COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Guinness World Records have recently found a new record of the oldest dog living and the oldest dog ever.
What You Need To Know
- Bobi holds the new record in Guinness World Records for oldest living dog
- He was camouflaged by the wood, which saved his life
- Bobi is living twice his average life expectancy for his breed
Bobi, is 30 years and 267 days old as of Thursday.
He spent his entire life with the Costa family in Leiria, Portugal.
Bobi is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo — basically a Portuguese dog breed for the livestock guardian dog. Their average life expectancy is around 12-14 years.
Bobi was registered by the Serviço Medico-Veterinário do Município de Leiria in 1992. The veterinary has confirmed Bobi’s birth date.
His age has also been confirmed by SIAC, a database for pets that are authorized by the Portuguese government and managed by the SNMV (Sindicato Nacional dos Médicos Veterinários; National Union of Veterinarians).
Bobi was born as one of four male puppies in the litter.
“I was 8-years-old,” said Leonel Costa, now aged 38. “My father was a hunter, and we always had many dogs.”
With already owning multiple of animals, Costa’s father decision that the family cannot keep the newborn puppies.
“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,” said Costa.
While Bobi’s mother, Gira, was away, Leonel’s parents went into the room and quickly took the puppies to bury them.
The parents did not realize they left one behind.
Costa remembers that his brothers were sad the next few days but, they noticed that Gira kept going to an outbuilding where her puppies were born.
The brothers decided to follow Gira, and they discovered Bobi. He was camouflaged by the wood.
The siblings decided to keep Bobi’s existence a secret.
“We knew that when the dog opened its eyes, my parents would no longer bury it,” said Costa. “It was popular knowledge that this act could not or should be done.”
Once Leonel’s parents discovered Bobi, the puppy already opened his eyes. Bobi was now a Costa, and has been living happily with the family ever since.
Before Bobi, Spike held the record. He is a 23-year-old Chihuahua mix.
