Michigan Great Dane named world's tallest dog

Zeus drinks from the kitchen faucet in Otsego, Mich. / AP Photo/Guinness World Records 2013 Book, HO, Kevin Scott Ramos

Kevin Doorlag stands with his dog Zeus in Otsego, Mich.

/ AP Photo/Guinness World Records 2013 Book, HO, Kevin Scott Ramos

(AP) OTSEGO, Mich. - A Great Dane from Michigan is doggone tall.

The Guinness World Records 2013 book published Thursday recognizes Zeus of Otsego, Mich., as the world's Tallest Dog.

The 3-year-old measures 44 inches from foot to shoulder.

Standing on his hind legs, Zeus stretches to 7-foot-4 and towers over his owner, Denise Doorlag. Zeus is just an inch taller than the previous record-holder, Giant George.

Zeus weighs 155 pounds and eats a 30-pound bag of food every two weeks.

Doorlag says she had to get a van to be able to transport Zeus.

[Dane3339]

This Great Dane is in horrible condition and is a terrible representation of our breed . This is what early spay and neuter do for the breed. Growth plates don't close properly or timely. The dog looks crippled with that awful rear and will have a very short life. The owners are ignorant to the food needs of the dog as well looking at him.. Obviously 30 pounds of food is not enough. LOOK AT YOUR DOG!!! Feed more food until he doesn't look like a skeleton. Feed according to his condition. Right now the condition is sickening! To bad that this dog won't live long because of his size. This isn't a brag people.. It's a train wreck and it's very very sad!

[abnrml34]

Zeus is very happy AND HEALTHY dog - Don't talk about a dog you DO NOT know.

[eelpus]

Zeus you are some dog! Congrats. Hope you put up a Facebook page soon! If you have one let me know how to find it. My Dane, Super Nova is the Guinness record holder of Tallest Living Dog Female. (facebook\mysupernovadog) She is 145 lbs. We live in the Chicago area and I would love to get these two together! Enjoy your time with the new record.....

[ravenvampyre12]

Trying to use my logic here- Don't you think the ASPCA or someone would have taken him away from his owners by now(seeing that he's famous) if he was underweight(or unhealthy)? Oh and, though I'm not sure about this, wouldn't Guinness World Records make sure any animal that is eligible to be in the records is not a cruelty case? Because if they did let animal cruelty cases into their records, they would probably get bad publicity(which would obviously lower their profits making it effect them badly). So, judging by what I said, his weight is probably the best for his health.

[ab789]

I've had danes all my life and volunteered with rescues for over 10 years now. This dane is definitely underweight and honestly by age 3 it shouldn't be a problem to get him to gain some. He might be being kept thin due to wobbler's. His back end looked weak and shaky in the videos of him, something just isn't right. If they haven't had him checked for it I certainly hope they do if they care about him at all. Also, sadly, research shows it could have been caused by an extreme high protein diet or a diet containing other things that cause accelerated growth and can cause skeletal conditions such as wobblers. Maybe I'm biased and have lost faith in the goodness of people due to everything I've seen, but there is a chance that the owners caused this due to their desire to make him grow big for fame.

[foo8259]

Yes, anything people will do these days just to get in Guinness.

[abnrml34]

Zeus is HEALTHY - completely vet checked.

My husband and I have had great danes for over 30 years. We even delivered and raised a litter of 13 live (3 stillborn) pups. We never did the papering or registrations but we loved and cared for all or BIG babies. We currently have a 9 year old female named Ladybug who is spoiled rotten. I think Zeus appears to be a little thin, but what a beautiful & handsome guy! We kept two males from our big litter and the one that wasn't nutered was 40 pounds thinner than is brother. One helpful hint to keep his bones healthy and maybe add weight would be to feed him on an elevated stand. We use the tote that holds her food. Thanks for sharing Zeus with us. GREAT DANES ARE LOVED HERE!

[treeteri]

I have 3 Great Danes and they are different. Two are thin build and one is huge big boned build very think. Our first Dane was Mufasa and he was almost nine. he died of cancer. Now we have Sirenia Marie she is all black with white on her chest who is 7 years old about 125 pounds she had a litter of 12, 2 died due to sack broke before they was delivered and i could not get the fluid out of there lungs. The daddy is Niko Maki he is mostly white and some black spots and he is 6 years old and he is think build that is causing hip issues, he is about 200 pounds. One of the babies was stepped on and broke her leg, we got her fixed and had to have pins to fix it but we kept her she is 5 years old and weighs 128 pounds. she is gray and black. They are wonderful and they have a lot of issues. so when you are talking about what the this dog Zeus looks like think of how tall he is. He looks wonderful and i know the issues that he may have as he ages. These wonderful giant dogs are great to have but the sad thing is they live such short lives. Enjoy the time you have and do not judge by pictures. Know what you are talking about before you judge what you see. you do not live with or know this wonderful dog. Just because your Dane is different does not mean he is mistreating Zeus. He is beautiful.

[commenter777]

This dog is not underweight. He looks underweight when he's standing on his hind legs. It's better for this big of a dog to be just a little underweight than to be overweight. He'll live longer the way he is. Excess fat was good in the middle ages when animals needed to store fat for hard times. These days it's common knowledge that eating less calories makes animals live longer. Studies on different types of mammals dogs, monkeys, etc, have proven that mammals live longer if they are lean as opposed to having excess fat. Fat kills.

[endrepubs]

Thanks for setting the record straight for all these uninformed posters who say the dog is too thin. Problem is most dog owners pets are overweight and they don't know healthy when it smacks them in the face.

[Bianca_Gem]

What a sweet looking dog. Yes, he seems thin, but I know that the larger breeds have to be kept thin for their own health and their joints. He looks healthy enough to me. I can't imagine him running around the house....hope he's as calm as he looks.

[foo8259]

"Zeus weighs 155 pounds and eats a 30-pound bag of food every two weeks." The word "bag" is a giveaway in this case, most commercial 'dog food' is poor quality. My yellow lab is 12 yo, still in perfect health, never been sick and eats the same diet as I do. Meats, eggs, fish and some vegetables like sweet potato. It's more expensive, but the health results are worth it. If I buy any bag food I look for one with no wheat, corn or soy in it.

[commenter777]

My dogs eat caviar and pate.

[Louise157]

'Bag' food, oh please. Bag food is perfectly fine for dogs. I had one terrier mix that only lived to be 12.5 years on 'bag'food. My beagle at the same food and lived to be 16 years old!!

[Ulgnud]

Wow that is a big dog.

[skeezix06]

Not criticizing but I don't allow my dogs to be that thin. My boy is 29-30" at the shoulder and almost weighs as much as Zeus. However, Zeus may need to be on the thin side though due to the stress his size might put on his joints.