CommentsNewsJane Lavender Associate Editor04:00, 14 Mar 2026The world's biggest dog(Image: Caters News Agency)
The world's largest puppy - weighing an astonishing 12 stone and measuring a remarkable six-foot-tall - has been bred to recreate an extinct ancient dog.
At just nine-months-old, massive Euphrates devours an incredible eight cups of dog food daily and plays with a piece of fence post.
She belongs to a new breed known as the American Molossus, from the first litter of selective breeding designed to be the closest genetic relative of the 5,000 BC Mesopotamian Molossus.
The ancient creature was enormous and fearsome in appearance and they were deployed in warfare.
However, the only traces of their legend remained in museums.
After contacting hundreds of breeders and Guinness World Records, owner Jared Howser, from Salt Lake City, Utah, believes he possesses the world's largest puppy.
She's related to an extinct breed(Image: Caters News Agency)
In public, people frequently gasp upon seeing the enormous canine and struggle to believe how large she is for her age, often mistaking her for a fully-grown adult.
The carpenter, who builds kennels for XL dogs, said: "It's unreal and unheard of, at nine months her size and strength is far beyond what I thought it would be.
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"When she stands on her hind legs she is six-foot-tall, that's only at nine months too, on all fours to the withers, the tops of her shoulders she is 31.5 inches.
"If she was to stand she is big enough to look out of the peephole on our door."
She's a new breed, the American Molossus(Image: Caters News Agency)
Euphrates eats eight cups of dog food a day(Image: Caters News Agency)
Jared says he weighs 260lb and stands at 6ft 3in tall but admitted if the puppy runs he couldn't hold on to her lead, saying "she could drag me down the road with ease".
He added: "Just from wagging her tail if she catches your knees, she can take down a grown man down no problem.
"We have a pitbull who she plays tug of war with, they are known for the ability to pull more than their own weight, but Euphrates she just sits holding the other end in her mouth unaffected and not budging at all.
"When people look at her, they are surprised and asked how I've been able to keep her under control, joking that I must be a lion tamer.
People think Euphrates is a fully grown dog(Image: Caters News Agency)
"Most people think she is a fully-grown dog when we take her out in public, when we tell them she is a nine-month-old puppy their jaws hit the floor.
"They natural reaction is 'holy cow' or 'this is the biggest dog I've ever seen', then they want to pet her and she's very affectionate.
