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A fellow dog lover shared a video questioning the authenticity of the World’s Oldest Dog record set by Bobi, a dog living in Portugal. In summary, Dr. Cellini questioned the images of Bobi over the years, the genetic testing used to determine the dog’s age, and the lack of public records. In this article, I will share my thoughts on these items. I will not explore Dr. Cellini's qualifications or statements about social media influencers and veterinarians.
Images of Bobi Over the Years
The first question about the legitimacy of the Record is regarding the changes to Bobi’s appearance. In images shared on Reddit, it shows that in some images, Bobi has white socks (white fur on his paws and ankles); in others, he’s a solid color along his legs.
Dogs may change drastically from puppy to adult; however, the dog appears to be an adult in all images. Once dogs reach adulthood, changes primarily noticed include weight gain or loss, coat thickness, and greying around the muzzle.
Are all of these images Bobi? I wasn’t able to confirm if the images were meant to be reflective of Bobi over the years or if they’re Bobi at all. I attempted to find the source, but the websites wouldn’t load, and I couldn’t confirm that these images came from Bobi’s family.
What are your thoughts?
Genetic Testing to Determine a Dog’s Age
According to the above video, a video published by Rodney Habib, and several Reddit threads (I couldn’t get the Guinness Book of Records website to load), a telomere test confirmed Bobi’s age.
What is a Telomere Test?
A telomere test is a genetic test that measures the length of telomeres in a person's chromosomes. Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division and are associated with biological aging and various health conditions. The length of telomeres can be used as a marker of cellular aging.
Telomere tests typically involve analyzing a person's DNA sample, obtained from blood or saliva. The sample is analyzed to determine the average length of telomeres in the person's cells. These tests are often marketed to assess an individual's overall biological age, predict disease risk, and provide insights into their general health status.
However, it's important to note that various factors influence telomere length, including genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors. While telomere length has been associated with aging and specific health conditions, it is not a definitive indicator of an individual's overall health or lifespan. Additionally, telomere tests have limitations, including potential laboratory variability and the lack of standardized reference ranges.
The accuracy of telomere tests depends on the specific method used and the quality of the laboratory conducting the analysis. Choosing a reputable and accredited laboratory for telomere testing is crucial to ensure accurate and reliable results. However, it's worth noting that the clinical utility of telomere testing in routine healthcare and disease prediction is still being researched, and its interpretation may be complex.
Lack of Public Records
According to several sources, including the Guinness Book of World Records, records used to confirm Bobi’s age included:
- veterinarian and vaccination records
- SIAC, a pet database authorized by the Portuguese government and managed by the National Union of Veterinarians (see more information on this below)
- The Veterinarian Medical Service of the Municipality of Leiria
The issue people raise regarding this evidence is that the veterinarian records weren’t made public; however, some feel that those are personal and shouldn’t be for public consumption. According to Dr. Cellini, the SIAC (Portuguese Information System for Pets) allows dog owners to self-report, and they do not confirm the information; Bobi’s owner reported him in 2022 at age 30. Update: the self-reporting was due to records dropping off when two databases were merged. At that time, records that didn't survive the merge were added by pet owners.
There is also the story of the owner finding Bobi after the littermates had been buried alive. The owner kept Bobi safe and has had him his entire life. While this doesn’t represent evidence of Bobi’s age, it’s enough for many people because there’s no reason for the family to deceive the public. It has been suggested that they benefited monetarily from this story; however, The Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t pay record holders, nor does it appear that the family benefited beyond some minor attention – they didn't get a truckload of free products, a television show, or a giant check.
Is Bobi Really 31 Years Old?
To be honest, I don’t know, nor do I care. The discussion I started on social media revealed many opinions.
People who believe that Bobi is 31 years old don’t believe that the media or family would deceive the public, trust the influencers who reported the story, and want to believe in the power of feeding fresh food.
People who don’t believe that Bobi is 31 years old point to the following:
- There is a lack of clear and concise scientific evidence proving the age.
- Changes in the dog’s appearance in images shared on social media.
- The dog appears to be obese in the images shared on social media, and while dogs may gain weight in their geriatric years, obesity isn’t conducive to longevity in dogs.
- The lack of cloudiness in the dog’s eyes – according to VCA Hospitals, this is seen “at 50% in dogs over nine years of age and 100% in dogs over the age of thirteen.
Looking at the information shared online, I can’t definitively state that Bobi isn’t 31 years old. After discussing this topic in several social media threads, I’m disappointed that there aren't more details of Bobi’s life. According to some dog owners, some details are currently behind a paywall (you have to join a group to learn more), and others state that the details shared in articles reflect all that has been made available:
- Bobi is fed a diet of cooked food, organic vegetables, and herbs.
- Bobi goes on walks daily and is allowed to sniff his environment.
- Bobi lives a stress-free life with humans and other animals.
Many people in the fresh food community are doing these things, yet our large dogs aren't setting world records by living to their late twenties and early thirties. So, what more is there about Bobi's life that could have contributed to his longevity?
Uncovering the Secrets Behind Bobi's Longevity
A month after I originally published this article, a Portugal-based veterinarian, Dr. Margarida Raposo, jumped on a Zoom call to answer many of my questions about Bobi.
