Bobi the 30-year-old canine named world's oldest dog ever

3 February 2023, 16:16

By Alice Dear

Bobi has become a Guinness World Record holder at the grand old age of 30, which is 133 in human years.

Bobi has been named as the world's oldest dog as well as the world's longest living dog in history by Guinness World Records.

The Portuguese dog is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed which usually lives until the age of 12 to 14.

However, Bobi is no ordinary dog and has lived over double his life expectancy.

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On 1st February, Bobi was 30-years-old and 226 days old, becoming a record-breaking canine not only for the oldest living dog alive, but also for the oldest dog in history.

Bobi's achievement breaks a record which has stood for a century, that of Australian dog Bluey who was 29-years-old when they died in 1939.

Bobi has lived his entire life with the Costa family in the west coast village of Conqueiros.

Leonel Costa was eight-years-old when Bobi was born in a litter of four, but due to the amount of animals his parents already had, they had to have the puppies put down.

However, Bobi escaped and Leonel and his brothers looked after him, keeping him a secret from their parents at first. When Bobi was discovered, he became a member of the family and has lived out his days with them ever since.

The Costa family say that Bobi is doing well for his age, and only suffered one health scare back in 2018 when he collapsed due to breathing problems.

They think the secret to Bobi's long life is a "calm, peaceful environment", however, genetics could have something to do with it as his mother lived to the age of 18.

Bobi, who has been described as "one of a kind", took the title of oldest living dog from Spike the Chihuahua who, only two weeks ago, made the records at the age of 23.

Sorry Spike, but you've got a few more years to go until you can take on Bobi.

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