Zeus - Tallest Dog In The World

[Liebhunde]

Breed standards exist for a reason and this is for the overall health and well being of the individual dog. It is quite right to say that a dedicated Dane owner would cringe when looking at this poor dog. Everything is wrong.He seems like he has a sweet temperament and is well loved by his owners but they are obviously oblivious to the terrible condition he's in...ignorance will certainly not be bliss for Zeus ultimately. I also think it is sickening for anyone to be giving any kind of credit or acclamation to the thinnest fattest tallest oldest puppy bearing bitch.. ..etc And moronic comments about horses saddles and George must be fuming and so on speak of nothing but ignorance Giant George is also a poor example of the breed... The standard exists for a reason.

[hortfurball]

Well said Liebs.

[BlackJaq]

Wow I would be way too embarrassed to show that dog to anyone if I was the owner.....

Having battled weight gain issues with my own dog (Weimaraner) I understand that it can be hard to get weight on a dog (mine will drop weight like no tomorrow due to separation anxiety issues but this one looks like pain issues to me), but really, the underlying problem needs to be found and worked on.

I think this dog does not only look like he has poor conformation and is too thin, but the way his hips are tilted remind me of a horse with pain in that region and I think somebody said before that he looked like he was in pain whilst walking.

Not to mention making a dog this size jump out of the back of a car onto a hard surface is just stupid. My dog is not even allowed to jump off the bed/lounge, not to mention the back of the ute or a car.

I also hope he is desexed :p

[Kirislin]

he looks deformed. I think it's probably a good thing they're keeping him lean.

[Maddy]

no its 13kg a fortnight, not a day

All of our greys eat about 1kg of meat a day so 13kg a fortnight isn't a huge amount of food (even taking into account the water weight in raw meat). Consider that this dog weighs 40kg more than the average greyhound and actually, his diet is quite meagre*. The brand of food also makes a big difference there. You can put a kilo a day of poor quality kibble into a dog and all you'll get out of it is a kilo of poo and horrible dog farts, no real weight gain.

*Which, judging by his legs, is probably for a reason, his long bones do not look normal.

In my opinion, a dog that cannot be kept at a healthy weight for fear of snapping his legs out from under him is a dog that would very likely be better off PTS. But then, why would they kill their potential cash-cow just because he's probably suffering..

[hortfurball]

Hardy's Angel, I must admit that the idea occurred to me too that perhaps this poor creature would be better off put out of his misery, but then he does appear quite happy and mobile, if not the smoothest mover and shaker. Without seeing him in the flesh, and a vet's opinion, it's impossible to tell.

Edited for clarity

Edited September 19, 2012 by hortfurball

[Horsegal98]

If he was a horse, I would say he was unsound. It looks like every step is agony. He also reminds me of a poor example of a greyhound through the haunches.

[kitkatswing]

The difference is just astounding..

Giant george:

to Zeus

[Maddy]

Hardy's Angel, I must admit that the idea occurred to me too that perhaps this poor creature would be better off put out of his misery, but then he does appear quite happy and mobile, if not the smoothest mover and shaker. Without seeing him in the flesh, and a vet's opinion, it's impossible to tell.

Edited for clarity

I don't believe that how a dog appears to feel is necessarily the best indication of their physical or mental health. Dogs often won't outwardly show any sign of discomfort, even if there's serious injury. I had a dog ripped open from her shoulder, down the side of her chest, you could see the fascia covering her ribs- she showed no sign of pain. To the average observer (if they couldn't see the injury), she would have appeared a normal, happy dog, even while I was strapping it up to keep everything in place to get her to the vet. The reality was emergency surgery and a dog who spent several weeks on strong painkillers and anti-inflammatories (and very lucky that I was home when it happened).

Anyway.. watching that dog's back end shake from just standing there did not seem to be what I'd consider "mobile"- it seems likely to me that the dog is in pain and I don't believe there is any way to justify that sort of existance.

[sas]

I woudl have to describe that dog as a structural disaster area.. poor thing is very poorly put together.

I wonder if he was desexed very young....

Nothing to do with the age of desexing. He is what he is because simply that's what he is - genetics.

There are many terribly unsound Great Danes with people without a clue breeding them. Height is genetic. Early desexing will keep the growth plates open slightly longer but you won't get any extreme heights.

[OSoSwift]

Even though George's conformation is also appaling, at least he has some depth of body. Not sure if I would have that much weight on him with a back end like that.