Trained as a defense dog, this 175-pound (approx. 79-kilogram) pit bull can put the fright into just about anyone! But don’t let that fool you; he also has a tender side as well, which had a chance to bloom after he became a dad of eight adorable puppies.
Meet Hulk, quite possibly the world’s largest pit bull. Born in September 2013, he is 28 inches long and weighs a hefty 200 pounds (approx. 91 kg).
His proud owners, Marlon and Lisa Grennan, of New Hampshire, who founded Dark Dynasty K9 Kennels, train protection dogs for celebrities, billionaires, and law enforcement around the world. The animals, trained to be aggressive and overpowering, can also make great family pets, and Hulk is a great example of this.
While training with Marlon, Hulk fully demonstrates his powerful, aggressive side. He sprints toward and leaps upon a would-be assailant, Marlon. Marlon wears protective garments or shielding, and Hulk tackles his opponent with staggering ferocity.
Hulk’s powerful jaws have proven to be more than a match for the plastic arm guard Marlon sometimes wears, as one time the pit bull managed to chomp right through the protective material, into his owner’s arm, which Marlon says “is not supposed to happen.”
But Hulk also has a gentler, softer side, which he reveals when he is around Marlon and Lisa’s sons, Jordan and Jackson. When the Grennans brought their newborn baby Jackson home, Hulk “was all over him.”
Hulk is also their eldest son Jordan’s playmate. When Jordan plays the harmonica, the pit bull will “sing” along by howling!
“Jordan has never been bitten by any of our dogs and I would never put him in a position to have that happen. He is 100 percent safe when he is working with the dogs,” Lisa said.
Having gotten used to being around kids, it seems Hulk was destined to be a great father. So when he had eight of his own adorable puppies, it was a delight to watch the gentle giant taking care of them—nuzzling and licking his babies.
“Hulk is a gentle giant and a great father,” said Lisa. “He will think nothing of laying down and licking his young puppies and is very gentle with them. He is an awesome dad.”
The puppies are not only cute but also extremely valuable. Together, they could be worth up to a cool US$500,000 after undergoing protection training with Marlon to become elite protection dogs.
Marlon had foreseen one of these little ones might even surpass their father in size and popularity.
“Their papa isn’t a legend for no reason but the potential to have another record-breaking world famous dog amongst his puppies is definitely there. Most of them are already sold. That’s just how well thought of Hulk’s bloodline is thought of.”
And just as Marlon predicted, King Kong, the offspring of Hulk, is set to outgrow his 175-pound dad. The pup weighed 150 pounds (approx. 68 kg) at just over 1 year old. And King Kong is still growing!
“Kong has got big shoes to fill with Hulk as his dad, but we expect him to be bigger than his dad, his popularity is going to just keep growing,” Lisa said.
Generally regarded as dangerous or aggressive canines, pit bulls are often used as guard dogs, where their natural inborn qualities can be of most service. The Grennans demonstrated, however, that with the right conditioning and training, this breed can also produce socially friendly animals.
As Marlon has observed: “Hulk has shown the world that when this breed is gentle and balanced, they can be the greatest dogs in the world. I love this dog so much I honestly can’t even put it into words. There are no words to describe it.”
