LEIRIA, Portugal - Meet 30-year-old Bobi, the world’s oldest living dog and the oldest dog ever on record.

This comes just two weeks after the Guinness World Records announced Spike as the world’s oldest living dog. Spike is a chihuahua from Ohio and was born in November 1999. As at Dec 7, 2022, he was 23 years and seven days old.

Bobi is 30 years and 266 days old, as at Wednesday.

Bobi is a pure-bred Rafeiro do Alentejo, which is a breed of livestock guardian dogs with an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years. He has lived his entire life with the Costa family in the rural village of Conqueiros, in Leiria, Portugal.

In 1992, Bobi was registered with the Veterinary Medical Service of the Municipality of Leiria, which has confirmed Bobi’s birth date.

Bobi’s age has also been verified by SIAC, a pet database authorised by the Portuguese government and managed by the National Union of Veterinarians.

Bobi was born as one of four male pups in an outbuilding where the Costa family stored wood.

His owner, Mr Leonel Costa, thinks that one of the biggest contributing factors to his longevity is the “calm, peaceful environment” Bobi lives in, “far from the cities”.

Bobi has never been chained up nor attached to a leash. He has also always enjoyed roaming freely in the forests and on farmland surrounding the Costa family house.

Mr Costa describes Bobi as “very sociable”, as the dog grew up with many other animals.

Bobi is less adventurous now in his old age. Walking is difficult for him, so he mostly spends his time hanging out in the backyard with his four feline friends.

Bobi’s eyesight has worsened too. Mr Costa often notices him bumping into obstacles when he walks. 

Due to his age, Bobi rests more now and likes to lie in bed after meals. On colder days, he prefers to relax by the fire. As for his diet, Bobi has always eaten “human food”.

“What we ate, they ate too,” Mr Costa said of his pets. He believes that this has contributed greatly to Bobi’s longevity.

The previous oldest dog ever was a Portuguese pooch named Bluey, an Australian cattle-dog that lived for 29 years and five months.

On March 8, 1983, an Australian cattle-dog/labrador cross named Chilla, reputedly aged 32 years and three days at the time, died in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.

The average life expectancy of dogs is 12 years, according to the scientific journal Nature, though small dogs tend to live a year or two longer than the bigger breeds.