World’s Oldest Dog Celebrates Another Birthday Milestone More Than 3 Decades in the Making
A picture taken on February 12, 2023 shows Bobi, a 30 year-old Portuguese dog that has been declared the world's oldest dog by Guinness World Records, at his home in the village of Conqueiros near Leiria. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)
Dogs can live a long time, in dogs years. The average lifespan for your average, everyday, typical kind of dog is ten to thirteen years. Similar to humans, the length of their life depends on multiple factors, genetics, diet, lifestyle, and many other things.
I have a friend who calls his dog “the oldest dog ever,” he’s not, but that’s what he calls him. His dog, “Champ,” is 16 years old! That’s amazing, right, a 16-year-old dog? Champ is a slow walker and wobbles a little when he moves, but otherwise, he’s happy and sleeps most of the time.
However, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Champ is just barely past middle-aged.
UPI reported that a dog named, “Bobi” who lives in Portugal is not only the world’s oldest living dog, he’s the oldest dog ever! Bobi was born on May 11, 1992, making him 31 years old, making him almost twice as old as Champ. And, not for nuthin’ but, there’s no way Champ is making it to 31.
A picture taken on February 12, 2023 shows Bobi, a 30 year-old Portuguese dog that had been declared the world’s oldest dog by Guinness World Records, sitting between the two Guinness certificates at his home in the village of Conqueiros in Leiria. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)
Bobi is older than Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and Miley Cyrus, but he’s not older than Snoop Dogg unless you measure his life in dog years. As a matter of fact, if we’re measuring Bobi in dog years, he’d be older than Abraham Lincoln, if Abe were still alive. He’s also more than 40 years older than the “Wizard of Menlo Park” Thomas Edison if Tom was still with us.
38-year-old Leonel Costa has owned Bobi since he was a puppy and is throwing a huge birthday party for him on Saturday to celebrate the amazing feat. Bobi’s mother, who was also a pet of Costa, lived to be 18.
Costa got Bobi when he was 8 years old and said, “Bobi is special because looking at him is like remembering the people who were part of our family and unfortunately are no longer here, like my father, my brother, or my grandparents who have already left this world.”
Happy birthday, Bobi!
Be Kind to Animals Week Spawns 3 Heartwarming Cat Stories
I don’t have any pets right now, although I have had dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, fish, lizards, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more over the course of my life. I think dogs are my favorite, but I also love cats and am not interested in debating which is “better.” I am, however, as everyone should be, an advocate for the proper and kind treatment of all animals.
Last week American Humane celebrated the oldest commemorative week in United States history. It was the 108th “Be Kind to Animals Week.” Animal lovers of all ages get together on this day to help make the world a better place for animals.
American Humane CEO Robin Ganzert said, “The commemorative week provides people with the opportunity to contemplate the bigger picture of how their actions impact all the amazing creatures we share with our planet. And hopefully this week and every week we can celebrate kindness, compassion, and love for our animal friends.” To help make a difference American Humane asks people to take a pledge to improve the lives of animals year-round.To take the pledge go to AmericanHuman.org/BeKind.
Coincidentally, there were a few heartwarming stories that we learned about during “Be Kind to Animals Week.” Here are three that will make you smile.
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.
