Tag Archive for: age

Bobi

No stress, fresh food with fish and vegetables and a daily walk in nature

Bobi, the oldest dog in history, died last month on the 21st of October 2023, at the age of 31 years and 165 days.
He was awarded the title ‘oldest dog in the world’ by the Guinness Book of Records in February last year when he was 30 years old.

Bobi lived a quiet life in Conqueiros, a village in the municipality of Leiria, with the Costa family, eating mainly food for humans. He was lucky to have made it as the Costa children had to hide him for some time as the family had too many animals and the litter of four puppies was due to be euthanized.

The newborn dog was kept hidden for some time (hence his preference for human food), before becoming the longest-living pet in the Costa household.

He is described as a Rafeiro do Alentejo, a Portuguese guardian dog (named after its area of origin, the Alentejo province in southern Portugal). Dogs of this type were traditionally kept to protect flocks. In 1954 the breed was officially acknowledged by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.

His 31st birthday was a relatively busy affair with about 100 guests coming from all over the world wanting to take pictures of him. Even so, he managed to eat his favorite dish of grilled pork and fish, enjoyed a folklore dance put in his honor, and took several naps during the day.

Veterinarian Peter Dobias flew in from Canada with his dog Pats for the event which he described as inspiring. ‘We would all love our dogs to live long. They say if you don’t have friends you have a 50% chance of encountering more health problems. Bobi has friends and an amazing family teaching me how to take care of my dog.’

Other veterinarians present at the birthday party in Leiria declared that the secret of the dog’s longevity must lie in a calm life without stress, a rich social life, non-processed fresh and diverse human food with everyday fish and vegetables from the organic garden, and daily nature walks with his owner Lionel, who got Bobi when he was 8 years old.

Guinness World Records are looking into claims after skepticism over whether the Portuguese mastiff really lived over 31 years.

Danny Chambers, a vet and member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said: ‘this is the equivalent of a human living over 200 years, which is completely implausible’ adding that Bobi’s example had been taken up by anti-pet food zealots ‘who are campaigning that dog food is killing pets’.


Enjoy the week            Aproveite a semana               (pic Público/Ptresid)







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Forever

‘We are often accused of being lazy’


Leaving the parental home is considered a milestone in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The reasons behind this step may vary from being materially independent to studying, working, moving in with a partner, getting married, or having children.
Portuguese men and women seem to remain forever young and stay with their parents for quite some time. In fact, making them the oldest to leave home in Europe.


According to Eurostat the average age at which youngsters leave their home in the EU is 26,5 years but varies greatly between member states. Although Portugal (33,6 years) records the highest average age of young people leaving their parents’ home, Sweden has the lowest (19 years). A difference of more than 14 years!


This disparity reflects the various challenges young people face across Europe as well as cultural differences between countries.


On average young women (25,5 years) move out of their parental household some two years earlier than men (27,4 years) and countries where young people leave home at an older age are more likely to have a lower force rate of participation.



For youngsters in Portugal, housing and income are the biggest challenges. The scenario is well known: buying a house is nearly impossible (prices have increased by 50% in the last five years), rents are far too high, wages do not grow at the same pace and there are more and more obstacles to accessing credit. Moreover, inflation is skyrocketing and energy prices increasing by the day.

Sociologist Lia Pappamikail believes that living with parents should not be perceived as a negative thing.
‘The two things can be reconciled: I can be perfectly independent and live at home with my parents. This does not mean that I am not autonomous; it means that I can do what I want and also have the resources to do it’

However, this does not apply to everyone explains Ana Lopes, a 26-year-old occupational therapist. ‘We are often accused of being lazy. But in reality, it is the external conditions that make the process of leaving home complicated. I get along very well with my parents but what I really want is my own space, a place to be myself and build my life’.
Susana Peralta, professor of Economics at the Nova School of Business and Economics, agrees with her. ‘We are less free when we live together. You are never as free as when you are alone’.

Enjoy The Week                    Boa Semana                 (pic Público/Sapo)





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