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World’s tallest dog dead of cancer at 7
By Gina Spadafori
August 12, 2009
Gibson the Great Dane was euthanized last week after being a brief fight with osteosarcoma, or bone cancer. He was a regular in the media, and a very nice dog indeed ( I met him once, and he was a big sweetie).
His sponsor, the artificial turf company Forever Lawn, has named Gibson’s son Brewster as his spokesdog replacement, and is launching a nationwide canine cancer awareness tour.
Um … anyone else see something wrong with this picture?
Great Danes are predisposed to bone cancer. Which means that even as nice a dog as Gibson was and Brewster surely is, I hope his owner will consider more than world records in determining Brewster’s future as a dad. Maybe breeding more giant-giant Danes is not such a good idea.
Godspeed Gibson. You were a good, good boy.
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Brewster is not Gibson’s get. Gibson was neutered and produced no offspring. Brewster is of the same line, and a nephew to Gibson.
Comment by FuzzyLogic — August 12, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
Thanks for the information. The media release called him Gibson’s son. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 12, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
Thats so sad. I hope you are right and they reconsider breeding for Brewster though.
Comment by Leslie K — August 12, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
I’m confused … the statement on ‘Three Paws for the Cause’ signed by Sandy Hall also refers to Brewster as Gibson’s son.
Comment by Eucritta — August 12, 2009 @ 3:26 pm
The media confusion about who begat who might just be the desire for a good story clouding the facts a bit. ‘Son’ plays better than ‘cousin’ and just makes for better copy.
Perhaps he was bred purposes of advertising, he just happened to be around when the call came. Let’s hope he can escape a similar fate. Bone cancer, which these guys are so prone to (among other things - like bloat) is a terrible and nearly unstoppable disease.
Great Danes are usually gentle giants (tho, I have met a few that went against that grain, and that’s a scary thing to behold!) and I am sorry to hear that he is gone.
Comment by Dr. Tony Johnson — August 13, 2009 @ 4:36 am
I’m sad to hear of Gibson’s passing.
My only exposure to Gibson was when I saw him at an appearance with his owner at a “Come meet the world’s tallest dog” promotional event at Petland in Roseville. I was disappointed to see a celebrity dog used to encourage foot traffic in a store that sells dogs from puppy mills.
Let’s hope Brewster (be he son or cousin) doesn’t follow suit.
Comment by Jennifer Fearing — August 13, 2009 @ 6:28 am
When was Gibson neutered? Could that have predisposed him towards the cancer?
Comment by Ann — August 13, 2009 @ 6:57 am
Ann - you’ve got to wonder if it was an early neuter, if that aided his World’s Tallest success. We know for sure that dogs neutered before maturity grow taller!
As for the cancer predisposition, I would be interested to hear Dr. Tony’s take on the early neuter discussion.
Comment by Kim — August 13, 2009 @ 9:10 am