November 17, 2005: Tallest Dog of All Time Born

A Brief History

On November 17, 2005, the puppy that came to be known as Giant George was born in Arizona, a puppy that would become the tallest living dog in the world and as far as we know, the tallest dog ever at that time.

Digging Deeper

A Great Dane, Giant George grew to a height of 43 inches (110 centimeters) which bested the previous record holder, Titan (another Great Dane) by ¾ of an inch, a clear margin.  Note: Dogs are measured at “the withers” to establish their height. (withers- the ridge between the shoulder bones, used to measure the height of quadruped mammals such as dogs or horses.)

Great Danes are large dogs, and Giant George was no lightweight, tipping the scale at 250 pounds.  By comparison, Titan was a svelte 190 pounds.  Giant George’s achievement in the dog world was so momentous that his new record was announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show (television), the absolute pinnacle of American culture.  Of course, George himself made the appearance for his coming out gala television event, flying to the show on a jetliner, taking up an entire row of 3 seats on the way.

A disputed record after all, the record height of Giant George was verified by The Guinness Book of World Records, which charts all sorts of animal records regarding weight, height, length, width, ear length, size of paws, speed and a myriad of other physical and performance measurements.

Unfortunately, Giant George died in 2013 not quite 8 years old.  Large dogs have shorter life spans than smaller dogs, and this age is fairly normal for the Great Dane breed.

Our familiar pet and working partner, The Dog, is descended from the wolf Canis lupus, and is properly known scientifically as Canis lupus familiaris.  Dogs are probably the first domesticated animal, and are more adapted to life with humans than any other animal.

One thing that has baffled this author about dogs for years, is that you will often hear the claim that, “People resemble their pets.”  I had previously had Basset Hounds, short, fat, lazy dogs.  Did I resemble them?  Some unkind people would point out that yes, I did.  Now I have a Miniature Weiner Dog (Dachshund).  I resent the comparison!  (We have no information about whether or not Giant George’s owner, David Nasser, was excessively tall or not.)  The Dachshund is, by the way, probably the most ferocious and bravest of the dogs, oblivious to their small size.

Question for students (and subscribers): What kind of dog do you have?  Do you resemble him/her?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

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Historical Evidence

For more information, please see…

Barrett-Lee, Lynne and Dave Nasser.  Giant George: Life with the World’s Biggest Dog.  Grand Central Life & Style, 2013.

Tokar, Norman, dir.  The Ugly Dachshund.  WALT DISNEY PICTURES, 2004.  DVD.