Bobihe oldest dog in the worlddied at his home in Conqueiros, Portugalat the age of 31 years. It has only been a year since the Guinness Book of Records recognized his feat. Until then, the one listed as the oldest dog in the world was Bluey, a female Australian cattle dog who died in 1939, at 29 years old.
Without a doubt, both are exceptional cases, which join a few others reported around the world. This includes Scream, a female of the same breed as Bluey, who supposedly reached the age of 32. If so, Bobi would not be the oldest dog in the world. But the truth is that Chilla’s case was never officially certified, so it is impossible to know if it is true.
This leaves Bobi, a male Rafeiro from Alentejo, like the oldest dog. A dog whose human companion, Leonel Costasaid goodbye last Saturday, five months after celebrating his thirtieth birthday at a dance with 100 people, in typical Portuguese style.
The long history of the oldest dog in the world
In reality, Bobi’s 31 years of life could have been reduced to just a few days if what was initially going to be his destiny. Born in 1992, in a litter of only four puppies. The owners of the dog who brought him into the world already had many dogs, so they could not support Bobi and her brothers. so they decided to bury them alive. Unfortunately, this was a very common practice at that time, when newborn puppies could not be kept.
Bobi managed to escape and hide behind some wood, where they found him Leonel and his brothers, who were just children then. They hid him for a few days, fearing that his parents would scold them, but finally they agreed to let him stay at home.
Thus began the long life of the world’s oldest dog. He has lived his entire existence with Leonel, accompanying him in times as difficult as the death of his father or his brother. Now, it was Bobi who has left forever. In 2018 he overcame respiratory failure and He couldn’t see well and it was difficult for him to walk., but as far as is possible, given his age, he was not in poor health. That makes Leonel say goodbye with a little less sadness, knowing that he has been a healthy and happy dog. Although the sadness of saying goodbye to a long-time friend will always be there.
The oldest breeds
The Alentejo rafeiro, a breed of Portuguese sheepdog, is not especially long-lived compared to other breeds. Therefore, the case of the world’s oldest dog must be seen as something exceptional. It is true that Bobi had good genetics, since his mother lived until 18 years, well above the average life expectancy of dogs. But he far surpassed that barrier and there is no race that can explain that.
As for Bluey and Chilla, we might think that they belong to a particularly long-lived breed, but their cases are also exceptional. Australian Cattle Dogs do not live much longer than other breeds of their size and characteristics. So, which dogs have the longest life expectancy?
This question answered it in 2022 a team of scientists from Royal College of Veterinarians of the United Kingdom. To do this, they analyzed the data of 30,563 dogs that died in the United Kingdom between January 1, 2016 and July 31, 2020. The average life expectancy of all of them was 11.23 yearsbut it is true that there were differences by race.
For this reason, they made a table in which all those dogs were distributed, ordered by breed. In it you can see that the longest-lived breed is the Jack Russell Terrierwith an average life expectancy of 12.7 years, but with some specimens reaching 19. They are followed by el Yorkshire Terrier, Border Collie, Springer Spaniel and Labrador Retriever.
However, something important must be taken into account, and that is that this study was carried out in the United Kingdom. In those years, possibly no Alentejo rafeiro or Australian cattle dog died there. Basically because they are rare breeds outside Portugal and Australia.
Even so, we have already seen that the case of the oldest dog in the world, as well as Bluey and Chilla, are pure exceptions. Unfortunately, it is common for a dog not to last that many years. Therefore, we must make the most of our time with them and take care of them as much as they deserve.