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Great dane a towering celebrity
Monday, 7 April 2008
But this three-year-old Remuera "mummy’s boy" is no pouting prima donna.

Leo, an impressive 65kg great dane, recently arrived in New Zealand with the Ivanac family from a remote Australian farm in Nalinga, Victoria.

His celebrity status has come with the move to suburbia where his breathtaking size is rare.

"Leo has a fan club at the school, cafes – anywhere we go," says Kay Ivanac, one of Leo’s owners.

"The animation you get out of people is incredible. People just want to stop you and talk and talk – it takes ages to go anywhere," she says.

His biggest celebrity appearances are at Movenpick icecream parlour in Mission Bay where large groups of tourists and locals gather to be photographed with him.

Despite his imposing stature Leo has a calm nature and cats terrify him. Mrs Ivanac says he often lies down to show he is the lowest in the pecking order, particularly with babies and cats.

Leo has even been seen breaking up a group of dogs playing rough at Waiatarua Reserve using his calming nature.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records the tallest dog in the world is a Californian great dane called Gibson measuring more than two metres standing on his hind legs.

Gary Withers, acting secretary of the Great Dane Club in Auckland, says great danes attract plenty of attention because they are such impressive looking dogs.

He says they grow to full size in about a year, gaining as much weight in that time as a human does in 18 to 20 years.

This puts incredible strain on their joints and owners have to be careful not to over-exercise them.

Mrs Ivanac says Leo is great at finishing the mealtime leftovers of her husband John and four children, Clancy, 10, Phoebe, 9, Mirella, 8, and Finley, 7. However, she still spends up to $70 a week feeding him.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz

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