Posts tagged "worlds tallest dog"

Yesterday, spectators in New York's Central Park got to see something completely unprecedented in canine history: The world's tallest dog making friends with the smallest pup on the planet! According to AOL News, the meeting of these polar opposites was arranged by Guinness to celebrate the launch of the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records, and specifically to highlight the new section on amazing animals (hooray!).

Measuring 7-foot-3 from snout to tail, George the Great Dane took up an entire row of first-class seats on his flight from his home in Tucson, Arizona. According to his owner David Nasser, the world's tallest living dog eats about 110lbs of dog food per month and enjoys luxuries like his very own queen size bed. He was featured on Oprah's "That's Incredible" episode, after all. (To read more about George go to this earlier Paw Nation article about the gentle giant.)

At only 4 inches tall, don't tell Boo Boo the long-haired Chihuahua she's not top dog. The "world's smallest living dog" and her owner Lana Elswick also flew first class from their home in Raceway, Kentucky -- though we doubt they got their own row of seats. This 24-ounce pup literally drinks water from a teaspoon.

Despite their vastly different sizes, both celebrity pups made a big splash during their stay in New York City. Each pooch was treated to first-class travel accommodations, including their own rooms at the swanky $400-a-night Warwick hotel -- all so these two opposite specimens could come face-to-face.

So, was Boo Boo's owner nervous about her pint-sized pup's encounter with George the Giant? "I was a little scared," Elswick tells AOL News. "I was a little afraid George would mistake my little Boo Boo for a snack. But he is, truly, a gentle giant."

In front of a legion of reporters from all over the world, these two glory hounds sniffed, licked, and reportedly bonded. How sweet. "He loves the attention," Nasser tells Aol News. "When the cameras are going and the flashes are going off he kind of perks up a little bit. It's pretty interesting."

The world has a new tallest dog! At four years old, George the Great Dane stands 43 inches high from paw to shoulder, which is the method Guinness World Records uses to determine a dog's official height.

The announcement settles a hotly-contested debate that had been brewing since last November when Guinness proclaimed Titan, a Great Dane from San Diego, Calif. who measures 42.25 inches high at the shoulders, the World's Tallest Dog. George's owner, David Nasser of Tucson, Ariz., claimed that his Great Dane was taller, but there were conflicting reports about the dog's actual height. To settle the controversy, Guinness sent a representative to preside over an in-person measurement. The outcome? George had edged out Titan by three-quarters of an inch. (Prior to Titan and George, the previous holder of the World's Tallest Dog title was Gibson, a Great Dane who passed away in 2009.)

At 43 inches tall, "Giant George," as Nasser likes to call him, is the tallest dog ever recorded by Guinness World Records. He's already appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has over 21,000 fans from all over the world on his Facebook page. "It's been amazing," says Nasser. "Fans have written in from the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea and South America."

The sable-colored Great Dane weighs a whopping 245 pounds and measures seven feet and three inches from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail -- though he doesn't raise up on his hind legs, he's too big for that. "When George is standing on all fours and lifts his head, the tip of his snout measures 55 inches, or more, off the ground," Nasser tells Paw Nation. "You have to be careful. Nothing is off-limits to him."

Titan the Great Dane has something to really bark about – he's just been named the World's Tallest Dog by the Guinness World Records, reports Sign On San Diego.

At 42.25 inches tall, the 4-year-old dog from San Diego is deaf, epileptic and partly blind, Titan's proud owner Diana Taylor told Sign On San Diego.

Taylor adopted her 190-pound Great Dane in 2005 from a rescue group in Tennessee. "It's not just wonderful for Titan," she told Sign On San Diego. "It's wonderful for all dogs."

Titan replaced previous record-holder Gibson, a Great Dane from Northern California who died earlier this year after fighting bone cancer, the Associated Press reports. Gibson measured a little shorter than Titan, at 42.2 inches.

Taylor plans to throw a party for Titan to celebrate, complete with her dog's favorite treats, but it seems he has already started to rejoice: when Titan heard the news, the pooch slobbered all over his official Guinness certificate, Taylor told Sign On San Diego.

Visit Titan's website to learn more about the World's Tallest Dog.