World’s Tallest Dog Dies

by Dr. Chris

August 17th, 2009 It was a bad month for celebrity dogs. Gidget the Taco Bell dog died early this month and we also learned that earlier this month Gibson, the world’s tallest dog (a harlequin Great Dane) had to be euthanized because he had a type of cancer known as osteosarcoma.

This is a cancer of the bone which strikes larger breed dogs.

They said that they found it initially in his right front paw and that they actually tried to amputate his entire leg to try and keep the cancer from spreading. He also went underwent chemotherapy which seem to be successful at first.

At 42.2 inches he was the world’s tallest dog!

Initially it looked like the cancer would be beaten, but the cancer spread to his lungs and spine and ultimately they decide to put him down, he was seven years old.

The dog’s owner, "made the very difficult decision based on her concern and love for Gibson to have him humanely euthanized," said Gibson's veterinarian, Dr. Peter Walsh, adding that the giant dog "died peacefully in the loving arms of Ms. Hall."

Gibson was the spokesperson for an artificial turf company called Forever Lawn. Apparently Gibson has a son named Brewster which will be his successor as the spokesdog.

Great Danes are prone to this type cancer and usually don’t live up past 10 years on average anyways.

Actually the Irish wolfhound on average seems to be slightly taller than the average Great Dane although Gibson has held the world record since 2004.

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