#World’s Tallest Dog Dies, Freddy Was 8-Years-Old

Freddy, the world’s tallest dog, has died. He was 8-years old. The Guinness World Records announced the Great Dane’s death earlier this week. When measured by a vet and “Guinness World Records’ Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday, Freddy was a towering 103.5 cm (3 ft 4 in) from foot to withers.” When Freddy stood on his hind legs, he was 7 ft 5.5 in, which is taller than a lot of NBA players. However, it didn’t start that way for Freddy, according to his owner, Claire Stoneman.

Freddy’s owner Claire Stoneman says that Freddy wasn’t always a big dog, despite how large he got to be. “As a puppy, he was the runt of the litter. I actually got him a couple of weeks earlier than I should have, as he wasn’t feeding off [his] mum.” She went on to state, “I had no idea he was going to get this big at all.” Stoneman, who lives in Essex, U.K., says she is “devastated” by the loss of Freddy. “He was not just the tallest dog but the dog with the most love and the biggest heart. A total soppy bugger who was hand fed.” According to his owner, it cost a lot of money per month to keep Freddy fed.
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Claire Stoneman went on to add, “He was my life. My reason. My joy. My annoyance. My happiness and my ultimate sadness. He was my heart Dane. My one in a million and loved by the entire world.” Soon after getting Freddy, Stoneman started to realize just how special he was, and not just because he kept getting bigger and bigger. He brought smiles to everybody’s faces whenever he came in contact with them. He wasn’t crowned the World’s Tallest Dog until 2016.

The average life expectancy for a Great Dane is between seven and 10 years, and for a while, Freddy was in the running to be the oldest on record. However, that was debunked when another U.K. Great Dane named Pirate was discovered to be 11 1/2 years old. After a while, Freddy, and his sister, Fleur, began to attract too much attention, so Claire Stoneman would have to walk them both early in the morning to keep from getting stopped every couple of feet.

While Great Danes look like they can be menacing, especially when they get to be as big as Freddy, Claire Stoneman, and any other Great Dane owner, would say that simply isn’t true. “Despite their size, they’re very kind-natured and put their paws on you if they know you’re upset. They love cuddling and I sleep with them on two mattresses in the living room at night,” Stoneham said. For now, Stoneman says, “I can’t stop crying. He was my life. The official Guinness Book of World Records website was the first to announce that Freddy, the World’s Tallest Dog, had passed away.

Topics: Obituaries