The world’s oldest living dog, according to the Guinness Book of Word Records, died at the age of 22 on October 3, 2022.
Pebbles, the 4-lb Toy Fox Terrier, was five months shy of celebrating her 23rd birthday. She died due to old age at her home in Taylors, South Carolina, with her owners, Bobby and Julie Gregory.
Pebbles was awarded the record on May 17, 2022, when she was 22 years and 50 days old, right after the previous record holder, TobyKeith, the Chihuahua, was announced two months earlier.
Tiny Pebbles
Pebbles was born in Long Island, New York, on March 28, 2000, and was adopted by the Gregorys when she was just a puppy.
At first, the Gregory family searched for a large dog breed to adopt, but Bobby fell in love with the tiny puppy when he noticed her following and running around her cage every time he walked by. “She was jumping and barking so much at Bobby that he had no choice but to pick her up and check her out. It was instant love the second the two met,” said Bobby’s wife, Julie.
During the course of her life, Pebbles had given birth to a total of 32 puppies across three litters with her longtime partner Rocky, who was also a Toy Fox Terrier. Rocky was 16 years old when he died in 2017.
According to Julie, Pebbles loves snuggling under the blanket and scratching outside in the backyard under a tree. She also had a habit of staying up all night and loved listening to two of her favorite country crooners – Dwight Yokum and Conway Twitty, when she had her naps in the afternoon.
Ten years ago, her veterinarian placed her on a cat food diet carrying a higher meat-based protein than her regular dog food. And, once in a while, on special occasions, Pebbles would eagerly munch on a treat of a stack of ribs.
Record Breaker
When news came out in March 2022 that a Chihuahua was awarded the oldest living dog at 21 years and 66 days old, Bobby received several calls and text messages from family and friends that Pebbles could easily break that record.
“When I saw TobyKeith’s story all over the news, I applied for the record,” Julie said. The Gregorys promptly submitted her certificate showing her March 2000 birth date and, right after, received the title.
On Pebbles’ passing, Julie wrote, “She was a once-in-a-lifetime companion, and it was our honor to have had her as a pet and family member.”
With the death of Pebbles, does this mean TobyKeith is back as the world’s oldest living dog, or would there be another candidate who would come out of the woodwork?
The oldest dog verified was an Australian Cattle Dog that lived to be 29 years and 160 days old and was born in Australia on June 1910 and died on November 1939.
