Bobi, who was this year ordained the oldest dog in the world by Guinness World Records, has died at the ripe old age of 31, Portuguese media reported Monday.
"We have better memories of a long life where he was happy and, above all, where he made a lot of people happy, especially his family," Bobi's owner Leonel Costa told local media from the little village in central Portugal where he lives.
A purebreed Rafeiro, a Portuguese livestock guard dog whose normal life expectancy is between 12 and 14, Bobi was not supposed to make it beyond puppyhood.
He was born on May 11, 1992, along with three other pups in a wood storage shed owned by the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros.
Because the family owned so many animals, the father decided they could not keep the newborn puppies and the parents took them from the shed the next day, while the mother dog Gira was out, said Leonel Costa, who was eight years old at the time.
But they didn't realise they had left one puppy behind, and that puppy became Bobi.
"He died at the age of 31 years and 165 days," according to the Guinness World Records.After he was declared the world's oldest dog in February, media and curious onlookers from around the world paid Bobi a visit. Bobi, known as the oldest dog in the world, dies aged 31
At least 80% of the world’s one billion or so dogs actually live independent, free-ranging lives – and they offer some clues. Who would our dogs be if we weren’t around to influence and care for them?
What are dogs?
Dogs hold the title of the most successful domesticated species on Earth. For millennia they have evolved under our watchful eye. More recently, selective breeding has led to people-driven diversity, resulting in unique breeds ranging from the towering Great Dane to the tiny Chihuahua.
Today’s diverse dog breeds are a result of the modern approach to selective breeding. Shutterstock
Humanity’s quest for the perfect canine companion has resulted in more than 400 modern dog breeds with unique blends of physical and behavioural traits. Initially, dogs were bred primarily for functional roles that benefited us, such as herding, hunting and guarding. This practice only emerged prominently over the past 200 years.
Some experts suggest companionship is just another type of work humans selected dogs for, while placing a greater emphasis on looks. Breeders play a crucial role in this, making deliberate choices about which traits are desirable, thereby influencing the future direction of breeds.
Are we good for dogs?
We know certain features that appeal to people have serious impacts on health and happiness. For instance, flat-faced dogs struggle with breathing due to constricted nasal passages and shortened airways. This “air hunger” has been likened to experiencing an asthma attack. These dogs are also prone to higher rates of skin, eye and dental problems compared with dogs with longer muzzles.
Flat-faced dogs such as pugs and bulldogs often aren’t comfortable in the bodies we’ve bred them for. Shutterstock
Many modern dogs depend on human medical intervention to reproduce. For instance, French Bulldogs and Chihuahuas frequently require a caesarean section to give birth, as the puppies’ heads are very large compared with the mother’s pelvic width. This reliance on surgery to breed highlights the profound impact intensive selective breeding has on dogs.
And while domestic dogs can benefit from being part of human families, some live highly isolated and controlled lives in which they have little agency to make choices – a factor that’s important to their happiness.
Dogs without us
Now imagine a world where dogs are free from the guiding hand of human selection and care. The immediate impact would be stark. Breeds that are heavily dependent on us for basic needs such as food, shelter and healthcare wouldn’t do well. They would struggle to adapt, and many would succumb to the harsh realities of a life without human support.
That said, this would probably impact fewer than 20% of all dogs (roughly the percentage living in our homes). Most of the world’s dogs are free-ranging and prevalent across Europe, Africa and Asia.
Many dogs live independently around people, like these dogs seen on the street in India. Shutterstock
But while these dogs aren’t domesticated in a traditional sense, they still coexist with humans. As such, their survival depends almost exclusively on human-made resources such as garbage dumps and food handouts. Without people, natural selection would swiftly come into play. Dogs that lack essential survival traits such as adaptability, hunting skills, disease resistance, parental instincts and sociability would gradually decline.
Dogs that are either extremely large or extremely small would also be at a disadvantage, because a dog’s size will impact its caloric needs, body temperature regulation across environments, and susceptibility to predators.
Limited behavioural strategies, such as being too shy to explore new areas, would also be detrimental. And although sterilised dogs might have advantageous survival traits, they would be unable to pass their genes on to future generations.
Rearing puppies without human support happens successfully around the world. Shutterstock
No more designer breeds
Ultimately, a different type of dog would emerge, shaped by health and behavioural success rather than human desires.
Dogs don’t select mates based on breed, and will readily mate with others that look very different to them when given the opportunity. Over time, distinct dog breeds would fade and unrestricted mating would lead to a uniform “village dog” appearance, similar to “camp dogs” in remote Indigenous Australian communities and dogs seen in South-East Asia.
These dogs typically have a medium size, balanced build, short coats in various colours, and upright ears and tails. However, regional variations such as a shaggier coat could arise due to factors such as climate.
In the long term, dogs would return to a wild canid lifestyle. These “re-wilded” dogs would likely adopt social and dietary behaviours similar to those of their current wild counterparts, such as Australia’s dingoes. This might include living in small family units within defined territories, reverting to an annual breeding season, engaging in social hunting, and attentive parental care (especially from dads).
This transition would be more feasible for certain breeds, particularly herding types and those already living independently in the wild or as village dogs.
What makes a good life for dogs?
