When Sue Markham of Lincolnshire, England, saw Yogi the puppy at the local shelter, she immediately fell in love with him. She knew she had to take him home, but there was one problem.
Yogi was a Boston Great Dane puppy, which meant he would grow up to be a massive dog, when her husband had explicitly told her he didn’t want her to get a big dog for their home.
But Sue couldn’t get over the cute, tiny- at the time- puppy, so she decided to tell her husband a little lie so he would accept him in the house.
“When I saw Bear I fell in love with him and knew I wanted him but I knew Robert didn’t want a big dog.”
So, when the grandmother of four returned home with the puppy, she told her husband Robert that it was a Jack Russel.
The man thought a Jack Russel would be a good fit for them: not too big, easy to maintain, and overall friendly dog.
“I thought a big dog would be a lot of work and could be trouble. We only have a small living room. I thought, ‘How much trouble can a Jack Russell be?'” Robert Markham said.
But, as time went by, Robert started realizing that something was not quite right with their… Jack Russel.
The dog soon dwarfed all of the other dogs at the park where they took him, and his tail was getting as big as a baseball bat.
That’s when Sue confessed that she had initially lied about Yogi’s breed and told her husband the truth. But, unlike what she had expected, Robert didn’t want the dog to leave their house. By then, he had fallen completely in love with him too, and he couldn’t imagine him not being around.
Nine years later, Yogi- or Bear, as they nicknamed him- was as tall as 6ft 11, and weighed around 200 lbs, which is about 65lbs more than the average Boston Great Dane.
Although Yogi doesn’t even bother to stand on his hind legs, it is estimated that he would be taller than 7ft if he stood like that, making him almost as tall as the world’s tallest dog, Zeus, who is 7ft 4inches tall when stood up.
Eventually, Yogi Bear became a member of their family. He turned into a spoilt pet, who even has his own couch with a special quilt, on which he watches TV.
Of course, he keeps it only for himself and never allows anyone to go sit next to him on his favorite couch.
With one exception, Toffee the kitty.
“Last winter, an old female cat we call Toffee started coming in the house for warmth…We thought Bear wouldn’t be a fan, but instead he welcomed her onto his sofa and they often curl up and sleep together…Bear sees Toffee as his own pet,” Sue explained.
Well, it seems this big boy has a soft spot for his little girlfriend.
Yet, this is not surprising, since Great Danes are by definition friendly dogs, unlike what their massive volume might suggest. They are actually very friendly towards other animals and humans and they make great pets.
We just loved Yogi Bear’s story and we are sure the couple has been living the best of life with him.
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