Great Danes deserve their regal name. Their history traces back to Germany when they were bred to hunt ferocious boars with their owners, and they later became protectors and guardians of the home. It doesn’t take much to recognize a Great Dane when you see one. They are massive dogs who, when standing on their hind legs, are taller than most humans!
What happens when a Great Dane is the runt of the litter?
Runts are the little guys that usually don’t do so hot in a litter. They are smaller than their brothers and sisters, which usually leads to them getting less milk and nutrition. In the wild, the outlook is grim. Thankfully, humans are able to take matters into their own hands and take care of these little guys just how they need.
Freddy the Great Dane was the runt of the litter, but you would never know it!
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Freddy was born smaller than his siblings. His sister, Fleur, was in the same litter and was twice his size when they were born. Claire Stoneman adopted Freddy and Fleur but had no idea that Freddy would be breaking world records. If anything, she thought Fleur was going to be the bigger of the two.
As Freddy got older, he rapidly grew into a giant.
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Standing on his hind legs, Freddy is 7-ft, 6-in tall. He broke the previous record and is now the world’s tallest dog! A 7-ft, 4-in tall Great Dane named Zeus held the record previously, but Freddy hit that height when he was just 18 months old!
Claire had a guess that Freddy wasn’t done growing, even when he hit the previous record.
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She was right! Puppies can grow for quite a while and Great Dane males often won’t mature until three to four years. Both Freddy and Fleur are fully grown now, though, and are great dogs.
As puppies, the two got into some trouble.
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Much like people, the two dogs had a rebellious stage when they were younger. They loved to tear up the couch and cause some serious destruction! As they got older, they began to mellow out a bit.
Freddy got a certificate to mark his achievement.
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It isn’t a record until Guinness gets in on it! After some thought and measurements, they awarded Freddy with World’s Tallest Dog and gave him a certificate to honor his achievement. What’s more, Freddy is over 200 pounds too. He is just an all-around big boy.
People love to stop and meet him.
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As you could imagine, whenever Claire takes him on walks, people can’t help but be amazed. For those who aren’t afraid, they often ask to pet the massive pup. It’s not every day that people get a chance to see such a large dog taking a walk. Some might even mistake him for a small horse.
From his world record, Freddy has become a doggie celebrity!
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With the stardom of Freddy, his mom made him various social media accounts so people can keep up. Feel free to check his day to day activities!
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