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Mugly, a Chinese crested from the UK, won the World’s Ugliest Dog contest in Northern California on Friday.

Mugly will take home $1,000 and a year’s worth of dog cookies.

He beat out 28 other ugly dogs — all of whom can be found here.

The 8-year-old rescue dog from the United Kingdom will also be invited for a photo shoot and will receive a VIP stay at the local Sheraton.

“I couldn’t speak when they announced Mugly’s name,” said Bev Nicholson, the dog’s owner. “I didn’t know which way to look. I was shaking as much as the dog.”

Chinese cresteds traditionally take top honors at the event, held each year at the Marin-Sonoma Fairgrounds. Last year’s winner, Yoda, was a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix. The 15-year-old dog died in March.

The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest is finally going to start living up to its name this year, with its first contestant from across the pond.

Mugly and his owner, Bev Nicholson, arrived from Britain on Monday, KGO in San Francisco reported.

The contest is this Friday and first prize is $1,000.

Mugly, an 8-year-old Chinese crested, is the first British entry in the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, held every year at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in Petaluma.

You can see and vote on the ugliest dogs contenders here.

Harbor, an 8-year-old black and tan coonhound who lives in Boulder, Colorado, has been proclaimed by Guinness World Records to have the longest ears of any living dog.

He’s owned by Jennifer Wert, who says as a youngster Harbor had a little trouble walking, often tripping over his ears and falling over himself.

“I’ve had garbage trucks pull over, and the garbage man will get out of the driver’s seat to jump down and pet him,” Wert said. “I don’t even see his ears anymore; most days I forget how oddly long they are. But he’s a phenomenon in the world, and he creates smiles no matter where we are.”

Harbor’s left ear measures 12.25 inches long and his right ear a whopping 13.75, Guinness confirms.

The longest ears ever honor, however, is still held by Tigger, a bloodhound from Illinois who died in 2009.

Harbor will be included in Guinness World Records 2012, a book that will become available in the U.S. on Sept. 15th.

The San Diego Padres may be in the basement of the National League West, but they set a record this week.

Guinness World Record officials were at PETCO Park’s annual “Dog Days of Summer” event to pronounce it official: The 337 costume-clad dogs is now the record for most dogs in a pet costume parade.

The annual infield costume parade was lead by Tillman, the world famous skateboarding dog. The record setting took place during the Wednesday, before the Padres played the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It has been an amazing record attempt and I’m happy to say it was successful,” said Freddie Hoff, adjudicator for Guinness World Records. “The 337 dogs in the costume parade was way above the set amount and on behalf of Guinness World Records, I’d like to say congratulations.”

 
The Great (Dane) Debate is over:  The “World’s Tallest Dog” is Giant George of Tucson, Guinness World’s Records has proclaimed.

The 250-pound blue Great Dane wrested the title away from Titan, a white, partly blind Great Dane from San Diego who held it little more than three months.

Guinness World Records says George is the tallest dog ever on record, standing 43 inches tall at the shoulder, three-quarters of an inch taller than Titan.

Titan was named World’s Tallest Dog last November after the death of the previous title-holder, Gibson, a harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley, Calif., who died of bone cancer.

Giant George was in the running then, but disputed measurements and late paperwork left his owner, David Nasser, unable to qualify.

Guinness officials say there were conflicting reports about Giant George’s height, so they sent a judge to verify it.

Guinness made the announcement this morning, and George and Nasser appeared this afternoon on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Diana Taylor, Titan’s owner, told the San Diego Union-Tribune she didn’t intend to watch the show because she was busy Monday trying to find a swim vest that would fit Titan, her 190-pound deaf, epileptic and partly blind “special needs dog,” for his first water therapy session.

A blog post on Titan’s website site argues that Titan should still be tops. Taylor says she intends to lodge a dispute but won’t exert a lot of energy on a challenge if Titan’s reign is officially over.

Giant George, we should point out, has his own website as well, which, according to Taylor, was part of a massive public relations effort to steal the title away from her dog.

“Regardless of whether he’s the world’s tallest dog or not, he’s still this beautiful deaf and blind Great Dane, and no one can take that away from him,” Taylor said of Titan.

The blog post read, in part:

“Despite the fact that it detracted from our mission of helping rescue and special-needs dogs, I strived to take the high road. But now, after months of having our accomplishment overshadowed by this media blitz-kreig of poor sportsmanship (and on the eve of this dog actually being on Oprah) I’ve decided it’s time to let the public know the truth about ‘Giant’ George.

“…Confused at how to measure his dog, this owner took two official measurements… one at the shoulder and another halfway up the neck. Guinness requirements state an animal must be measured at the shoulder. See below — when measured correctly George is only 39 1/8″ compared to Titan’s certified height of 42.25″.

“George’s ‘record-breaking’ 43″ is based on a measurement halfway up the neck, a procedure that does not follow industry standards or meet Guinness requirements…”

Guinness spokeswoman Jamie Panas said last week that Nasser’s claim to the title was one of more than 100 the company received since late last year.“It’s a huge record for us,” she said. “The pet records resonate the most with our readers.”

(Photo: Courtesy of Guinness World Records)

Fox News reported yesterday that the world’s oldest dog has died.

Unfortunately, they were dead wrong about that dog’s identity.

According to the initial Fox report: “Chanel, a wire-haired dachshund, died at her owners’ home in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island, N.Y.”

Accurate enough — not to mention fair and balanced — but a bit off, timing-wise. Chanel died at age 20 nearly five months ago.

It was the new World’s Oldest Dog who died this week: Otto (above), also a dachshund, residing in Britain.

Otto, nearly 21, was officially crowned the most senior canine in the world by the Guinness Book of Records in October of last year, after the timely death of Chanel.

