Not a chance that this is the same dog. Check the pictures from the 1990s, it's a completely different pattern on the paws etc.

This dog has been very publicized here in Portugal! I believe that he is really 30 years old, mainly because of his physical appearance and the lifestyle he had. Furthermore, he was registered in 1992 and there are documents from the vet. Recent health checks have also been done to confirm Bobi's age.

Here is a report made a few days ago by a Portuguese TV channel (in Portuguese):

Coisas do Arco da Velha: este é o Bobi, tem 30 anos e é o cão mais velho de sempre - CNN Portugal (iol.pt)

Eating only human food is the secret of Bobi!

But a rare genetic background obviously influenced.

Congratulations on the GWR title 🐶🌟

The sloppy requirements for documentation used here are at an even lesser degree than was used on cases such as Martha Graham and Shigechiyo Izumi, both once considered validated by the GWR.

Also note how this alleged dog has one of those fantastic, rare backstories and diets that are common in extreme longevity claims. Also it's in a country that has poor registration of pets.

The coat is that of a younger dog, not what one would expect in a dog above 10. It's a medium sized dog and it's very overweight.

To put it in perspective, this would be the equivalent of some obese person in their 60s in a country with poor civil registration being recognised by the GWR as the oldest person ever based on them having bribed their physician to say that they are 125 years old and their grandma's ID card.

@930310 I can understand your perspective and it's not impossible that you're right, but Bobi's owner said that he even went to the City Council to ask for documents so they could certify the animal. He also says it took 1 year for validation to happen.

You are absolutely right when you said that Portugal has poor registration of pets, I was even surprised that this dog was registered 30 years ago, when even fewer pets were registered, but it's not impossible! 

His owner says that Bobi was born when he was 8 years old, and he wasn't supposed to survive because all the puppies were buried alive, but Bobi was forgotten in the straw and the 8-year-old boy hid him from the family until the dog opened its eyes. With his eyes already open, the boy's parents were no longer going to bury the puppy and ended up keeping with him. It's a sad story, but unfortunately it was common in Portugal in the past to do this with puppies and kittens.

The dog was always free, being able to go for a walk in the mountains near the house, and has always eaten his owners' food, which they soak to lose its seasoning.

Bobi's owner said in the tv report that Bobi's mother died at the age of 18, so longevity may run in the "family" (or his owner is a liar). 

I think his case is very strong but you do make a seriously good point about Bobi being overweight.

An overweight animal is more prone to heart disease, diabetes and an early death just like people. There's no way he could have made it to 30 being that overweight his entire life.

Either it's a different dog, or Bobi was a healthy weight most of his life until very recently, in which case if his owner wants to prolong his life, he should put him on a diet immediately. For Bobi's own best interest. 

Posted by: @930310

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The sloppy requirements for documentation used here are at an even lesser degree than was used on cases such as Martha Graham and Shigechiyo Izumi, both once considered validated by the GWR.

Also note how this alleged dog has one of those fantastic, rare backstories and diets that are common in extreme longevity claims. Also it's in a country that has poor registration of pets.

The coat is that of a younger dog, not what one would expect in a dog above 10. It's a medium sized dog and it's very overweight.

 

To put it in perspective, this would be the equivalent of some obese person in their 60s in a country with poor civil registration being recognised by the GWR as the oldest person ever based on them having bribed their physician to say that they are 125 years old and their grandma's ID card.

Come on, this is just a completely baseless conspiracy theory. It's really not unusual for fur coloration patterns to change in puppies as they reach maturity. 

I'm also not sure what you mean by "the coat is that of a younger dog." Do you believe that all elderly dogs over the age of 10 must have completely white coats? You're also making the assumption that an extremely elderly dog can't be overweight, when in actuality, dogs will generally eat whatever their owner feeds them. If anything, dogs are more prone to gaining excess weight as they age, largely due to decreased activity.

You're attempting to compare the verification of a dog's age to a supercentenarian validation, when the two really aren't comparable, so the proof standard isn't going to be as high. For humans, 30 years isn't a very long time, which is why Bobi has lived with the same owner for his entire life, and likely has many other people alive today who knew him from when he was a puppy. It's a very different situation from a human claiming to be 110, where they would've outlived practically everyone from their childhood. 

Also, I don't think a dog reaching 30 is anywhere near equivalent to a human reaching 125. 

I think the likeliest scenario here is that Bobi is indeed 30½ years old. To me his coat looks the same as the 90s photos. He was likely at a healthy weight most of his life. The past year or so, he gained weight due to his physical activity decreasing with extreme old age. 

If there were pictures of him every few months or so, since when he was a puppy, and IF he was overweight in every picture, then I would doubt his case. 

But he does have good records, including the ones from the Portuguese Council.

I have read about several dogs including Bluey, Max, Maggie and Bella who all made it to 29. Yes this is the first time I've heard of a dog making it to 30, but 30 is not 50. If several dogs made it to 29, then 30 (although an unlikely age) is in the realm of possibility. 

If Bobi's owners were claiming that he was 50, or even 35 then I would cast doubt on his age. But I think it's safe to say he is with 99% likelihood of being the age he claims.

@mendocino It is not a conspiracy theory.  This dog is not the same dog as in the pictures from the 1990s. And as I have said before, there is very little evidence to support the claim that this dog is indeed 30 years old. The level of documentation required should be just the same for animals as for humans. The dog should have proof of birth and identity.

