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Biggest Dog?


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Irish Wolfhounds are generally called the biggest dogs. We had one male who was 36" at the shoulder :mad Not sure if they would be the heaviest though, I'm guessing?? newfies/englishmastiffs/pyrenean mountain dogs etc.??

I'm sure some dogs of other breeds can be heavier taller etc., but in general, wolfies are the largest.

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She would be double muscled, I would assume?

They had a program on the ABC a while back that featured double muscled cattle - its a genetic mutation from memory - quite freaky looking!

Not uncommon amongst professional body-builders either. Their bodies literally don't know when to attenuate muscle growth.

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I was under the impression that Great Danes and Irish wolf hounds were the tallest and Mastif can get heavier...

I LOVE big dogs, more to cuddle :laugh:

One of my Danes was 38" at the shoulder and weighed 85kg. Not an ounce of fat on him. I recall years ago there was a Dane called Atlas and he was 43" at the shoulder.

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Yes that is something to do with decreased or absent levels of the myostatin protein which inhibits muscle growth.

It is a genetic mutation which occurs naturally in various different species including humans. In some types of cattle it has been successfully selectively bred for.

Professional body builders look like that because they slog their guts out over many years, they do nothing but eat a strict diet and train.

I have heard that scientists are starting to learn alot about how to control it though, they have made massively muscled mice. It will be in body building in the future without question but I don't think it is now its a myth.

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Is this huge Whippet for real??

http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/Photo+...3902/story.html

Also a web site for giant George.

http://www.giantgeorge.com/home.html

Yes, that's Wendy and it's real. Some lines of whippets have this mutation, luckily it's not in Australia.....yet and they're trying to breed it out in whippets. Well, the responsible breeders are anyway. It's not something we want in the breed.

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I have heard that scientists are starting to learn alot about how to control it though, they have made massively muscled mice. It will be in body building in the future without question but I don't think it is now its a myth.

Apparently Flex Wheeler has been tested and is missing the myostatin gene, naturally occurring.

I suppose in dogs we could selectively breed for it, as has been done with Belgian Blue and Piedmontese cattle.

Steroid use is not unheard of amongst some dog breeders, not limited to racing greyhounds.

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