Owners of big dogs probably know that sometimes your pooch will get mistaken for some other kind of animal. In fact, there is one owner who owns a 7ft tall Great Dane who has shared that her dog often gets mistaken for a horse.
Her dog Thunder may be big and weigh more than 210 pounds, but that doesn’t stop the gentle giant from attempting to sit on his owner’s lap.
35-year-old Jenny Saccoccia and her husband, 37-year-old home developer Chris, are the proud parents of Thunder, and the family lives happily in their four-bedroom house in King City in Ontario, Canada.
Thunder is already 8-years-old, but that doesn’t stop him from being an imposing sight when he goes on walks. Strangers that pass him by on the street often stop and take pictures of him, commonly mistaking him for a horse.
As Jenny, who is 5ft 1 herself, said, “People stop to take photos and can’t believe that he’s a dog.”
She shared, “They think I’m walking a horse. Even the vet is always talking about Thunder because they can’t believe how big he is.”
Despite how large Thunder is, Jenny has marveled that he’s actually a wonderfully gentle and patient dog with both children and smaller dogs.
She said, “He’s so well behaved, we can leave food out and he won’t touch it. He just hangs out with us, he pokes his head in the fridge but doesn’t touch anything.”
She added, “My friend has a two-pound Chihuahua and she loves Thunder. She jumps on his ankles and he’s great with kids. All of our nieces, nephews, and cousins love him too.”
Turns out, Thunder really is a gentle giant as the Great Dane is actually afraid of smaller dogs, including the family’s Pomeranian named Chichi, Malamute named Tulu, and Yorkshire Terrier named Peanut, who all run the household.
Regarding his size, Jenny said, “His tail is at the same height as a man’s groin so they have to be careful playing with him too.”
Thunder has a heritage dating back down a long line of large dogs, including his father who is a champion show dog. Both Jenny and her husband Chris had always wanted a Great Dane of their own, so they waited for the champion to have puppies. And when he did, the happily adopted Thunder right after he was born, hoping that he’d grow to be big like his father – and he did!
It is a good thing that their home is situated on five and a half acres of land, something that no doubt gives him all the space he needs to roam wild.
As Jenny said, “Thunder’s free to do what he wants and we have a pond he can bathe in during the summer. He fits in the house because he has his own area. He is 100 percent our child. He’s such an amazing dog.”
It sounds like the life!
