Rescued Chihuahua Nabs Guinness World Record As Oldest Dog Alive At 23
Spike the chihuahua [Image Guinness World Record on Facebook]
Meet Spike, a cute Chihuahua who was rescued from a US supermarket parking lot. At 23, this cute pup has been named the world’s oldest dog alive by Guinness World Records. The organization recently broke the news on its Facebook page, along with a series of images of the senior pup.
Spike the Chihuahua is the oldest living dog at 23 years and 43 days
[Image Guinness World Records on Facebook]
Spike’s owner, Rita Kimball, originally found him in a parking lot of an Ohio grocery store around 13 years ago. At that stage, vets place him as being around 10 years of age. He has since enjoyed a long and quiet life in a loving home. That is, until now, when the Chihuahua has hit the headlines for a Guinness World Record.
It was on December 7, 2022, when Spike was aged 23 years and 43 days old that he achieved superstardom.
Spike with his certificate [Image Guinness World Records on Facebook]
When Kimball found Spike in the parking lot, she said he “looked pretty rough.” Meanwhile, after a store clerk told her he had been there for three days, she decided to take him home.
How did they confirm Spike’s age?
Spike with a younger member of the family [Image Guinness World Records on Facebook]
Among comments on the Facebook posts, many people were skeptical about the pup’s actual age. However, Guinness World Records did write on Facebook that his age is “based on a range of evidence, including documents from several veterinarians, who all estimated the same approximate date of birth between July and November of 1999 for Spike.”
Meanwhile, Kimball told Guinness World Records that Spike, who is now almost blind and hard of hearing, sticks to a strict routine. Apparently, the Chihuahua regularly visits barn cats, cows and horses in her small rural town. Rita added:
When he was younger, he tried intimidating the cows and horses by barking and trying to chase them. Now they just stare at him and don’t even move.
When Guinness World Records announced the cute Chihuahua’s world record last week, many of their followers showered Spike with warm messages.
Among them was one from Toto Johnson, the human of a previous Guinness World Record for the oldest living dog. Toto shared a collage of images of his rat terrier, Jake, who held the record after his 21st birthday on July 21, 2015.
Toto Johnson and Jake [Image Toto Johnson on Facebook]
In his comment, Toto wrote, “Congratulations from the owner of a past Guinness “oldest dog living” record holder!”
While most comments congratulated Spike, a Facebook follower living in Nigeria wrote, “I have dogs in my country that are older than this.”
Meanwhile, there is also Pebbles, another Chihuahua who earned the record of oldest dog living last year at the age of 22.
Pebbles [Image @pebbles_since_2000/Instagram]
Congratulations to Jake and wishing him an even longer healthy life.
