The average age of a dog is set at 10 to 13 years, according to Wikipedia, but there are of course exceptions to every rule, as a 31 year old dog in Portugal – the oldest dog in the world – has recently proven.
Bobi was recently named the oldest dog in the world by a reputable and most trusted source: The Guinness Book Of World Records, reports CTV News.
*And no that’s not an actual picture of the pup in question that accompanies this piece, but we thought it would be really cool to do a little flag waving for Bobi’s home country, and who better to do it than one of his own compatriots? To see Bobi in action, see the video posted below…
What are some of the ways we can help our aging dogs during the aging process? Read on to find out…
The proud poppa of Bobi, a Leonel Costa, threw him what the aforementioned source called a “traditional” Portuguese b-day bash, as well as made some statements for the press and Guinness reps themselves:
"“We’ve had a lot of journalists and people come from all over the world to take a picture with Bobi…There were a lot of pictures taken and he had to get up and down many times…It wasn’t easy for him…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…”Via CTV News (link above)"
Bobi’s breed is known as a Rafeiro do Alentejo—a dog specific to Portugal, and they are the perfect dog for watching out for the safety of farm animals.
According to olddoghaven.org, aging dogs have a lot more needs than dogs of a younger age and although that seems a tad obvious to state, the aforementioned source goes into specific things that your aging dog needs when getting up there in age.
It is clear with cases like Bobi here, that dogs and cats can reach a higher age than are accepted by the norm, as stated above, but things do help along in the aging process as well…
A loss of eyesight and hearing is present in aging dogs, so patience is key to taking the time to help your dog around when those two senses start to weaken.
Being understanding of your dog can help it know that you’re not upset or in any state of anger because of him or her. They feel that deeply and a sense of understanding goes a long way in allowing your dog to not be stressed.
They have a very hard time with stress anyway…if you’re stressed, they feel like they’ve let you down, and they too, as they age have a harder time to cope with higher levels of stress in themselves…so patience is key here as well.
The source, olddoghaven.org (link above), states that in the hearing department, using hand signals early on and even before the dog starts to lose his or her hearing is a great way to help make the dog’s changing life and capabilities less of a blow.
And as even Bobi’s pop stated above in his comments, the joints and bones of aging dogs tend to get a tad more frail as they age, he having mentioned that Bobi had a harder time moving about, so tasks they were once up to may no longer be possible.
So many other things change over time…like a loss of appetite, a possible medicinal prescription may be necessary and for a plethora of reasons.
In the end, we love our dogs and or pets immensely and we know that in our hearts, nothing is ever too much in terms of care or patience, and if we can give them a long and happy life, then we’ve done our jobs as fur mommies and daddies. A very happy B-day to Bobi!!
How about you, dear readers? Any dogs over the average age you have in your care you’d like to let us know about?