Which dog is the biggest?
The English Mastiff is the largest breed in the world of dogs. A full-grown mastiff can tip the scales at 250 pounds (113 kilograms), and they regularly do, but they can be bigger — much bigger. Zorba, the English Mastiff, holds the Guinness World Record for canines at 343 pounds (156 kilograms). In November 1989 at eight-years old, little Zorba measured 8 feet, 3 inches (251 centimeters) long — without his tongue stuck out to lick you – and he was 37 inches high at the shoulder when on all fours. Of course, standing up, he was 8 feet 3 inches and could dunk a basketball. (I made the dunk part up, but I bet he could.) That is a lot of doggie. Zorba has gone to dog heaven, but he is still the longest and largest dog ever recorded. Thank, you Zorba, for setting the record for big dogs.
Which is the tiniest doggie?
Right now – and stay tuned because three other little dogs are in the race to grow and be smaller – but right now, Guinness says the smallest dog alive in the world is a long-haired female Chihuahua by the name of Boo Boo who is four inches tall and weighs two pounds. She is so small she drinks out of a plastic spoon and only weighed one ounce at birth (about four U.S. pennies).
And, the loudest is?
In a dazzling display of decibelic discordance, the German Shepherd Daz, guarding his home in England, woofed away at 108 decibels of dynamic diction scaring away robbers, postmen and cat burglars for miles around. The decibel (written dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of sound, and sounds above 85 dB can cause hearing loss. At 108 dB, Daz’s bark is roughly equivalent to the blast of a car horn or a chain saw cutting down a tree out front. Daz himself is reported to be lovable and unaggressive, but when he lets loose with that diaphragmic display of sound, there is none like him. Aggressors grab their ears and run for cover when our nonaggressive pooch starts barking.
Most fur, please?
The heaviest amount of fur in the canine world belongs to the Komondor. Komondorox (that’s the plural) are large white-coated Hungarian guardian dogs. Their coat is long and thick and resembles dreadlocks or a mop. You will hear them called “mop dogs” because they look like mops on legs, their eyes covered with fur and a pleasant, endearing smile peaking through between those white dreadlocks. Komondorox are tough but friendly, having arrived with all that fur from Tibet to Hungary in about 1100 A.D. The Komondor breed has been declared a Hungarian national treasure, and that says a lot for a mop with dreadlocks.
Highest jumper and fastest runner, if you could?
For a single jump by one dog, Cinderella May, a Holly Grey, cleared 68 inches (5 feet, 8 inches, or 172.7 centimeters) in the State of Missouri, U.S.A., on October 7, 2006. It was an official Guinness World Record. A Holly Grey is greyhound. The greyhound is also the fastest dog, attaining speeds up to 45 miles per hour (mph) chasing that fake rabbit around that dog track. Go, Cinderella!
And, of course, the most good natured?
This is a hard pick. So many dog breeds and individual dogs are easy going and great to be around. If you have a dog, he or she is the best for you. Some picks from the web are: 1) the Basset Hound, originally from France, is stated to be among the most good-natured and easy going of breeds, amiable with dogs, other pets and children; 2) the Bulldog, because it is very sturdy, not very energetic and will pretty much let kids walk all over it without complaining; 3) the Labrador Retriever for a family because Labs love to please, are playful, protective and caring, and train easily — being known as the canine Einstein’s; and for the single walking in the town park and hoping to meet someone special, the Lab has been documented to be the best dog to have if you’re looking for a date (remember that scene from the 1961 animated film 101 Dalmatians where Roger takes his dog Pongo for a walk in the park and they meet Anita and her dog Perdy — Wow, that was love at first sight, for dogs and humans alike); and finally at #4) my favorite, the Mutt, or mixed breed, just down the street at the local shelter, the bigger the better for kids, any size at all for all the rest of us, and remember (and this is the best piece of advice I saw on dogs) whatever dog you choose, everyone in the family needs to be the pack leader for that dog, every day, from day one, and that dog will be the best dog ever.
Bow Wow,
Grandpa Jim