Freddy the 7-foot-tall Great Dane named world's tallest dog

LEIGH-ON-SEA, England, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A 7-foot-tall Great Dane in England was revealed as the new Guinness World Record holder for world's tallest dog.

Guinness World Record officials identified Freddy, who is 7 feet 6 inches tall when standing on his hind legs, as the world's tallest. His owner, Claire Stoneman, announced the news of the record to the public in a blog post on Dec. 19.

Stoneman says she got Freddy as a puppy, and that he was the runt of the litter. She was stunned when he grew larger than his sister Fleur.

"I got him a couple of weeks earlier than I should have done because he wasn't feeding off mum, so he was feeling pretty poorly," she told the International Business Times. "He was half the size of Fleur when he was tiny so I had no idea he was going to be this big at all."

Stoneman says she spends about $123 a week to feed Freddy a diet consisting of whole roast chickens and peanut butter on toast.

"I had no experience with Danes and how big they should be and no expectations," she said.

Despite the immense cost to keeping the massive dog fed, Stoneman told the BBC she is "utterly devoted" to Freddy, who also draws quite a bit of attention while out in public.

"If we go out in the daytime we get interrupted every five seconds," she said. "Cars brake and stop to look at him."