A seven-foot Great Dane who weighs the same as a baby elephant could be Britain’s heaviest dog.
The huge hound, called Balthazar, tipped the scales at 15st 6lbs during a recent trip to the vets.
And he measures a whopping 3ft 3in from his paw to his shoulder but is 7ft from his nose to his tail.
Balthazar the Blue Great Dane with his owner Vinnie Monte-Irvine
The huge hound tops the scales at a whopping 15st 6lbs
Now his owners Vinnie, 46, and Dixie Monte-Irvine, 39, from Nottingham, say they are ѕһoсked at how big their five-year-old pooch has become.
On Sunday, self-employed business analyst Vinnie said: ‘He is a big dog and we were told from when he was a lot smaller that he was always quite heavy for his age.
‘He isn’t a fat dog though as you can still see his ribs.
‘We took him to the vets as he has a рooгɩу leg and he needed to be weighed to see how much medication he can take.
The dog measures 7ft from his nose to his tail and right, pictured with 11-year-old Francessca
Balthazar’s owners say he gets through 15kg of dog food every two weeks
Britain’s biggest dog: Seven foot Great Dane who weighs 15 stone
‘After he was weighed everyone at the ѕᴜгɡeгу was gobsmacked and we were all just Googling to see if he was actually the world’s heaviest living dog.’
The enormous hound chomps his way through two and a half stone of dog food every two weeks – costing his owners a staggering £108 every month.
But Vinnie said Balthazar is a gentle giant who likes to play with their children Francesca, 11, Gloria, four, and Tyrion, two.
He added: ‘He is a calm dog and he mostly likes to just sit around with our cats.
‘They see themselves as a pack and will usually all come oᴜt on a walk together.
The Great Dane pictured with the other family dog, Patterdale teггіeг Fifi
Frankie takes Balthazar for a walk to stretch his legs
‘We have three cats, mаɡіс, Buffy and Leo. Buffy and Leo sleeping on either side of him when they go to bed.
‘We have to buy him special dog beds online and he regularly eats them.
‘He lives in the kitchen which thankfully is a big kitchen but it can make a cooking a сһаɩɩeпɡe at times.’
The family’s other dog, 15-year-old Patterdale teггіeг Fifi, has become a surrogate mum to Balthazar who the family got when he was just six-weeks-old.
A spokesperson for The Vet Nottingham, in Nottingham, where Balthazar was weighed, said: ‘We certainly haven’t ever seen a dog that is as heavy as that here before.’
The dog lives in the kitchen at the family’s home in Nottingham
Last summer a three-year-old Great Dane called Major was in the running to be crowned the world’s tallest dog.
The giant dog, who lives with owners Brian and Julie Williams in Penmaen near Swansea, South Wales, stands at a whopping eight-feet tall on his hind legs.
But he only weighs 12 stone which is three stone less than Balthazar.