Diet and Nutrition
There is a misconception about Bobi's diet; some have reported that he ate table scraps, but this isn't the case. He ate “exactly the same food the family eats, soaked in water in order to remove most of the family's food seasoning.” Source: Gerald Pepin, The Canine Nutritionist
To be specific, Bobi ate a traditional Portuguese diet (which is similar to the Mediterranean diet), highlighting fresh, unprocessed ingredients. It typically includes ample amounts of fish, seafood, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Popular dishes include bacalhau (salted cod) and grilled sardines; meats like pork and poultry are also consumed. When the family included Bobi when shopping for the family's meals; for example, they bought enough fish for the family and Bobi; the dog didn't get leftovers; he ate a homecooked diet made for him by his humans.
Bobi did eat vegetables from a diverse garden, and the family also raised their meat.
Did Bobi Fast?
Bobi did self-fast. He often took off for a few days, roaming the eucalyptus forests. During these days, he either wasn't eating, or he foraged on what was available. When home, eating was casual and not on a set schedule.
Neuter and Vaccines
Bobi wasn't neutered, which isn't a surprise as it's not uncommon for dog owners in other countries to only spay/neuter to address a health issue.
Bobi was minimally vaccinated for rabies; he wasn't vaccinated against other diseases.
Exercise
Not only did Bobi walk around the community, he was allowed to roam on his own; sometimes, he was gone for a few days.
Environment
People often point to clean, rural living for Bobi's longevity; however, he didn't live in a perfect location. The area may have been different thirty years ago; today, the family lives near eucalyptus forests and electricity towers. However, there is less traffic, fewer cars, and less pollution than what we experience in a typical American city. The family gardens in enriched soil, and they drink clean, well water.
It's not unusual for dogs to live into their twenties; other dogs in the family lived to their late teens, and early twenties. Bobi's age isn't typical for the area.
Was Bobi Registered Recently?
One piece of evidence people refer to when questioning Bobi's age is the registration and the fact that the family was allowed to self-report. What's being seen as Bobi being registered for the first time is actually a re-registration. There used to be two registration systems – one for veterinarians and one for the city council. They were combined within the past five years into SIAC, a pet database authorized by the Portuguese government and managed by the National Union of Veterinarians. The data from both systems was supposed to merge automatically; however, some data dropped, and the dogs needed to be re-registered by their owners.
Bobi's owner re-registered him as part of the Guinness Records process.
Sadly, Bobi passed away in October 2023. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Bobi's Age is Being Investigated
In November 2023, I learned that after being questioned by many in the veterinarian community, Bobi's age is being investigated. In an article published by The Guardian, Dr. Danny Chambers, a veterinarian “and council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, said that of the 18,000 members of the Veterinary Voices [Facebook] group he runs, ‘not a single one of my veterinary colleagues believe Bobi was actually 31 years old.'”
This article left me wondering what prompted the pressure put upon the Guinness Book of World Records to launch an investigation. Was it the selection of Bobi as the longest-living dog, or was it the connection to fresh food?
“Chambers added that Bobi’s example had been taken up by anti-pet-food zealots ‘who have long campaigned that dog food is killing pets and that raw feeding is healthier‘ – since the mastiff lived off human food.“
While I understand the skepticism and desire to learn the truth, I find this in poor taste and counterproductive because Bobi passed away. This feels like an attack directed at a famous holistic veterinarian and her partner, a pet food influencer, rather than a genuine desire to learn Bobi's age. While people try to prove that the veterinarian is wrong, a grieving family is caught in the crossfire.
It's clear that Bobi was old, and I feel that more can be gained (more dogs can be helped) by learning more about how he lived than by harassing his family.
I do believe that Bobi is the oldest or at least one of the oldest dogs in the world and not because of his diet.
It is a good diet, of course, with organic vegetables from the farm and probably organic meat. But that is not the only nourishment he gets. He gets daily something much more important. He is in the nature all the time.
In the fresh air, under natural light, enjoying the sun, the grass, and the earth on that big farm. And he does not go for walks, he is walking and moving constantly. And every day he has positive interactions with other animals and humans on the farm.
Many dogs don’t eat a natural diet but even the ones that do eat it spend too much time indoors and too little time moving and playing outdoors. Several walks a day is maybe enough for an older dog but for an active, young dog that is not enough. My inlaws had a dog that lived for 16-17 years.. She ate scraps from the table and kibble. But they live in an area where there are a lot of dog owners who just let their dogs roam free, it is such a place where that is not dangerous neither to dogs nor to people. Dogs sometimes have quarrels but that is all, they coexist peacefully. All of them have families so they don’t worry about the food and they are free to move and play all day outside and to socialize with other dogs and people, mostly kids. So she did not eat an organic or very healthy diet but she had nourishment from the sun, from natural light, from the earth, and nourishment from the freedom to walk and run and play outside any time she wished. She could hide inside when the weather was bad but she chose to be outside most of the time.
And maybe also Bobi got extra lives from his brothers and sisters who died in such a horrible way. Maybe they gave him extra years that they were not able to live and now they are living through him. I somehow feel that that is also the reason why he is so old. I certainly wish him many more happy years with his humans.