Dogs - Size & Age

• Largest Dog
  • The heaviest breeds of domestic dog (Canis familaris) are the Old English mastiff and the St. Bernard, with males of both species regularly weighing 77-91 Kg (170-200lb).

  • The heaviest and longest dog on record is Aicama Zorba of La-Susa, an old English mastiff owned by Chris Eraclides of London, UK. 'Zorba' stood 94 cm (3ft 1 in) at the shoulder and weighed a peak 155.58 Kg (343lb) in Nov 1989.

  • The tallest dog on record was Shamgret Danas, a great Dane owned by Wendy and Keith Comley of Milton Keynes, Bucks, UK. This dog stood 105.4 cm (3 ft 5½ in) tall and weighed up to 108 Kg (238 lb).

• Smallest Dog
  • A matchbox-sized Yorkshire terrier owned by Arthur Marples of Blackburn, Lancs, UK, stood 6.3 cm (2½ in) at the shoulder and was 9.5 cm (3¾ in) from the tip of its nose to the root of its tail. It weighed 113 g (4 oz) and died in 1945, at almost two years old.

  • The smallest living dog is 'Big Boss', a Yorkie owned by Dr Chai Khanchanakom of Bangkok, Thailand. On his birthday on 7 Dec 1995 he measured 11.94 cm (4.7 in) tall and 12.95 cm (5.1 in) long, and weighed 481 g (1 lb 1 oz).

• Oldest Dog
  • The greatest age reliably recorded for a dog is 29 years 5 months (29.41667 Years), for an Australian cattle dog named 'Bluey', owned by Les Hall of Rochester, Victoria, Australia. This would be the equivalent of a human living to an age of 147.84.

  • A Welsh collie named 'Taffy', owned by Evelyn Brown of Forge Farm, West Bromwich, W Midlands, UK, lived for 27 years and 313 days (27.94048 Years). This would be the equivalent of a human living to an age of 162.72.

  • The apparent discrepancy between the ages of the two breeds, above, is due to standard breed weights. I have used the median breed weights that I have been able to locate for each of these breeds. For the Australian Cattle Dog I have used a weight of 15Kgs (range 14Kg to 16Kg). For the Welsh Collie I have used the approx median weight for a standard Border Collie of about 25Kg.