Gibson (April 26, 2002 – August 7, 2009) was a

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...

Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the world ...

living in

Grass Valley, California Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern Gold Country city is by car from Sacramento, from Sacramento I ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

recognized by the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the "World's Tallest Dog" in 2004, displacing "Harvey", the previous record holder.

World record holder

While his owner Sandy Hall claims Gibson was tall measured from the ground to the top of his withers and weighs , the official report of Guinness World Records states that Gibson was tall. Gibson was a certified

therapy dog A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, w ...

and appeared, wearing his trademark bandanna, on several television shows including ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'', ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'', and ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

''. He was also the official "spokesdog" for ForeverLawn, the maker of K9Grass, based out of

Uniontown, Ohio Uniontown is a census-designated place (CDP) in Stark County, Ohio, United States with 3,309 inhabitants at the 2010 census. The Industrial Excess Landfill, now a superfund site, is located south of Uniontown. Uniontown is part of the Can ...

where Gibson could be seen on the occasional walk. The book ''Gibson Speaks: The World's Tallest Dog Talks About His Life'' tells his story. In 2009, he lost one of his legs to bone cancer. Despite

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

, the cancer spread to his lungs and spine, and Gibson could not be saved. On August 7, 2009, his owner had him

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

References

External links

*
Slideshow of images of Gibson

Video of Gibson visiting The Oprah Show

{{end Individual dogs 2002 animal births 2009 animal deaths Individual animals in the United States

World record holder

See also

References

External links