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Hercules
Guinness Book of World Records Largest Dog

There have been a few different dogs that are either known for being the largest dogs or better yet, in the Guinness Book of World Records. One dog in particular was Hercules, a massive three-year old English Mastiff that was put in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001.

Joe Flynn and his wife Wendy of Peabody, Massachusetts own Hercules. Flynn, not a small man himself, weighed 270 pounds and his dog still weighed more than him, tipping the scales at 282 pounds with a 38-inch neck.

hercules joe flynn

Flynn says that Hercules has paws the size of softballs, but is gentle as a baby and wouldn't hurt a fly. They got him because Wendy wanted a dog larger than their two-year old bull mastiff was. They did think he was big even as a puppy, which is why they gave him the name Hercules. However, they had no idea Hercules would get quite so big when they first got him and Flynn claims he's done nothing out of the ordinary to encourage the growth other then feed him a normal diet.

A neighbor's son, David Delauri, is responsible for Hercules being recorded in the Guinness Book. One day, David was browsing through the Guinness Book of World Records and came across a dog that he was positive was Hercules. After contacting the Guinness Book of World Records, Flynn discovered that the dog in the book was a 296-pound Mastiff that had died, making Hercules the current largest dog in the world. After faxing all the information they needed, Hercules was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest dog in the world.

When the story of Hercules first became public, the press and media were everywhere he was. He was a guest on the Today show, CNN as well as in many newspapers and magazines. Hercules took it all in stride, just wagging his tail each time someone new came to the door with cameras. There is very little that Hercules doesn't take in stride including getting along great with the Peabody's two sons, then 2 and 7. One day Mr. Flynn looked out the window and seen a bird perched on Hercules's head eating something and Hercules just sat there as if he had no clue.

Since Hercules seems to enjoy the limelight from all the attention he seems to get, Mr. Flynn said he would allow the publicity to continue as long as Hercules enjoyed it. He decided it would be great to book Hercules out for kids birthday parties and have the kids pay to have their picture taken with the dog. Another possible publicity stint was a contest where the winner would spread peanut butter on their face and Hercules lick it off. What dog wouldn't love that!

Check out Guinness Records Set By Dogs


Here boy....  Fun photo.... no info.

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