The world’s oldest living dog is Spike, a chihuahua mix from Ohio

A chihuahua mix “su-paw-star” from Ohio has now claimed the Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest living dog.

Spike, who turned 23 years old and 26 days Thursday, hails from Camden, a small town with a population of just over 2,000 people in the Dayton area.

Guinness World Records North America said Spike, the new record-holding pooch, stands at 9 inches tall and weighs just under 13 pounds 

The world’s oldest dog title can change hands while title holders are still living when canny humans catch wind of the Guinness World Records, get their pets verified and stake a claim to the title.

• TobyKeith, a pure-bred chihuahua, who is still enjoying life in Florida, has held the title several times in the past year.
• Pebbles, a 22-year-old South Carolina-based toy fox terrier held the title before he died Oct. 3, after a long life full of “country music and being loved,” his owner said. 
• And in December, Gino, a chihuahua mix from Los Angeles who also previously held the title, died at age 22.

A parking lot, an old dog and a new mom

Spike’s mom, Rita Kimball, said she found Spike in the parking lot of a grocery store in 2010 when he was 10 years old, the global organization that keeps track of record achievements announced said in a news release Thursday.

“He had been shaved up his back, had blood stains around his neck from a chain or rope, and looked pretty rough,” Kimball said. “The clerk in the grocery told us he had been there for three days, and they were feeding him scraps… When we left the store and entered the parking lot, he followed.”