Do you know how many millions of dogs that are born every year? How many of them survive past 25?

I actually know quite a bit about dogs, having studied zoology and ethology for about a year. I never said that a dog has to have a completely white coat. My dog Kia is 12 and she mostly has some grey spotting here and there, especially in the face. This dog is allegedly 2.5 times as old as her and has little to no whitening in his fur, especially in the facial area, which usually is the place one will notice whitening in older dogs in the first place.

Explain how this happened between 1999 and 2023:

Posted by: @930310

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@mendocino It is not a conspiracy theory.  This dog is not the same dog as in the pictures from the 1990s. And as I have said before, there is very little evidence to support the claim that this dog is indeed 30 years old. The level of documentation required should be just the same for animals as for humans. The dog should have proof of birth and identity.

Do you know how many millions of dogs that are born every year? How many of them survive past 25?

I actually know quite a bit about dogs, having studied zoology and ethology for about a year. I never said that a dog has to have a completely white coat. My dog Kia is 12 and she mostly has some grey spotting here and there, especially in the face. This dog is allegedly 2.5 times as old as her and has little to no whitening in his fur, especially in the facial area, which usually is the place one will notice whitening in older dogs in the first place.

He definitely has whitening in most of the fur on his back:

Posted by: @930310

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Explain how this happened between 1999 and 2023:

-- attachment is not available --

One of my dogs is less than 2 years old, and the fur on her paws went from being black and caramel colored to almost completely white over the course of a single year (she's part Bernese mountain dog), so I don't see how it's that unbelievable for a dog's paws to change that much over the course of around 30 years. 

Posted by: @mendocino

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Posted by: @930310

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Explain how this happened between 1999 and 2023:

-- attachment is not available --

One of my dogs is less than 2 years old, and the fur on her paws went from being black and caramel colored to almost completely white over the course of a single year (she's part Bernese mountain dog), so I don't see how it's that unbelievable for a dog's paws to change that much over the course of around 30 years. 

 

Only one paw? The dog was allegedly already six years old at the time of the 1999 picture, so it was not a young dog either.

Posted by: @aquanaut_chalk

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I think his case is very strong but you do make a seriously good point about Bobi being overweight.

An overweight animal is more prone to heart disease, diabetes and an early death just like people. There's no way he could have made it to 30 being that overweight his entire life.

Either it's a different dog, or Bobi was a healthy weight most of his life until very recently, in which case if his owner wants to prolong his life, he should put him on a diet immediately. For Bobi's own best interest. 

Well, overweight is not, obviously, a healthy sign. But there are overweighted animals (like humans or dogs) that keep going for several years. I personally know a teckel mix dog who has been overweighted for years (since it was young) and it is 14 years old and still quite well...

This dog was probably a bit fat during most of its life. Also, you may consider that it is a mastiff mix (heavy dogs).

Posted by: @930310

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Explain how this happened between 1999 and 2023:

-- attachment is not available --

I don't think a single photo can demonstrate it's not the same dog. But it would be interesting to see more old photos of that dog and compare them.

Posted by: @930310

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@mendocino It is not a conspiracy theory.  This dog is not the same dog as in the pictures from the 1990s. And as I have said before, there is very little evidence to support the claim that this dog is indeed 30 years old. The level of documentation required should be just the same for animals as for humans. The dog should have proof of birth and identity.

Do you know how many millions of dogs that are born every year? How many of them survive past 25?

I actually know quite a bit about dogs, having studied zoology and ethology for about a year. I never said that a dog has to have a completely white coat. My dog Kia is 12 and she mostly has some grey spotting here and there, especially in the face. This dog is allegedly 2.5 times as old as her and has little to no whitening in his fur, especially in the facial area, which usually is the place one will notice whitening in older dogs in the first place.

As GWR is an official site, it seems they have solid documentation. Anyway, those documents could be wrong... But I think all dogs of the European Union are signed by a microchip inserted on their necks. Each microchip includes an identity number. If the dog has that number, it's the same dog without a doubt.

In relation to the grey spottings, it depends on the individual. There are old dogs whose face is totally grey and there are others whose face hasn't changed over the years. 

But I have to say that this dog looks amazing considering its age. Appart from the lack of whitening, the dog's eyes are perfect (no cataracts, no rheums...) and it moves quite quickly. The oldest dogs I have ever met (that were between 15-17 years) had eyes problems and their overall appearance was absolutely frailer (in fact, most of them were very thin during the last months/years of their lifes).

@siam When Bobi was allegedly born microchips certainly weren't required and it wasn't required until 2008.

A dog can't change coat pattern in just one front paw, and certainly not from white to brown. 

Posted by: @930310

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@siam When Bobi was allegedly born microchips certainly weren't required and it wasn't required until 2008.

A dog can't change coat pattern in just one front paw, and certainly not from white to brown. 

Maybe it was not mandatory the use of microchips during 1990s. But I think they were used too, so there's the possibility that this dog had a microchip since it was born. Also, if the microchip (inserted in 1990s or 2000s) supports it was born in 1992, that's a solid evidence that it was really born in 1992. I mean, official documents would support that... So why not verify it?

As for the photo, as I have said, it's a single photo of poor quality. There are needed more photos of medium to high quality to demonstrate it's not the same dog...

@siam it's a clear enough photo to see that the dogs have different coat patterns.