Photos courtesy of AFP and Bangkok Post
A Great Dane that towers 2.2 metres when standing on his hind legs was named the world’s tallest dog ever, according to the latest Guinness Book of Records, recently launched on September 13.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the tallest dog.
Zeus the Great Dane eats an entire 14 kg bag of food every day and weighs 70.3 kg, according to the 57th edition of the Guinness Book of Records. The huge dog from Otsego, Michigan in the US, is owned by Denise Doorlag. Zeus is the tallest dog ever, measuring 1.12 metres.
GREATEST GREAT DANE
Measuring 1.12 metres from paw to withers — the point between the shoulder blades at which the official height of a four-legged mammal is judged — it is officially the tallest dog ever recorded, the volume claims.
Guinness World Records 2013 says the hound breaks the record of Giant George, another Great Dane who is 2.54 cm shorter.
"The most common thing people ask is: Is that a dog or a horse?" the three-year-old dog's owner, Denise, said. "We had to get a van to be able to transport him, and if he steps on your foot he leaves bruises!"
TALLEST DONKEY
The book also names Oklahoma Sam, a four-year-old American Mammoth Jackstock, as the tallest living donkey on the planet. Measuring 1.55m from hoof to withers, she dwarfs the average common donkey (80 cm), and the average for her own larger breed (1.22 metres). The four-year-old record-breaker lives in Watsonville, California.
Exercises
Read through the story. Then, match each of the following vocabulary used in the story with their correct definitions.
1. donkey |
a. the hard part of the foot of some animals, for example horses |
2. paw |
b. an animal of the horse family, with short legs and long ears |
3. bruises |
c. the foot of an animal that has claws or nails |
4. hoof |
d. a blue, brown or purple mark that appears on the skin after somebody has fallen, been hit, etc. |
Vocabulary
- hind (adj): the hind legs or feet of an animal with four legs are those at the back
withers (n): the highest part of a horse’s back, between its shoulders
hound (n): a dog that can run fast and has a good sense of smell, used for hunting
dwarf (v): to make something seem small or unimportant compared with something else
