World’s Oldest Dog Bobi Dies At 31, Title Now Goes To 23-Year-Old Chihuahua
Bobi, the world’s oldest dog ever, has sadly died at the age of 31. The purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo lived on a farm in Conqueiros, Portugal until his final days. His owner, Leonel Costa, attributes Bobi’s remarkably long life to his “calm, peaceful” environment, and eating human food with the seasonings soaked off.
“Bobi is special because looking at him is like remembering the people who were part of our family and unfortunately are no longer here,” Costa once explained. “Like my father, my brother, or my grandparents who have already left this world.”
Interestingly, Bobi took the “world’s oldest dog ever” title from an early 1900s Australian cattle dog named Bluey. Bluey, who died in 1939 at 29 years old and 5 months, held the record for decades— up until Guinness World Records announced Bobi as the title holder this year.
Incredibly enough, owner Costa shared that Bobi was never even meant to live one year. When Bobi’s mother gave birth to him and a few other pups, Costa’s father tried to leave the future record-holder for dead.
“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 explained.
Thankfully, the owner, who was just 8 years old at the time, found Bobi alive in a pile of wood logs. Costa made sure the family took Bobi in, and the dog lived his best life alongside four cats. One crazy detail? For reference, Bobi was born on May 11, 1992.
While the world mourns the loss of treasured Bobi, we thought we would look at the oldest dogs still alive today. Funnily enough, those three dogs— all aged from 23 to 22— happen to be chihuahua mixes. We knew chihuahuas lived scarily long lives from all the ones our abuelas and tías had growing up. But this is just sorcery at this point.
As one X user hilariously put it, chihuahuas in Mexican households are very consentidos: “They live forever and get fed and babied better than the kids.”
And no lies detected here, either:
The three oldest living dogs are all chihuahua mixes: Spike, Gino, and TobyKeith
First up, we present to you Spike, a chihuahua mix from Camden, Ohio who will turn at least 24 years old in December.
Guinness World Records gave Spike the “world’s oldest living dog” record for a while this year, up until Bobi took the title. Now, it seems like Spike holds the record again.
Incredibly, much like Bobi, Spike is a survivor, too. Owner Rita Kimball explained that she found Spike abandoned in a supermarket parking lot in 2009.
“Spike jumped right in and sat on the [car] seat, as if he knew where we were going. It was meant to be,” Kimball recalled.
The proud chihuahua owner told Guinness World Records that Spike had “survived multiple attacks” from other dogs, but was “stronger” for it. “Spike was a name for a large dog. My guy was small, but he had the attitude of a big dog,” she added. Ah, don’t all chihuahuas?
Here are other photos of the cute dog reading the newspaper and chillin’ at home. We’re happy if we get to look half this good at 161 years old in human years:
Following Spike, we have Gino Hammerstrike Gilgamesh Wolf (yes, that’s Sir Wolf to us) from Los Angeles, California, who actually held the “oldest living dog title” for a hot second. Guinness World Records named the chihuahua-American Eskimo dog mix the oldest living dog back in December 2022 when he was 22 years old. “Gino Wolf” already got to the big 23 milestone this year, and is still adorable.
Look at that smize (!):
As per Guinness World Record’s 2022 announcement, Alex Wolf adopted dog Gino from a local shelter in 2002. The owner was a University of Colorado sophomore at the time, and has since lived two decades of their life alongside their pup.
“He’s always come across more human than dog,” Wolf described to the outlet. “I’m so grateful for the journey we’ve had together through good times and bad. I look forward to however much time we have left together, which hopefully is a long, long time.”
“[He is] really cute still which is surprising considering his age.”
And last, we have yet another chihuahua, the 22-year-old TobyKeith from Greenacres, Florida. Guinness World Records also gave TobyKeith the coveted “oldest living dog” title in 2022, but as you can see, this title is pretty difficult to keep. Still, Gisela Shore is ecstatic to have her pup by her side for more than two decades.
In fact, she told Guinness World Records that she adopted TobyKeith when he was months old. He’s even experienced a name change in his long life: he used to be named Peanut Butter.
“Tobykeith is my little bodyguard. Follows me everywhere. Lays on me while we watch TV. I adore him!” Shore said.
As one X user put it, they are “so proud” of little TobyKeith— and we are, too:
And here’s TobyKeith’s very cute Instagram if you want to follow:
What is it about chihuahua’s longevity, though?
