101 Facts About Ageing #11: The World’s Oldest Dog

As Daniel Patrick Moynihan, an American sociologist, politician, and diplomat once said: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts”. And we wholeheartedly agree. A shared set of facts is the first step to building a better world with longevity for all. In that spirit, we are creating a series that covers 101 indisputable facts about ageing, health and longevity.

The oldest dog to have ever lived, according to the Guinness book of world records, was Bluey. Bluey was an Australian cattle dog who was born in 1910 and lived for 29 years and 160 days. Bluey’s exceptional longevity inspired a study of Australian cattle dogs which found a mean longevity of 13.41 years, meaning Bluey lived over twice as long as the average for her breed. Since Bluey’s death in 1939, no other dog has been officially verified to have reached the age of 29, though there have been multiple claims of dogs living longer, such as Chilla, a Labrador Retriever and Australian Cattle Dog mix. She reportedly lived 32 years and 12 days.

The current Guinness world record oldest living dog as of 2020 is Funny Fujimura, a miniature dachshund. At age 21, she still has some way to go to beat Bluey.