Expert: Patti - 2/27/2005

Question
A friend of mine had a dog that she says was the largest breed in the world but it's not a mastiff. I have been trying to find it online but cannot. He was the sweetest dog ever and very calm, apparently it was said to be a good apartment dog because of its calm nature. It was bigger than any mastiff I've seen very well built like a horse and had a huge head with little eyes and short hair. The color was brown and speckled. If you know what this might be or can direct me to websites with pictures I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Hi Jessica,

According to the American Kennel Club, the largest breed of dog is the English Mastiff (also known as the Old English Mastiff).  Mastiffs are the heaviest dog, but not the tallest.  The tallest is the Irish Wolfhound.  The tallest Wolfhound was a recorded 5 foot high at its shoulders.  

According to the Guniess Book of World Records, the worlds heaviest as well as longest dog ever recorded was an English Mastiff named Zorba. In 1989, Zorba weighed 343 lbs and was 8 feet 3 inches long from nose to tail!  That same dog also holds the Guniess record for the Worlds's Largest Dog.

If your friends dog defiantly was not a Mastiff, perhaps it was an Irish Wolfhound.

Both Mastiffs and Wolfhounds have short coats, though the Wolfhound has a more "wirery" and a bit more shaggy than a Mastiff. I would not call a Wolfhound a long haired breed. Both breeds are known to be real sweethearts, that  are actually suited to apartment life, since they are couch potatoes.

Mastiffs and Wolfhounds come in a variety of colors. Common colors of Mastiff range from solid golden brown (fawn) solid black, brindle (a mixture of browns tan and black) and apricot. The Wolfhound's common colors include gray, brindle, red, black or white. Gray is the most common color.

See pictures of he breeds here:
http://images.google.com/images?q=English+Mastiff&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&sa...

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=Irish+Wolfhou...

If your firend's dog is not either a Mastiff or a Wolfhound,  I'd be happy to take another jab at this. I'd need a more in depth description of the dog's facial features, and what it's tail and ears looked like.

Regards,
Patti