All dogs are beautiful and special in their own way, but some have features that are truly extraordinary.
Like one Coonhound, whose uniquely long ears have landed her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Meet Lou, the new record-holder for the longest ears of any living dog:
Lou’s ears measure a whopping 34 cm, or 13.38 inches, enough to clinch the record.
Lou belongs to Paige Olsen, a veterinary technician from Oregon, USA. According to People, she always noticed Lou had longer-than-average ears but only decided to measure them last year.
Realizing that Lou’s ears could be for the record books, she contacted Guinness, who officially verified her last July.
Lou made her debut in the 2022 edition of the Guinness World Records book, which was released last week.
Paige says that Lou’s newfound fame hasn’t changed her — mostly because the 3-year-old dog already had a pretty high opinion of herself.
“Lou might think she’s special – but I think she’s thought that from the beginning,” Paige told Guinness.”I think she’s always known she’s a little bit better than the rest of us.”
According to her Instagram, Lou has a few Coonhound siblings named Tod, Bubba and Sam.
While Lou’s ears are extraordinary, she’s still a few centimeters short of the all-time record, which belongs to a bloodhound named Tigger, who sported 34.9 and 34.2 cm ears, setting the record in 2004, according to Guinness. He died in 2009.
The most recent record holder for a living dog was Harbor, who had 34.3 cm and 31.1 cm ears. He passed in 2016.
Guinness explains that breeds like coonhounds and bloodhounds typically have long ears, a “distinct biological advantage over many other pooches,” which enhances their famously strong sense of smell.
Lou isn’t the only record-breaker making their debut this year. According to Reuters, Guinness World Records 2022 also features the world’s most expensive french fries, the world’s tallest teenager, and the “most skips over a person’s own hair.” In another animal record, a pair of pets named Lollipop and Sashim set the record of “fastest 5 metres on a scooter by a dog and cat.”
But it’s Lou, with her beautiful, uniquely long ears, who has really been this year’s breakout star.
“Now people can’t wait to get her paw-digraph!” Paige said. “I’m very proud of the furry little munchkin for being so special.”
Congratulations to Lou on this amazing record! You are truly one special dog.
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