Strongest Dog in the World
According to emails that has been circulating lately about the strongest dog in the world, the pictured dog works for the Russian Army. Others assumed that the photo was manipulated but the truth is, it is not. The dog is real and her name is Wendy, she is a whippet with a genetic defect that caused her to grow bigger and much more muscular than the usual whippet.
While her head, heart, lungs and legs are the size of those of a normal whippet, her gene defect means she is “double muscled”.
She weighs 4st4lb - twice as much as she should - and has bulging neck muscles, burly shoulders and haunches like a baboon. And unlike ordinary whippets known for their lithe and narrow frame, this four-year-old pedigree doesn’t just have a sixpack stomach, she has a 24-pack. - Daily Mail 2007
When mutant, muscle-bound puppies started showing up in litters of champion racing whippets, the breeders of the normally sleek dogs invited scientists to take DNA samples at race meets here and across the country. They hoped to find a genetic cause for the condition and a way to purge it from the breed.
It worked. “Bully whippets,” as the heavyset dogs are known, turn out to have a genetic mutation that enhances muscle development. - New York Times 2007
But according to Wendy’s owner, despite of her fearful appearance, she is a loving and friendly dog who likes to be cuddled and scratched. After Wendy’s army life, she is currently living in Victoria Canada but still there are no confirmed truth about being her the strongest dog in the world.
