Owner of world's oldest dog Bobi says special diet helped it live to 31

You might have heard the tragically sad news that Bobi the world's oldest dog has died aged 31, after living more than twice the length of his life expectancy.

Bobi was a Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo breed and a very good boy who lived with his owner Leonel Costa, who had looked after the pooch since he was eight.

That Bobi even made it past his first couple of weeks owes a lot to luck since he was part of a litter of four puppies that Leonel's parents were going to put down because they had plenty of animals to look after already.

Luis Boza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

However, Bobi wandered off from the litter and Leonel kept the puppy a secret from his parents long enough for them to decide to let him keep the dog.

What he didn't know at the time was that he was going to have a canine companion by his side for longer than any dog has ever been any man's best friend before.

Bobi was earlier this year awarded a Guinness World Record for being the world's oldest dog, smashing a century long record which had been held by an Australian hound that lived to be 29.

If you're wanting to keep your dear dog around for as long as possible it might be worth listening to Leonel for some advice considering he had Bobi for more than double the time he would have been expected to live.

The Portuguese farmer said that living in the countryside, never being kept on a leash and being fed a very special diet of 'people food' was the key to Bobi's longevity.

That's right, if you want your dog to live a long time the advice seems to be to cook meals for two and serve one of them up to your beloved friend.

Guinness World Records

Presumably if you follow a good diet yourself then you'll be serving up scrumptious food which will be good for your dog as well.

Bobi certainly was as fit as a butcher's dog since he was eating food as good as Leonel had for himself, so perhaps the key to a healthy, happy dog is letting it eat what you eat.

Conversely, definitely don't be one of those people who decides to see what dog food tastes like.

While it might technically count as food and give your coat a nice healthy shine it's likely better to stick to human food and let your beloved pooch tuck in as well.

They might not make it quite as long as Bobi but how many of you would put a price on more days with your dog?

Topics: Animals, Food And Drink

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker