noted when Bobi took over the title of the world’s oldest dog he also snatched the record for the oldest living dog ever!

The previous record-holder for the world's oldest dog had gone to an Australian cattle dog named Bluey who lived twenty-nine years and five months between 1910 and 1939. 

Bobi wasn’t an Australian cattle dog but a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo according to his owner, which were also bred to guard livestock and usually lives to 12 or 14 years old according to CNN. 

You might not be inclined to believe Bobi’s age but the dog lived with the Costa family for his entire life and they have records from the day he was registered in 1992 according to Guinness World Records.  

Bobi’s age was also verified by a pet database that is managed by Portugal’s National Union of Veterinarians and authorized by the government in Lisbon.

Leonel Costa has always raised dogs that live abnormally long lives. Bobi’s mother Gira lived to be 18 years old and Costa said that his dog’s longevity is due to the lives they live. 

“We see situations like this as a normal result of the life that they have, but Bobi is one of a kind,” Costa said. Before becoming too old to walk properly, Bobi would roam the forests that surround Costa's home living a “calm” and “peaceful” life. 

"Of course our love and affection throughout his life has also helped," Costa explained in a separate interview with Caterina Demony and Miguel Pereira of Reuters.

As Bobi got older he found it more difficult to live that kind of lifestyle after his eyes had given out and his legs didn’t work as well according to Guinness. But those factors didn't stop Bobi from living a good life.

Diet also played a big role in Bobi’s longevity according to Costa, who said that the dog only ever ate human food. “What we ate, they ate too,” he explained to Guinness. 

“Between a can of animal food or a piece of meat, Bobi doesn’t hesitate and chooses our food,” Costa added, and maybe that’s why only local meats and fresh fish were served at the elderly dog's birthday party.