Wendy: a Canine Conan

"Bully Whippet: Double-Muscle."
DogForum.org (March, 2007)

"Many of you may remember an earlier report we covered about the amazing toddler, Liam Hoekstra, with superstrength and superspeed. Just like the buff combination of Superman and his best friend Krypto...."

This is a quite short post about Wendy, a bully Whippet with a mutation called myostatin related muscle hypertrophy. For everyday use, it's called double-muscle.

There's quite a bit of information, with six photos (not all of Wendy), a mention of some ethical questions about this mutation and dog breeding, and links to more detailed discussions of the mutation.

Like an earlier post today, this one started out with my second-oldest daughter seeing part of a documentary. I gather that she and her husband-to-be had been watching something on Animal Planet. He left, and she left the television turned on.

According to her, Wendy - although she may be fast, as the post says these dogs are - isn't particularly maneuverable. Looking like a canine Conan the Barbarian, I'm not surprised.

On the other hand, the double-muscled Whippet seems to be comfortable.

World's Smallest Dog - Almost

"4-inch Lake County Chihuahua may be world's smallest dog"
Orlando Sentinel (April 27, 2007)

"Meet tiny Dancer, a rust-colored, long-haired Chihuahua that may just be the world's smallest dog, weighing 18 ounces and standing not much more than 4 inches tall.

"Dancer's owner, Jenny Gomes, said the diminutive Lake County canine may be on his way to being named the world's smallest living dog by Guinness World Records.

"And Dancer may have a legitimate claim to the title. The last smallest dog -- measured by height -- was Danka Kordak of Slovakia, which stood 5.4 inches high, according to Guinness officials...."

I checked: Dancer didn't get the "world's smallest dog" designation. His owner entered him for consideration as world's smallest therapy dog, but as far as I can tell Dancer didn't measure down to that standard.

More about Dancer: "tiny chihuahua world's smallest therapy dog" famous chihuahua (February 27, 2008). Despite the headline, the article doesn't say whether or not Dancer got the 'prize.' On the other hand, it tells a bit about the chihuahua's training.

Dancer had some trouble getting trained: some of the people didn't think he was big enough to be a therapy dog.

"The World's Tallest Dog" - Gibson's Gone

The World's Tallest Dog

"Gibson passed away on Friday, August 7 from bone cancer. To learn more about Gibson’s recent passing click here.

"Visit www.k9grass.com to make donations to help with Gibson's medical bills and funeral expenses. Also, www.remembergibson.com has been established to promote Three Paws for the Cause and honor Gibson's memory...."

My second-oldest daughter told me about Gibson today: The K9Grass® spokesdog had been on some sort of documentary. This outsize Harlequin Great Dane was 42.6 inches at the shoulder: or a bit upwards of seven feet, standing on his hind legs.

Besides being a spokesdog, Gibson was a certified therapy and special needs training dog. According to this website, that's what his owner, Sandy Hall, is most proud of when it comes to the Great Dane.

Paraphrasing another famous Dane, "He was a dog, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again." ("Hamlet")

One more thing: Click on the paw icon, toward the bottom of The World's Tallest Dog's home page, and you'll hear a recording of Gibson saying "I love you." Sort of.

Scooby Doo was a bit more articulate - but then, the animated dog had a human doing his voice.

One more thing: The Guinness Book of World Records website has a video of Gibson meeting the world's smallest dog: <

"Tallest & Smallest Dogs Meet"

Guinness Book of World Records (2007)
video, 1:43

The smallest dog in this video is Boo Boo. More about Boo Boo in this press release: " 'WOOF, WOOF, GRRRR!
WELCOME TO THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS FAMILY
BOO BOO!'."