Bobi: The Dog Guinness Named — Then Unnamed — the Oldest Ever

Bobi’s story is a genuine record — followed almost immediately by a genuine controversy. Both parts are worth knowing before you repeat the “31-year-old dog” headline.

Who Bobi was

Bobi was a male Rafeiro do Alentejo, a large Portuguese livestock-guardian breed, cared for by Leonel Costa and his family in the rural village of Conqueiros, Leiria, Portugal. According to the family, he was born on May 11, 1992, and lived his whole life on the same rural property, which they credited to a calm environment and a diet of table scraps rather than commercial dog food.

The record — and the doubt

On February 1, 2023, Guinness World Records evaluated Bobi at 30 years and 266 days old and certified him as the oldest dog ever recorded, surpassing the previous record held by an Australian cattle dog named Bluey. The record made international headlines. Bobi died on October 21, 2023, at what the family said was 31 years old.

The record then unraveled: veterinary experts publicly questioned whether a dog of Bobi’s breed and size could plausibly reach that age, since large breeds typically have shorter lifespans than small ones. Guinness suspended the title in January 2024 pending an investigation, and formally revoked it the following month, citing insufficient documented evidence of his exact birth date.

What’s left of the record

Whatever Bobi’s true age, his story is now as much about the limits of verifying extreme-longevity claims in dogs without lifelong veterinary records as it is about the dog himself — a caution that applies to any “world’s oldest” pet claim that surfaces after the fact rather than being tracked from birth.

Bobi’s rise and reversal is covered in the record-holders section of our guide to the internet’s most famous dogs.

Frequently asked questions

What breed was Bobi, the record-holding dog?

Bobi was a Rafeiro do Alentejo, a large Portuguese livestock-guardian breed, raised by the Costa family in Conqueiros, Portugal.

Is Bobi still the world’s oldest dog on record?

No. Guinness World Records certified Bobi as the oldest dog ever recorded in February 2023, then suspended and ultimately revoked the title in 2024 after an investigation into his birth documentation.

When did Bobi die?

Bobi died on October 21, 2023, at what his family reported as 31 years old.