On Wednesday, Otto’s owner took him to the vet, who recommended that Otto, suffering from stomach tumors, be put down, according to the Daily Mail

Peter Jones, 68, said he and his wife Lynn, 53, were devastated by the loss. The dachshund-terrier mix was playful to the end. They attributed his longevity to “plenty of love, plenty of good food and regular check-ups at the vets.”

Describing his pet’s final day, Jones, of Shrewsbury, said: “He slept in my bed. He woke up in the morning and he gave me the usual kiss…I was having a bath, he wanted to play, and he brought me his ball. But as soon as I bounced it a couple of times he went asleep again. He was absolutely cream crackered.” (British readers, translation please.)

Most who would pick up the story from the British press got it right. But apparently the folks at Fox News goofed up in Googling, came across the old stories on Chanel (left) and re-reported her death instead.

Others would go on to repeat the error (though we’d hope they’d have it corrected by now), including Shortnews.com.

A new world’s oldest dog will be named by Guinness.

Rest in peace, Otto.

And you, too, Chanel.

When is the world’s tallest dog not the world’s tallest dog?

When there’s quite possibly a taller one, but that one’s owner doesn’t get the paperwork into Guinness World Records officials in time.

Titan, left, was crowned the world’s tallest dog Thursday by Guinness World Records officials. But Arizona Realtor Dave Nasser, who has been campaigning to get his dog George, right, named the world’s tallest, says his dog, by some measurements at least, is three-fourths of an inch higher.

After his dog was measured at 42 inches, Nasser got a second and third opinion on his dog’s height, which, respectively, showed George to be 42.625, or 43 inches tall at the shoulder.

Proving, I guess, that the top of the shoulder is in the eye of the beholder.

As a result of all the measurement seeking, Nasser didn’t get the application into Guinness in time to compete with Titan, who is owned by Diana Taylor of San Diego, and is 42.25 inches tall.

“It’s just bad timing. I can’t say anything bad about Guinness,” said Nasser. “We sent the paperwork to them Tuesday and they got it Thursday. The winner had a plaque in hand Thursday. … we were just late to the game.”

Nasser said he wasn’t aware of a deadline, or that Nov. 12 was Guinness World Record Day, Phil Villarreal reported in the Arizona Daily Star.

Nasser said he spoke on the phone Friday with a Guinness representative in London, who said the company was verifying George’s application and that there was no time frame as to when a decision will be made on whether George will displace Titan..

“Guinness World Records received a massive influx of claims after the death of Gibson (the previous world’s tallest dog) this year. The organization is familiar with George’s claim but is still assessing proper evidence before properly authenticating,” a Guinness spokesman told the Star on Friday … Verifying record proposals is a meticulous process that is not done overnight. It could take months for the research team to make the decision. ”

Nasser says he has offered to bring George and Titan together to see which dog is bigger.

For an update on this story, click here.

Titan, a 4-year-old white Great Dane from San Diego, is blind, deaf, epileptic and requires chiropractic adjustments every three weeks.

He’s also now officially the world’s tallest dog.

Titan’s designation was announced yesterday— the official Guinness World Record Day, the Associated Press reported.

“Titan is magical,” owner Diana Taylor said. “He’s low-key, calm and has a wonderful demeanor about him. He gets along with all dogs, even the tiny ones.”

Titan, as measured by a veterinarian, is a over 3½ feet tall from floor to shoulder. Add in his head, and he’s over 4 feet tall.

Standing on his hind legs — which is something Titan doesn’t do — he would be nearly 7 feet tall.

Titan weighs 190 pounds.

Titan takes the title held by Gibson, a 7-year-old harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley, who died earlier this year after battling bone cancer.

Taylor was living in Atlanta when she adopted Titan as a puppy from the Middle Tennessee Great Dane Rescue. When he could see out of one eye, she taught him sign language. As he went blind, they learned to communicate by touch.

Otto — a nearly 21-year-old dachshund mix from across the pond — has been proclaimed the world’s oldest dog by the Guinness Book of World Records.

To be precise — for all those who will be coming out of the woodwork saying their dogs are older — Otto is 20 years and eight months, the UK’s Daily Mail reports.

Owners Lynn and Peter Jones, from Shrewsbury, entered him for the title with Guinness World Records after learning of the death last month of the previous title holder, a 21-year-old dachshund  in New York named Chanel.

Otto’s claim to the record was approved this week. Mrs. Jones, 53, has owned Otto since he was six weeks old.

They attribute his longevity to “plenty of love, plenty of good food” and regular veterinary check-ups.

Otto has arthritis, and doesn’t appreciate walks like he used to. “He gets about ten yards down the road then looks back over his shoulder as if to say ‘I want to go home,’” Mrs. Jones said. “But he’s still playful. He can still jump all over people when they come round.”

The oldest dog on record was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey, who lived to 29 years and five months before having to be put down in 1939.

Gibson, the Guinness World Record’s Tallest Dog, recently had his front right leg amputated due to complications from bone cancer.

Standing at 42.2 inches tall, the harlequin Great Dane has held the Tallest Dog title for four years.

Gibson, who has appeared on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” also serves as spokesdog for K9 Grass, an artificial grass designed for dogs. A certified therapy dog, he has worked work with cancer patients, veterans and amputees.

The surgery was performed to prevent the cancer, found in the dog’s paw a few weeks ago, from spreading, according to a company press release.

The surgery gives Gibson a 95.5 percent greater chance of surviving. He’ll be having follow up chemotherapy treatments in the upcoming weeks.

Gibson will continue to hold his title as the World’s Tallest Dog and be the official spokesdog for K9Grass, ForeverLawn Inc.’s line of artificial turf designed for dogs.

(Photo: Courtesy of ForeverLawn Inc.)