BRITAIN’S 'biggest dog' who weighed the same as a baby elephant has sadly died.
Balthazar, who was seven foot long, found fame after appearing on Judge Rinder’s show.
The Great Dane had to be put to sleep after his back legs gave way and vets said there was nothing they could do to save him.
His heartbroken owner, Dixie Monte-Irvine, said: “He was the most calm and gentle dog. Everyone who met him fell in love with him.
“He has left a huge hole in all our hearts. Our other dog Luna became so depressed at his passing that he lost a lot of weight and the vet put it down to depression.
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"We had to get another dog just to cheer him up.”
SunOnline first dubbed Balthazar, “Britain’s biggest dog” in 2017, sparking attention from around the world.
His family from Nottingham were even contacted by researchers for Judge Rinder’s court show, desperate to have the pooch appear.
Dixie, 45, a prison officer, said: ‘They wanted to know if anyone had a claim against him and in the end they settled on the fact that he had eaten a couple of pairs of my then husband’s Timberland boots.
“That was enough to get him on the show and he was just a natural.
“He walked into the court and gave my husband a look of utter disgust. Judge Rinder described him as a ‘giant, humping dog with a penchant for leather’. It immortalized him.”
The family had no idea that he could be a record breaker until he was asked to step on the scales during a visit to the local vet.
Despite his ribs showing and having no visible fat on his body, he was 16 stone.
The vets had never seen anything like it.
Dixie added: “We knew he was big like all Great Danes but he was just special.
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“When we first saw him as a pup he was one of 11 and small enough to crawl into my pocket.
“But he was so gentle. We have three cats, Buffy, Luna and Fifi, who would sleep between his giant legs and go on walks with him.
“He was like the leader of the pack and when he died our Bengal cat just walked around the house howling. It was heart-breaking for all of us.
“Our other dog, Luna, became so sick with sadness that she lost a lot of weight and looked like nobody cared for her.
“The vet told us it was depression. I just burst out crying. I could not handle another dog so soon after losing Balthazar but the vet said it was the only thing that could help.”
Tragically, Balthazar was never able to be officially recognised as Britain’s biggest dog because by the time the family realised they had a record breaker on their hands, his hind legs were too weak for him to stand on them.
“They needed him standing on his back legs for measuring purposes,” said Dixie, “but by then they were too weak to hold him. I was gutted not to have realised sooner just how special he was.
“In the end it was his enormous size that caused his death. The vet said that all his organs were healthy but he kept collapsing as one of his back legs could not hold his weight.
“The vet said that with a smaller dog they could have amputated the leg and allowed them to carry on living but treating Balthazar was more like treating a horse so losing a leg proved fatal.
“I sent messages to ‘super vets’ asking if there was anything they could suggest but got nothing back. I even thought of taking him to America but in the end there was nothing that could be done.
“He collapsed in our garden and it took three of us almost two hours to get him back up and to his bed. After that he stopped trying and started slowly giving up.
“He was messing himself in his bed but at no point did he ever snap or grumble. My little boy, who was two at the time, was hand-feeding him.
“The vet said the kindest thing was to let him go and, through many tears, that is what we did.”
After he was put to sleep by a vet, Dixie had his ashes put into a casket featuring one of his giant paw-prints.
She added: “We have the ashes and when I die I want mine mixed with his and scattered somewhere.
“I will never forget him. He was truly the most gentle, loving dog you could meet.”
