Guinness World Record holder Bobi, a medium/large-sized Portuguese dog, died last Saturday, at 31 years and 165 days according to the Government’s pet database.
Earlier this year, in February, Bobi became the holder of two Guinness World Records. He was the world’s oldest living dog, and the oldest dog ever. Now, if the pattern repeats itself, Bobi will be the oldest dog ever for almost a century.
Prior to Bobi, the oldest dog ever died at 29 years of age, in 1939. This corresponds to something between 150 to 200 years, in human years. Bobi lived 2 more years, dying at 31. Considering Bobi’s size, his age corresponded to almost 300 human years.
When he was born, in 1992, Bobi was part of a series of newborns that would have the luck to experience the world. However, fortunately, the children of the family that owned them decided to save him and hide him from the rest of the family for a period of time. Later on, when they discovered it, they accepted Bobi and fed him the same food they ate.
As stated by Lionel Costa, Bobi’s owner, the secret to his longevity was the calm and peaceful environment he lived in. Note that Bobi was not the only dog owned by the Costa family to live a long life. Bobi’s mother lived until the age of 18, which is already an old age for a dog, and another of the family’s dogs lived until 22.
Maybe, we’re not so different. Today, there are studies showing that those who live a calm, peaceful, and balanced life are more likely to live longer.
Apart from an incident in 2018, where a sudden collapse because of breathing difficulty led to hospitalization, Bobi had a relatively healthy life. Even though he eventually had some trouble walking, and seeing, Bobi was well. After all, his 31 years of age correspond to something like 300 of ours.
