{"id":26475,"date":"2023-11-01T13:01:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T13:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harvestmoonnews.com\/?p=26475"},"modified":"2023-11-01T13:01:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T13:01:22","slug":"i-own-uks-biggest-dog-he-eats-a-chicken-daily-and-food-costs-me-4k-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harvestmoonnews.com\/world-news\/i-own-uks-biggest-dog-he-eats-a-chicken-daily-and-food-costs-me-4k-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"I own UKs biggest dog – he eats a chicken daily and food costs me \u00a34k a year"},"content":{"rendered":"
An 18 stone 'gentle giant' who eats an entire chicken for dinner every day is believed by its owner to be the UK's biggest dog as it weighs thesame as a baby elephant.<\/p>\n
Two-year-old Abu, a Turkish Malakli, stands at 7ft 2in when on his hind legs and weighs just over 18 stone. Owner Dylan Shaw, 33, believes this makes him the UK's biggest dog – and he's expected to put on a few more stone in the next year.<\/p>\n
The huge hound wolfs down 3kg of meat a day, including one whole chicken, three whole mackerel, two eggs, and raw meat dog food every day. Dylan says Abu's diet costs him \u00a311 a day – a little over \u00a34k a year.<\/p>\n
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But, despite his size, Abu is a "gentle giant" who thinks he is a lap dog – and loves snuggling with Dylan's kids India, five, and Reuben, four, on the sofa.<\/p>\n
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Dylan, a dog trainer, from Redcar, Yorkshire, said: \u201cAbu has been a pleasure to own, he\u2019s a really good family dog and he\u2019s great with kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has raw meat, raw dog food, and whole chickens as well \u2013 he gets one chicken per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's very energetic when he's out but in the house you don\u2019t know he\u2019s there until you trip over him.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen he\u2019s stood on all fours his shoulders come above my hips \u2013 I'm five foot 11, and he makes me look like a child stood next to him.<\/p>\n
"They don't fully mature until three so he's still got a year of growing to do – it's ridiculous, I don't know what I'm going to end up with – he's already outgrown my expectations."<\/p>\n
Dylan says he\u2019d always wanted a Turkish Malakli, but was waiting until he had enough space at home to look after one.<\/p>\n
Abu was imported from Turkey in November 2021 at just four-months-old \u2013 but Dylan said he was already bigger than his other dog, Luna, a Doberman, when he arrived.<\/p>\n
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Now, Abu is a foot taller when on all fours than Dylan expected, and nearly 30kgs heavier than he thought the pooch would be.<\/p>\n
Dylan said: \u201cHe\u2019s grown a lot more than I'd expect him to grow, he\u2019s quite large for the breed \u2013 he dwarfs Great Danes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of months ago I took him into my kids' school for \u2018take a pet to school day\u2019 and all the kids loved him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's lovely, I wouldn\u2019t change him for the world. I don\u2019t get anyone who's scared of him, I have more problems with the Doberman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balthazar, a Blue Great Dane, who weighed 15 stone and was seven-foot tall and passed away in August this year, is the current record holder for the UK's biggest dog.<\/p>\n
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