The morning it all started, the faucet hissed and the blue-merle giant lifted his chin to the stream like he’d been born in a kitchen. Reggie drinks from sinks the way other dogs drink from bowls; at one meter to the withers, gravity is just efficient. The certificate from Guinness World Records sits framed on a shelf that doubles as his eye level. Idaho Falls hums beyond the window, all big sky and fence lines, while inside a very polite skyscraper pads across cool tile.
His person—social worker Sam Johnson Reiss—has mastered a new physics of living: countertops are pastures, doorways are choreography, and the best snack proofing is distance. (
Strangers ask if he’s part horse; kids ask if he’s Clifford; Reggie blinks, sits, and rearranges the air with one sigh.
He weighs about 145 pounds, but walks like a whisper and steals pillows like a professional.
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Seven years old and still a soft thunder, he eats small meals from a raised stand because long legs deserve gentle habits.
The tape measure made him famous; the temperament made him unforgettable.
Every giant carries an arithmetic people don’t like to say out loud. Great Danes are called the Apollo of dogs—elegant, powerful, sweet—and they often live fewer years than smaller breeds. So the household measures time in rituals: sun on the porch, slow dinners, late-night ear scratches. Then Guinness had an idea worthy of a children’s book.
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“Biggest meets smallest,” they said, and the plan was simple: bring the world’s tallest living dog together with the world’s shortest living dog. Pearl arrived like a spark—3.59 inches of Chihuahua, lighter than a mug, a celebrity in a sweater who once fit on a spoon. A camera clicked. Reggie lowered himself until his nose met her altitude. Pearl’s owner, Vanesa Semler, held her breath; Sam did, too. Everyone had the same worry: a sneeze from a giant is a windstorm to a fairy. What happened instead felt like a magic trick performed by kindness. Reggie stilled. Pearl sniffed.
The couch became Switzerland, neutral ground for two record holders in a living room that suddenly seemed just right.
They compared toys.
They compared naps.
They compared fans on the internet, which is to say: the internet lost its mind.
Headlines bloomed from Washington to local stations: a one-meter Dane and a 3.59-inch Chihuahua sharing a two-day playdate in Idaho Falls.
A photo from April 5, 2025 showed Pearl striding beside a paw the size of a saucer, both of them looking like they’d practiced all week.
“He’s gentle,” Sam said, which is true but incomplete.
Gentle is how he waits at thresholds so people can go first.
Gentle is how he relocates his paw when a squeak scares the cat.
Gentle is how he drinks from the sink without splashing your shirt.
And sure, gentle is also how he steals half a king-size bed like punctuation at the end of a sentence. Pearl, for her part, is pocket-size thunder. She’s four pounds of diva with a closet and a fan club; she meets big dogs like a celebrity shaking hands at a premiere. When they posed with their certificates, Reggie used his like a chin rest and Pearl used hers like a stage. Guinness filmed, the owners exhaled, and the internet finally had proof that “gentle giant” isn’t a cliché, it’s a documentary. By sunset, the yard smelled like warm grass and the kind of peace only tired dogs can make. Pearl tucked into a carrier and blinked slow. Reggie found the patch of sun that always finds him. For a minute, no one talked about numbers. But numbers are how we tell the story to strangers. 1.007 meters at the withers, certified January 27, 2025. 3.59 inches, shortest living dog, certified by Guinness. Idaho Falls, two days of wagging and wonder. Behind the figures is a breed with history: boarhounds turned housemates, muscle tuned to elegance, nicknamed the Apollo of dogs for a reason. Behind the history is the truth every big-dog person knows: space is a love language. You feed smaller meals, raise the bowls, and count steps on the stairs. You learn the sweep radius of a tail that can clear a coffee table like a windshield wiper. You accept that your dog’s shadow can shade a picnic. And you discover that a faucet can be a love letter, if you’re tall enough to read it. In Idaho Falls, they ended the visit the way all good visits end—too soon, with promises. Pearl’s carrier zipped.
Reggie watched the door, then the camera crew, then the faucet. Sam scratched the soft spot behind his ear. The house settled. The day settled. The certificate gleamed like a bookmark in a very good chapter. Tomorrow there would be more questions, more photos, more strangers pointing and smiling. Tomorrow there would be chores and porch sun and a nap that looked like a collapsed tent. But tonight there was only the biggest small thing: a one-meter dog moving through a human home as gently as a breeze. And if you need a punchline, here it is: when the cameras left, Reggie celebrated exactly like a legend—by turning on the faucet and drinking to his own good health.
Conclusion Viral moments come and go, but this one sticks because it’s built on something solid: a giant who chooses softness, and a teacup-sized star who isn’t afraid of the sky. Numbers made them famous. Kindness made them unforgettable.
Sources
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Guinness World Records — Tallest dog living (male): Reginald “Reggie” Johnson Reiss (1.007 m / 3 ft 3 in, Jan 27, 2025): https://guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/209661-tallest-dog-living-%E2%80%93-male
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East Idaho News — Meet Reginald, the world’s tallest dog, who lives in Idaho Falls: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/05/meet-reginald-the-worlds-tallest-dog-who-lives-in-idaho-falls/
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East Idaho News — The world’s tallest dog lives in Idaho Falls. He just had a playdate with the world’s smallest dog.: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2025/05/the-worlds-tallest-dog-lives-in-idaho-falls-he-just-had-a-playdate-with-the-worlds-smallest-dog/
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The Washington Post — The world’s tallest and shortest dogs met for a playdate: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/05/02/tallest-shortest-dogs-meet-guinness-records/
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Associated Press — World’s tallest and smallest dogs meet up for a playdate: https://apnews.com/article/guinness-world-record-tallest-shortest-size-dog-44ae41fe221da0c709b0a1df03d19a2e
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Guinness World Records — The tallest and smallest dogs in the world meet up for an adorable playdate in America: https://guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/4/the-tallest-and-smallest-dogs-in-the-world-meetup-for-adorable-doggy-playdate-in-america
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Guinness World Records — Shortest dog living (Pearl): https://guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/smallest-dog-living-height-
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AKC — Great Dane: Dog Breed Information: https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/great-dane/
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AKC — Great Dane History: The Apollo of the Dogs: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeds/great-dane-history-the-apollo-of-the-dogs/