In their book A Dog’s World, Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff explore the idea of “doomsday prepping” our dogs for a future without people. They encourage us to give our dogs more agency, and consequently more happiness. This could be as simple as letting them pick which direction to walk in, or letting them take their time when sniffing a tree.
As we reflect on a possible future without dogs, an important question arises: are our actions towards dogs sustainable, in their best interests, and true to their nature? Or are they more aligned with our own desires?
By considering how dogs might live without us, perhaps we can find ways to improve their lives with us.
Providing a good life for dogs requires thinking about their mental well-being, health and environment. Shutterstock
Academics at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences have been investigating dog aggression towards people with a survey of UK dog owners which has been published online in Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Dr Rachel Casey is Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and led the research. VOR's Tim Ecott asked her what had prompted the survey.
"Aggression is a big public health issue," Dr Casey says. "People have even been killed by dogs, so it's a serious problem for people, but it's also a welfare issue for dogs, because it they're showing aggression, it's likely to be because they're feeling stressed in their environment. "We wanted to look not at serious aggression such as biting, but at any sign of aggression, such as barking or lunging." What did you find? "We asked about aggression in different situations. Are dogs generally aggressive or in very specific situations? We asked owners about the dog's behaviour in the family, out for walks, and when people visit the household. The results varied quite a lot between the contexts." "It tells us about the behaviour, not why the dogs are doing it. It's a baseline." There's a danger that these findings will be taken up by people who think that dogs should be more controlled, or vice versa, that it's only a small number of dogs that are aggressive. "Like any stats, you can argue them in any direction. But we're interested in information. At the moment, people denigrate all dogs, or certain breeds, and we wanted to find out much more detailed information to bust some of the myths." "We looked at breeds, but also owner age, training, gender, gender status and so on." Do you think that people like the idea of having a dog but don't really know how to train or bond with it in an increasingly urban society? "It's really important to get across to everybody before they get a dog to really think about it. Not just the financial and health requirements, but also the behavioural requirements -dogs have quite a lot of needs; every dog will need exercise, mental stimulation, lots to do during the day. So everybody who's thinking of getting a dog needs to address very carefully whether a dog is suitable for their household and lifestyle." (Voice of Russia) The survey, background The study, led by academics at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences and published online inApplied Animal Behaviour Science, investigated the occurrence of dog aggression towards people with a survey of UK dog owners. Nearly 15,000 questionnaires were distributed to dog owners of which 4,000 were returned and used in the analysis. The researchers found that aggression towards unfamiliar people was reported more commonly by owners than aggression to family members. Nearly seven percent of owners responded that their dog barked, lunged, growled or actually bit when people came to the house, and five percent reported these behaviours on meeting people when out on walks. In contrast, about three percent of dogs were suggested by owners to show aggressive behaviour towards family members. The study highlighted that the majority of dogs showing aggression do so in just one of these situations. This indicates that the common tendency to categorise dogs as either generally ‘safe’ or ‘vicious’ is a misconception, and that most dogs show aggression as a learnt response to particular situations. The study also compared the characteristics of those dogs reported to show aggression with those which had never done so. It was revealed that factors such as training classes attended, type of training method used, the sex and neuter status of dogs, the age category of owners, and the breed of dogs were all associated with the occurrence of aggression. Interestingly, different risk factors were found to be significant in statistical models examining aggression to family members and unfamiliar people. This suggests that different factors are important in the development of aggressive signs depending on the situation. The research also highlighted that although general characteristics, such as breed type, are significant risk factors across large populations they explain only a small amount of the overall difference between aggressive and non-aggressive dogs. This suggests that it is not appropriate to evaluate the risk of aggressive behaviour in an individual dog using characteristics such as breed type. (University of Bristol) Source: Article
“The heart of my interest is the dog-human relationship,” says Emory neuroeconomist Gregory Berns, director of the university's Center for Neuropolicy. His latest research involves training dogs to enter a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner (fMRI) and hold perfectly still, so that he can scan their brain activity. Berns' research began with his own pet, Callie, adopted from an animal shelter, and has expanded to include a dozen “MRI-certified” canines. Only positive training methods are used on the dogs. They remain awake and unrestrained in the fMRI as they respond to stimuli like hand signals indicating food and smells of familiar humans. The results Berns has gathered so far are the subject of his new book, “How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain.” “The idea behind the book is essentially my deep-seated desire to know what my dogs are thinking, and whether they love us for something more than food,” Berns says. “I think the answer is definitely, yes. They love us for things far beyond food, basically the same things that humans love us for. Things like social comfort and social bonds.” Source: eScienceCommons
This is the story of a four-legged Warrior suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But humans aren't the only ones with problems. Military dogs returning from war zones are also showing signs of PTSD. And there's evidence that these canines need some extra tender loving care after their tours of duty. The most energetic and playful dogs will be trained for combat. Once on the job, the stress and rigors of war may take their toll on the dogs like they do on humans. Sometimes the animals show signs that they're suffering from nervous exhaustion; others appear distressed or confused and forget routine commands. Doctors began wondering: Could it be that canines experience PTSD like people? Image Screen Shot On Video
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Rearing puppies without human support happens successfully around the world. 
