An 18 stone 'gentle giant' who eats an entire chicken for dinner every day is believed by its owner to be the UK's biggest dog as it weighs thesame as a baby elephant.
Two-year-old Abu, a Turkish Malakli, stands at 7ft 2in when on his hind legs and weighs just over 18 stone. Owner Dylan Shaw, 33, believes this makes him the UK's biggest dog – and he's expected to put on a few more stone in the next year.
The huge hound wolfs down 3kg of meat a day, including one whole chicken, three whole mackerel, two eggs, and raw meat dog food every day. Dylan says Abu's diet costs him £11 a day – a little over £4k a year.
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But, despite his size, Abu is a "gentle giant" who thinks he is a lap dog – and loves snuggling with Dylan's kids India, five, and Reuben, four, on the sofa.
Dylan, a dog trainer, from Redcar, Yorkshire, said: “Abu has been a pleasure to own, he’s a really good family dog and he’s great with kids.
“He has raw meat, raw dog food, and whole chickens as well – he gets one chicken per day.
“He's very energetic when he's out but in the house you don’t know he’s there until you trip over him.
“When he’s stood on all fours his shoulders come above my hips – I'm five foot 11, and he makes me look like a child stood next to him.
"They don't fully mature until three so he's still got a year of growing to do – it's ridiculous, I don't know what I'm going to end up with – he's already outgrown my expectations."
Dylan says he’d always wanted a Turkish Malakli, but was waiting until he had enough space at home to look after one.
Abu was imported from Turkey in November 2021 at just four-months-old – but Dylan said he was already bigger than his other dog, Luna, a Doberman, when he arrived.
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Now, Abu is a foot taller when on all fours than Dylan expected, and nearly 30kgs heavier than he thought the pooch would be.
Dylan said: “He’s grown a lot more than I'd expect him to grow, he’s quite large for the breed – he dwarfs Great Danes.
“A couple of months ago I took him into my kids' school for ‘take a pet to school day’ and all the kids loved him.
“He's lovely, I wouldn’t change him for the world. I don’t get anyone who's scared of him, I have more problems with the Doberman.”
Balthazar, a Blue Great Dane, who weighed 15 stone and was seven-foot tall and passed away in August this year, is the current record holder for the UK's biggest dog.
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