Meet Zeus, the Tallest Dog in the World

BREAKING: The world's tallest dog (44 inches) is just a big ol' softie -- and he's a therapy dog!

The world now has a new top dog: the correctly named Zeus. This towering canine checks in at an impressive 3 feet, 8 inches, making the altitudinous beast -- a Great Dane, maybe the Greatest Dane? -- the tallest dog in the world, according to Guinness World Records 2013, which launched Sept. 13. 

How much taller is Zeus than the foe he vanquished? One inch! But what an inch. The previous dog, Giant George, must now return to the world of mere mortals as simply one hell of a giant dog. 

As for Zeus, he is expected to be an exemplary champion.

"He loves to sit on laps," says his owner, Kevin Doorlag. "But if he stays on my lap for a while, he tends to get on the heavy side."

He says Zeus "loves human contact. He's a leaner."

Denise and Kevin Doorlag bought the dog when he was just a puppy, and they watched him grow like a beanstalk. By and by they noticed the dog develop a surprising, delightful trait: big ol' softiness.  

"He kind of acts like a small dog," Kevin Doorlag told People.com. "He towers over [most dogs], but it's kind of funny. Even the smaller dogs will start sniffing, and if they bark, he'll run behind you. He's scared. He doesn't really realize how big he is."

Zeus, you're 44 inches tall, from the ground to the top of your withers, or shoulders. When you add in your neck and your head, you're nibbling on apples from a tree.

"It's kind of comical," says Doorlag. "Everybody we see is like, 'Is that a horse? Is he part horse, part giraffe?'"

Zeus' gentle nature led the Doorlags to get the dog involved in therapy work, volunteering at the local hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich. Doing the rounds from such great heights puts Zeus at an advantage, as his giant head can zoom right in on the patients, lap-level. 

"When we're doing pet therapy, he'll go up to the beds," Doorlag told People.com. "It's nice with his size -- patients don't have to bend over. He's actually at face level."

Guinness World Records 2013 hit the Web and bookstores on Sept. 13. Be sure to give Zeus a glance before you go looking for fingernail-man.

Via People.com 

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Meet Brewster, the world’s tallest puppy

How does one really prepare their home and backyard for a visit by a
215-pound celebrity dog? Fortunately, when the 36-foot tour bus pulled in front of my house recently and out its door lumbered a mellow Great Dane named Brewster, I decided to exhale and simply enjoy this magnificent (and still growing) dog who is on a mission to raise money and awareness to combat cancer in dogs and cats.

Brewster belongs to Sandy Hall, a determined pet cancer awareness advocate from northern California. He is also the nephew of Hall’s previous famous Great Dane named Gibson, deemed the World’s Tallest Dog by the officials from “Guinness Book of World Records.” Gibson stood 42.2 inches high at the shoulders and soared more than 7 feet high when standing on his hind legs. Sadly, Gibson died from osteosarcoma two years ago.

In his memory, Hall is touring the United States with Brewster throughout the entire month of May in hopes of raising $1 million in donations to be made to the Morris Animal Foundation to fund research to find a cure for cancer. The tour is funded by Petco and Blue Buffalo pet food. Back to the backyard, though. The combined weight of my four pets (two cats named Murphy and Zeki and two dogs named Cleo and Chipper) barely tips the scales at 90 pounds. So all of them put together are less than half of Brewster’s weight. Despite being a mere 60 pounds, Chipper, my golden retriever-Husky, needed to do a parallel walk with Brewster and Hall down my street to silence what I refer to “doggy air guitar” and calmly transform into a polite canine host. The mutual side-by-side walk worked.

The biggest surprise meet-and-greet, however, occurred between Brewster and Zeki, my 9-pound Turkish Van mix. I adopted Zeki about a year ago after she survived a brutal knifing as a stray and then endured eye-related health issues in a foster home. She has every right to be a nasty, anti-social feline, but she has yet to meet a stranger, and that includes the many dog visitors who come into my home. Brewster’s only cat experience sparked a swat and hiss from a less-than-welcoming cat, according to Hall.

Zeki, relaxed and cradled in my arms, leaned over to a weary Brewster and delicately touched noses. Size wasn’t an issue for this confident cat. She was more focused on getting turkey treats than fussy about this giant canine in her backyard. Zeki has proven to be an excellent feline ambassador who is always up to meeting people and traveling to new places.

Brewster and Hall will be covering thousands of miles throughout the month of May inside a bus that gets a whopping eight miles to the gallon. I don’t even want to calculate that hefty bill at the pump, but you can’t put a price on the damage cancer causes. Cancer claims about as many dogs and cats at the same rate as people, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. The Morris Animal Foundation officials drive it home with the sobering statistic that one in every four dogs die of cancer.

May is Pet Cancer Awareness Month. You can help by rounding up your receipts at Petco or making donations online at Pet Cancer Awareness. If you want to learn more about Brewster, billed as the World’s Tallest Puppy (yet to be officially sanctioned by the Guinness guys), just dash over to his site.
Brewster’s arrival drew curious interest from my neighbors, many of
whom were wowed by his towering stature. The most heartfelt response came from my neighbor, Flo Frum. Nearly 87 and possessing the same energy and wit as another senior (Betty White), Flo lost her husband Frank to lung cancer just six months shy of their 60th wedding anniversary six years ago. Her home is now shared by a spirited miniature Schnauzer named Buddy. She eyed Brewster, gave him a big hug, dismissed the drool he deposited on her pant leg and then hugged Hall.

“I hate cancer,” she quietly told Hall. “I love dogs. Thank you for making this trip. I just wish Frank was alive to see it.”

Photo credits: Arden Moore

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