When Freddy the Great Dane was a puppy, he was the runt of his litter. Owner Claire Stoneman of Leigh-on-Sea, England, took the young __dog and his littermate Fleur home early because he was so little and wasn't thriving.
"I got him a couple of weeks earlier than I should have done because he wasn't feeding off mum, so he was pretty poorly," she told The International Business Times. "He was half the size of Fleur when he was tiny so I had no idea he was going to be this big at all."
I wasn't always this big!!!! As a puppy I was smaller than my sister and the runt of the litter!! Here I am with Fleur (I'm on the right!) 🐶 #throwbackthursday #petsofinstagram #petoftheday #dogsofig #dogoftheday #greatdanes #greatdanesofinstagram #greatdanesunleashed #greatdanesunlimited #greatdanesofig #greatdanesrock #greatdanesareawesome #greatdanesphotography #greatdaneproblems #freddygreatdane #worldsbiggestdog #bigdog #bigdogsofinstagram #dogsofinstaworld #greatdane #greatdanemoments #greatdanelove #greatdanenation #greatdanelovers #repostmydane #ilovemydog #danestagram #danesofig #greatdanefans #danestagram #danenation
"This big" is really big. Freddy is currently the Guinness World Records holder for "world's tallest dog." He's 7 feet 6 inches tall when standing on his hind legs.
Need to put that into perspective? Basketball star LeBron James is 6 feet 8 inches tall. (The average NBA center is 6 feet 11.) A king-size mattress is about 6 feet 7 inches long.
You try telling a 200-pound dog not to sit on the furniture. (Photo: Freddy The Worlds Tallest Dog/Facebook)
Although Freddy got off to a slow start, he had a few growth spurts and people soon began commenting on social media about his massive size.
"I had no experience with Danes and how big they should be and no expectations," Stoneman said.
Freddy was just 18 months old and still growing in this photo with Stoneman. (Photo: Freddy The Worlds Tallest Dog/Facebook)
Freddy now weighs nearly 200 pounds, and can often be seen on his own Facebook and Instagram pages standing on the furniture, zooming about the yard with his sister or simply napping.
When it comes to eating, Freddy's massive food bowls are impressive ... as are the food bills. Stoneman says she spends close to $125 each week to feed him. Some of his favorites are peanut butter on toast and roasted chicken. As a puppy, he also had quite an affinity for sofas. She said he destroyed 23 of them.
Nothing is safe on the counter when you have a freakishly tall dog around. (Photo: Freddy The Worlds Tallest Dog/Facebook)
When Stoneman takes her awe-inspiring pet for a walk, she knows it will take a while.
"If we go out in the daytime we get interrupted every five seconds," she tells the BBC. "Cars brake and stop to look at him."
Before Freddy earned his Guinness title in September 2016, the previous honoree was Zeus, a Great Dane from Michigan who passed away in 2014 at the age of 5.
Freddy shows off his Guinness World Records award. (Photo: Freddy The Worlds Tallest Dog/Facebook)
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