Bobi holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest living dog. He was announced earlier this year in February. Bobi was born on May 11, 1992 and passed away at the miraculous age of 31 on October 21, 2023. He was born in Coqueiros, Portugal and lived there with his owner, Leonel Costa. Bobi’s breed, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo livestock guard dog, typically lives for 12-14 years, so the fact that he lived for 31 years and 165 days is astounding.
Although Bobi lived a long, happy life, it almost ended before it even truly began. Bobi was part of a litter that Costa’s parents decided they didn’t want to keep due to already having too many animals. “Unfortunately, at that time it was considered normal by older people […] to bury the animals in a hole so that they would not survive,” Costa told Guinness. Bobi was hidden in a pile of wood and wasn’t found by Costa’s parents. Costa and his siblings found and hid Bobi until he was too old to be put down.
Costa believes that Bobi’s long life was due to a few factors. For example, Bobi lived in a peaceful environment where he would freely explore as well as only eat human food soaked in water. Before Bobi passed, he was officially announced the oldest living dog just two weeks after a 23-year-old Chihuahua mix named Spike. Bobi is also the oldest dog recorded in history surpassing Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who died in 1939 at the age of 29. The Costa family is saddened by Bobi’s passing, but are grateful for the time spent with him.
