thirtysomething Bobi is a good old dog

February 3, 2023 7:34 AM

A 30-year-old Portuguese dog has been named as the world's oldest ever by Guinness World Records - beating a record that stood for a century. Bobi is a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo - a breed that has an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.
posted by chavenet (30 comments total)

I'm impressed at how spry Bobi looks compared to other 'oldest dog' competitors that show up on the internet that look like they're barely holding it together. He's a good boy!
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:45 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

Whoa.
Good boy.
posted by Glinn at 8:01 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Woosagooddog. 30/10.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:11 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

The previous oldest dog ever was Australia's Bluey, who died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.

So is the cartoon dog named after the previous world's oldest dog? That's a random bit of trivia.

And my dog is 17 - she's one of those 'barely holding it together' old dogs and has basically lost all her senses. She was standing next to a wild rabbit while going to the bathroom the other day. Chased those when she was younger.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:23 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

they're old dogs, bront
posted by cortex at 8:24 AM on February 3, 2023 [18 favorites]

So is the cartoon dog named after the previous world's oldest dog?

Nope. Both dogs (cartoon and real) are Blue Heelers. Thanks to indifference and the Australian love of diminutives, there have been an untold number of Blue Heelers named Bluey.
posted by zamboni at 9:00 AM on February 3, 2023 [11 favorites]

[unintelligible goober-talking-to-a-good-dog sounds]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:25 AM on February 3, 2023 [13 favorites]

Kind of weird they gave him a plaque with an exact age on it. I imagine he expects to be here tomorrow.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:26 AM on February 3, 2023 [6 favorites]

My 15 year old Yorkie is barely holding it together. Mostly bind, most deaf, has trouble getting up and down, and is on a slew of pills.
Good on Bobi!
posted by CostcoCultist at 9:43 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

wow, such a large doggo (and a pure breed) to live so long. 30/10 indeed.
posted by supermedusa at 9:43 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

He looks like a very happy dog. And surprisingly, he has apparently always eaten human food, just unspiced.
posted by tavella at 9:46 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

"[T]he Rafeiro do Alentejo is a large-sized dog, powerful, rustic, sober, and calm. He moves with a heavy, slow roll."

Majestic!!!!!
posted by praemunire at 9:53 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

I forgot to note mention that the Portuguese word "rafeiro" means ... "mutt" or "mongrel"

pure breed mutts!

[but good dogs nevertheless]
posted by chavenet at 10:07 AM on February 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Oh the clip in the video where that cat bonks heads with him is so sweet! Even if he’s losing his sight and getting around is harder, it seems like he still has plenty of reasons to wake up in the morning.
posted by Mizu at 10:17 AM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

My 18 year old is hanging in there surprisingly well. He's a grumpy sleepy farting old man of a chihuahua pomeranian, but he's spry and the vets are like "well, he's got two awful knees, his irises are starting to cloud over and he's developed a heart murmur, but shockingly... that's all"

I can't help but wonder - 30? really? For a dog breed that averages less than half of that? But then again, I don't care as long as this means the goobers are being cared for and may they all live longer.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:23 AM on February 3, 2023 [11 favorites]

That dog does not look 30. Like...twelve? Maybe?
posted by wenestvedt at 10:26 AM on February 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

I've decided our dog has to live to be at least 40, so that should be a new record.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:28 AM on February 3, 2023 [7 favorites]

Wow, what a special boy! I had a cat who loved to nearly 22, and she had the same sort of pinched look about the face, but she was spry to the very end. One of the very last things she did was chase that tail that had been after her all her life.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:57 AM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]

wish my Mingus had had another 15 years :(.

That's a handsome puppers for such a venerable age.
posted by lkc at 12:26 PM on February 3, 2023 [4 favorites]

The article is missing the customary "Drink a fifth of whiskey" every day type recommendation that unusual oldster articles typically have.
posted by srboisvert at 2:01 PM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

It’s really more of a 'doesn't drink a fifth of whiskey every day' recommendation though, isn’t it?

Because the article points out that Bobi has never eaten dog food, but only human food over his lifetime.

If that doesn’t put the wind up people who love their dogs, I don’t know what would — not that anybody who actually sniffs that stuff wouldn’t have pretty strong suspicions, however.
posted by jamjam at 2:21 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Bobi gets to roam free and has an active social life. I think that probably is a pretty big contributor, too.
posted by aniola at 2:42 PM on February 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

The article is missing the customary "Drink a fifth of whiskey" every day type recommendation that unusual oldster articles typically have.

Unless you count eating human food instead of dog food, which, while not a vice, runs against the conventional wisdom I was told about dogs.
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:24 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

It probably depends on what the humans are eating.
posted by aniola at 4:47 PM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

I always assumed that that's part of how dogs evolved from wolves, is eating human scraps.
posted by aniola at 4:48 PM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Just told my middle aged gentlemen dog he better live that long. He's the best.
posted by Grandysaur at 7:28 PM on February 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

I am so confused. I had read this article about "world’s oldest dog, dies aged 22" last October (and thought to myself, huh 22 doesn't seem all that old). How did this 30 year old dog not beat the 22 year old dog? Was he just recently discovered? And what about the previously oldest dog who was 29? I guess "world's oldest ever" is different than "world's oldest", but that distinction is not well explained in these articles.
posted by gueneverey at 7:06 AM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Well...as much as I would like the job, there is not actually a team that monitors dog ages in households all around the world.
posted by praemunire at 11:26 AM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Really surprising the lack of gray hair on that dog.
posted by jamjam at 3:13 PM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

That dog does not look 30. Like...twelve? Maybe?

I admit, I did go "30 years? Are they really sure it's not two dogs?" Registering at a vets doesn't seem like a very sturdy piece of evidence by itself, unless they are talking about microchipping.
posted by tavella at 6:00 PM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]