Formite dog lovers this is amasing!

[alancw3]

Hercules was recently awarded the honourable distinction of World's Biggest Dog by Guinness World Records.

Hercules is an English Mastiff and has a 38 inch neck and weighs 282 pounds. With "paws the size of softballs" (reports the Boston Herald), the three-year-old monster is far larger and heavier than his breed's standard 200lb limit.

Hercules' owner, Mr. Flynn, says that Hercules' weight is natural and not induced by a bizarre diet: "I fed him normal food and he just grew..." And grew. And grew. And grew.

Check out old mate's picture!!!

[mcteague]

When I saw this photo I thought "no way". It does not even look real. Turns out it's not.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/hercules.asp

Tim McTeague

[Sandy]

That is an amazingly large dog, no matter whether the story is true. For a mastiff breed, it doesn't even look particularly overweight. Just huge! It certainly does not look like an English Mastiff, much more so like a Neapolitan Mastiff, as pointed out in the previous post. I have seen smaller elephants than that dog! :)


Shiloh Shepherd Sandy

[Sandy]

The original post reminds me of a dog that I had- Tiny. He was a tiny Chihuahua. I fed Tiny about 5-10 pounds of dog food each day. But somehow he never grew. He just got smaller and smaller and smaller... One day, I went out to get the newspaper. Unfortunately, I never saw Tiny. I stepped on him, and I squashed poor tiny Tiny. We were going to bury him the next day but we could never find tiny Tiny's tiny carcass. :)


Not so tiny,


Tiny Tim

[DRZRM]

Yeah, sorry. Debunked here too.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_hercules_worlds_biggest_dog.htm

[William]

Not real.

I've owned Mastiffs and my sister in-law breeds, shows, and rescues Mastiffs. So, I've been around a few in my life....and that photo my friend is screwy. Sandy is correct in that is a Neapolitan Mastiff, not English. If that guy really was that big, he would weigh more then 285 lbs. A while back, there was another photo of a Mastiff in the back of a woman's car that looked even bigger then this guy floating around the web. That photo was also a fake. Not a bad one, but still a fake.



William

[Sandy]

I haven't seen too many mastiffs at the shelter, but they are normally quite docile and easy going. Often, they will simply lay down and go to sleep or rest, when most of the other dogs are barking at other dogs or people. There was one day that 6-7 were brought into the shelter recently. The next day, they were gone. I had no idea where they went.


Sandy

PS- Hope that you ar doing well and enjoying the cycling season thus far!

[William]

I haven't seen too many mastiffs at the shelter, but they are normally quite docile and easy going. Often, they will simply lay down and go to sleep or rest, when most of the other dogs are barking at other dogs or people. There was one day that 6-7 were brought into the shelter recently. The next day, they were gone. I had no idea where they went.


Sandy

PS- Hope that you ar doing well and enjoying the cycling season thus far!

Hi Sandy-pal!

You are right, Mastiffs are gentle giants. Great family dogs that usually bond very well to children. They are protective as well. Eli used to position himself between our kids and any person or animal he felt there was an issue with. His shear size was great for scaring off pedlars at the door too. :eek:

Usually there are mastiff rescues watching the shelters so they tend to snatch them out fairly quickly when they show up. They are great dogs and usually the only reason they end up in the shelters is that people don't do their homework on the breed, or thought a puppy was cute, and don't realize how big these guys get. That's a lot of food and bigger vet bills. The other reason (as it is for many dogs) is drastic family life changes. Though, my sister I-L recently rescued a female and had to have one of her eyes removed because the previous owner used to beat her about the face. Given all that she's been through, she's still a very loving girl toward people.

Mastiffs are a great breed.

Sandy, I'll have a new picture to add to the Serotta dog thread in the near future. A new family member that will want to say "Hi" to you. ;)

I hope you're getting some fun miles in yourself there big guy!

Take care,
William

[alancw3]

it looks like i was dooped! funny the person who sent me the email is a diehard dog lover too. anyway went to guinness and could not find any such record. sorry about that. still a great picture if only it were genuine.