SOME VERY IMPORTANT DOGGY WORLD RECORDS

Smallest Dog:

The very tiniest dog alive right now is a long-haired chihuahua named Boo Boo.  This cute little girl is 4 inches tall and weighs 2 pounds.  She lives in Raceland, KY with her mom, Lana Elswick.

But there is an even smaller dog on record, who was a Yorkie named Sylvia.  She belonged to Arthur Marples of Blackburn, England.  When Sylvia died in 1945, she was only 2 years old.  At that time, she was 2.5 inches tall at the shoulder, and she weighed 4 ounces.  I tried to find a picture of Sylvia, but I couldn't, so you will just have to use your imagination!


Biggest and Heaviest Dog:

The dog with this record is Zorba, an Old English Mastiff owned by Chris Eraclides of London, England.  Zorba was born on September 26, 1981, and in November of 1989, he weighed 343 pounds, was 37 inches tall at the shoulder, and measured 8 feet, 3 inches long from nose to tail.








Tallest Dog:

Giant George, who is a Great Dane, was officially measured at 43 inches tall on February 15, 2010.  This made him the tallest living dog and also the tallest dog ever.  George has a lot of fans, so his dad, David Nasser, made a website and a YouTube channel for him.  Also he wrote a book called Giant George:  Life with the World's Biggest Dog.




Longest Tongue:

The dog who has the longest tongue right now is Puggy, who is owned by Becky Stanford.  Puggy's tongue is 4.5 inches long.  You might think that a dog with this name would be a pug, but Puggy is actually a Pekingese.  Ms. Stanford and her husband adopted Puggy after he was given up by his breeder because Puggy's tongue was too long.  Since there's not much room in his mouth for anything besides his tongue, Puggy actually chews with his tongue, and his food has to be chopped into little pieces for him.

The longest tongue ever on record for a dog belonged to a boxer named Brandy, whose tongue was 17 inches long.










Longest Ears:

In September, 2004, a bloodhound named Tigger set the record for the longest ears on a dog.  His right ear measured 13.75 inches and his left ear 13.5 inches.  Tigger was owned by Bryan and Christina Flessner, and he won many show titles over the years, including more than 180 Best of Breed awards.  Sadly, Tigger died in October 2009.





Oldest Dog:

The oldest living dog is a Japanese mixed breed named Pushuke.  He was born in April of 1985, which can be proved because his birth is listed in the local pet register.  Pushuke's mom is Yumiko Shinohara, who is a 40-something housewife.  She first got Pushuke when she was a girl of 16.  In the summer of 2008, Pushuke got hit by a car and almost died, but after several hours of surgery, he managed to survive.

The oldest dog ever on record was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, who died in 1939 at the age of 29 years, 5 months.  Bluey lived in Australia with Les Hall, and he worked herding cattle and sheep for almost 20 years.






Best Tracker:

In 1925, a Doberman named Sauer tracked a livestock thief for 100 miles across the Great Karroo in South Africa, just by sniffing out the thief's trail.  Sauer was trained by Detective-Sergeant Herbert Kruger.







Longest Jump:

In 1849 at Brecon Lodge, Glouchestershire, England, a greyhound named Bang jumped 30 feet when he was chasing a hare.  While making the jump, Bang cleared a 4-foot, 6-inch gate and landed on a hard road, which injured his pastern bone.


Highest Jump:

Another greyhound set the record for the highest jump, and this was done on October 7, 2006.  The dog was named Cinderella May a Holly Grey, and she was competing in the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals when she went over a jump that was 68 inches high.





Fastest 100 Meters on a Skateboard:

You have probably seen videos of Tillman the English Bulldog on YouTube.  He likes to ride skateboards and surfboards, too.  Anyway, on July 30, 2009, he skateboarded 100 meters on a level parking lot in 19.678 seconds during the X Games XV in Los Angeles, and that's how he set the record.





Most Tennis Balls Held in the Mouth:

This record was set by a golden retriever named Augie on July 6, 2003.  Augie managed to get 5 tennis balls in her mouth all at one time.  It's not too surprising that a golden set this record because goldens are mostly crazy about tennis balls.  Augie lives with the Miller family in Dallas.






Fastest Time to Pop 100 Balloons:

Anastasia, who is a Jack Russell Terrier, popped 100 balloons in 44.49 seconds, which is a world record.  After that, she was pretty famous, so she got to be on Live with Regis and Kelly, appear in some commercials, web advertisements, and print campaigns.  Anastasia is owned and trained by Doree Sitterly.








Most Steps Walked Down by a Dog Facing Forward Balancing a Glass of Water:

You might wonder why anyone would teach a dog to do this trick, and the answer is "To set a world record, of course!"  Anyway, an Aussie/border collie mix named Sweet Pea went down 10 steps while balancing a 5-ounce glass of water on her forehead, and that is how she set the record on January 5, 2008.  Sweet Pea is owned and trained by Alex Rothacker, who also taught her to jump rope on 4 legs or 2 legs and to walk up stairs on her hind legs.  Another world record that Sweet Pea set was for the fastest 100 meters walked by a dog with a can balanced on its head, which she did in 2 minutes and 55 seconds.




Well, I hope you are properly impressed by all these fabulous world records set by dogs.  I know I am!  And I'm not just impressed, I'm also getting tired thinking about jumping and skateboarding and balancing things on my head.  So maybe I'll go lie down now and see if I can set a world record for napping!