Meet the UK’s biggest dog—a 250-pound “gentle giant” who eats an entire chicken for dinner every day.
Two-year-old Abu, a Turkish malaklisi, stands at 7 feet, 2 inches when on his hind legs and weighs just over 250 pounds—the same as a baby elephant.
Owner Dylan Shaw, 33, believes this makes him the UK’s biggest dog—and he’s expected to put on a few dozen more pounds in the next year.
The huge hound wolfs down almost 7 pounds of meat a day, including one whole chicken, three whole mackerel, two eggs, and a generous helping of raw meat dog food.
Mr. Shaw says Abu’s diet costs him 11 pounds a day—a little over 4,000 pounds a year.
But despite his size, Abu is a “gentle giant” who thinks he’s a lap dog—and loves snuggling with Mr. Shaw’s kids India, 5, and Reuben, 4, on the sofa.
“Abu has been a pleasure to own, he’s a really good family dog, and he’s great with kids,” Mr. Shaw, a dog trainer from Redcar, Yorkshire, said.
“He has raw meat, raw dog food, and whole chickens as well—he gets one chicken per day.
“He’s very energetic when he’s out, but in the house, you don’t know he’s there until you trip over him.
“When he’s stood on all fours his shoulders come above my hips—I’m 5-foot-11—and he makes me look like a child stood next to him.
“He thinks he’s a lot smaller than he is, he tries to sit on your lap and crushes you, but he’s a big softy really, he cries when he gets told off.
“They don’t fully mature until 3 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.”
Mr. Shaw says he’d always wanted a Turkish malaklisi but was waiting until he had enough space at home to look after one.
Abu was imported from Turkey in November 2021 at just 4 months old—but Mr. Shaw says he was already bigger than his other dog Luna, who is a Doberman, when he arrived.
He says he spent plenty of time socializing Abu with people and other dogs to make sure he was comfortable in all environments.
The pair are regularly asked for pictures on walks, and Mr. Shaw says that some days, they struggle to get 10 feet without being stopped.
Now, Abu is a foot taller when on all fours than Mr. Shaw expected and nearly 66 pounds heavier than he thought the pooch would be.
“We get a lot of people taking pictures as we walk past—you see the flashes going off,” Mr. Shaw said.
“Normally they ask how much for a ride, or say they wouldn’t like to be picking up after him.
“There’s a lot of horse-related remarks.
“Currently he’s outgrown any other dogs that came from the kennels I got him from.
“He’s grown a lot more than I'd expect him to grow, he’s quite large for the breed—he dwarfs Great Danes.
“A couple of months ago I took him into my kids’ school for ‘take a pet to school day,’ and all the kids loved him.
“He’s lovely, I wouldn’t change him for the world. I don’t get anyone who’s scared of him, I have more problems with the Doberman.”
Balthazar, a blue Great Dane who weighed 210 pounds and was 7 feet tall, is the current record holder for the UK’s biggest dog. He passed away in August.
Abu’s diet costs Mr. Shaw 11 pounds per day—4,015 pounds a year.
A typical day’s food looks like this:
