Freddy (17 May 2012 – 27 January 2021) was a Great Dane from Leigh-on-Sea,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, known for being crowned as the world's tallest living dog by the Guinness Book of World Records, having taken the title from the previous record holder,

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, who was the tallest dog ever.

Biography

Freddy was born in May 2012 and lived with his owner, Claire Stoneman, at her home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, alongside his sister, Fleur. As a puppy, Freddy was, ironically, the runt of the litter, and Stoneman had to take him home sooner than planned, as he was not feeding from his mother. When he was young, Freddy also enjoyed chewing up sofas, destroying 26 of them. Stoneman spent nearly £100 per week to feed him. Freddy was measured by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

on 13 September 2016, standing at 3 ft 4.75 in (103.5 cm) to the withers, or 7 ft 5.5 in (227.3 cm) when standing on his hind legs. This took longer than expected, as Freddy was initially afraid of the tape measure. He assumed the title from Zeus, a Great Dane from Michigan. Freddy died on 27 January 2021, aged 8 1/2, after suffering with health issues in his hind legs, causing him to slip easily.

References

{{dog-stub 2012 animal births 2021 animal deaths Individual dogs in the United Kingdom Animal world record holders