Sue Markham, a grandmother of four, fell in love with Yogi, a 1lb 15oz puppy, but her husband Robert, also 57, had previously stated that he didn’t want a “large dog.”
However, the “Jack Russell” continued to grow and eventually reached 15 stone, devouring £37 worth of food each week.
Due to his size, Yogi, also known as “Bear” in the community, is actually a Boston Great Dane. He now has a three-acre paddock to run around in and wears an outdoor horse coat because he is too huge for any dog-specific clothing.
Even his own sofa, cooked breakfasts, and pet cat have been claimed by the nine-year-old.
Sue remarked: “I fell in love with Bear the moment I saw him, but I knew Robert wouldn’t want a large dog.
“So I made a small fabrication and claimed he was a Jack Russell. But when Bear dwarfed all the other canines in the village, it became very evident that the game was over.”
“With all the food dogs consume, the amount of room they occupy, and other factors, Robert thought a large dog would be difficult to care for and potentially problematic. I was terrified at the notion of bringing a large dog into our tiny living room.”
Every morning, Bear has a cooked breakfast of FOUR scrambled eggs and sausages, but he prefers to graze on yogurt, popcorn, bananas, and milk in between meals.
Every three weeks, he consumes a 45-kilogram bag of dried food and endless cans of dog food, costing Sue and Robert 37 per week in food expenses and 8 per week in insurance costs.
“Bear considers himself a member of the family”, Sue said.
Bear has never stood on his hind legs before since Robert and Sue think he is “too lazy to bother,” but if he did, he would reach a height of seven feet because his head-to-back foot measurement is 6 ft 10 in.
