30-year-old dog named world's oldest by Guinness World Records

          

Guinness World Records introduced Bobi, the world's oldest dog ever. Bobi is 30 years, 266 days old.

Guinness said in a statement Thursday that the Portugese dog took the record from a 23-year-old dog named Spike who was named the world's oldest living dog in January.

Bobi, Guiness said, has broken the nearly century-old record for the oldest dog ever. That was set by Bluey, an Australian cattle-dog who lived 29 years, 5 months between 1910 and 1939.

"Bobi is 30 years 266 days old as of February 1, 2023. He has lived his entire life with the Costa family in the rural village of Conqueiros, in Leiria, Portugal," the Guinness statement said.

"Bobi is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, which is a breed of livestock guardian dog with an average life expectancy of 12-14 years."

Bobi's age has been confirmed through a 1992 registration with the Veterinary Medical Service of the Municipality of Leiria.

According to Guinness, Bobi's age was also confirmed by the Portuguese pet database SIAC.

Bobi's age isn't the only miracle of his life. He was one of several puppies born in an outbuilding belonging to the Costa family. But it was decided not to keep them.

"Unfortunately, at that time it was considered normal by older people who could not have more animals at home...to bury the animals in a hole so that they would not survive," Leonel Costa explained.

He said his parents quickly removed the puppies but left Bobi behind by mistake.

According to the Costa family, Bobi was never chained or attached to a leash and has always roamed the farmland and forests near the Costa home.

Bobi has always eaten human food rather than standard dog food, according to Leonel Costa.

-upi