Records are meant to be broken.
At a point in life, I can bet you must’ve dreamt of being in the Guinness Book of World Records as a world record holder. There used to be a show broadcasted on TV where people from all around the world would attempt to break world records and the new record holders would then feature in the infamous Guinness Book of Records.
Anything you can think of, there exists a world record for it. From eating most apples in a minute, to doing the most skipping jumps in a minute, you name and the book has it.
The good thing about Guinness World Records is that they are open to all living beings and that include animals as well. They may not realize they hold a world record but so many of them do and so many of them break it to become the new holders. Talking about world record-holding animals, today we have got a dog for you guys who recently broke a world record for being the oldest living dog.
Meet Bobi who by turning 30 years old became a record holder for being the oldest dog.
Just two weeks after Spike, a Chihuahua became the oldest living dog at the age of 23, Bobi the dog got in the ring and claimed the title by being the age of 30 years, breaking the record for the oldest living dog by a whopping 7-year difference. As of February 4th, Bobi is 30 years and 270 days old. He is ready for his 31st birthday soon to come in just over 3 months. Bobi is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo residing in Portugal.
The average life span of a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo is 12 to 14 years. Bobi beat the expectation by turning more than twice the average age.
Bobi’s life story is as exciting as his achievement. He was born in a rural village in Conqueiros, Portugal along with his three other siblings. The owning family of these newborns decided they couldn’t have any more animals at the base because they already have too many. The decision was based on the fact that they couldn’t take care of that many animals and it would’ve been unfair to the newborn puppies.
One of the family members Costa, who is 38 years old and the current owner of Bobi, Leonel Costa told Guinness World Records that his father took the puppies away soon after they were born, to bury them. He further said this was a common act and many people would bury their animals alive if they know they wouldn’t be able to take care of them.
The pups had been taken away but their mother Gira kept visiting the shed every day for some reason, even though it was empty.
One day Costa and his brother decided to follow Gira to see why she keep returning to the shed and what is she looking for. Turns out, she kept coming back to look after Bobi, one of her babies who for some reason got left behind and was very much alive and healthy. The only rationale logic Costa could provide was that the dog’s brown fur camouflaged in the shed and his father probably didn’t see him when he was picking up the puppies.
Costa decided to keep Bobi’s existence a secret and planned to let everyone know until he was old enough for them to not give the dog away.
Bobi has never been chained or leashed and is allowed to live freely roaming around in the farmland and the forest. He has been happily doing it for over 30 years.
With age, Bobi has now started showing fatigue and his vision has weakened too but one of that is stopping him from enjoying life to the fullest. His best friend, a cat, helps him get through the exhaustion and the two are spending quality time together, getting older happily.
According to Costa the main reason for Bobi staying alive for this long is his diet. Costa feeds him unseasoned human food and it has been working like a charm. The combination of companionship and good food seems to be the best one out there.
By turning 30 Bobi also broke a century-old world record and became the oldest dog ever.
An Australian cattle dog Bluey was born in 1910 and lived till the age of 29 years and 5 months. Costa upon realizing Bobi holds two world records, said he always knew there was something special about Bobi.
We wish Bobi a long, healthy, and happy life. Personally, I want him to extend his lead to a number that is unreachable. His legacy must get cemented into the Guinness Book of Records forever.
I really hope you guys enjoyed this story. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section down below. Stay tuned for more stories!