Celebrity hound that I am, I just had to look up Boomer while driving across North Dakota last week.
Boomer, a gigantic Landseer Newfoundland, had been making headlines around the globe as the world's tallest dog.
I'd seen a photo on the Internet showing how he's tall enough to drink from the kitchen sink. And, there I was, about 20 miles west of Fargo, driving right past the farm where Boomer's story got started.
Boomer's dedicated owner, Caryn Weber, 44, had been trying to get him into Guinness World Records.
So Weber, a single mom who lives with her two boys in a 100-year-old farmhouse, held a news conference, and the global Boomer boom was on.
Dogged reporters from New York to Australia requested interviews. Boomer went live on Fox News. And the phone wouldn't stop ringing.
Weber has worked as a travel agent, bank teller and graphic artist for the local newspaper. But she admits she was unprepared for the media onslaught and the kinds of questions she'd be asked.
"The majority of people asked what I use to scoop his doody," she said. "And if it's a skid steer loader."
Boomer, who weighs more than I do, took a liking to me and began nuzzling my chest with his massive snout. Weber blushed and quickly ripped paper towels from her kitchen counter.
"He's trying to be nice, and he's trying to be friendly, but he's sliming you up to your chin," she explained.
I looked down and there was dog goo hanging in strings from my jacket.
I suddenly realized I should have stayed in Colorado, where I could have been chasing balloon boy with the rest of the national media.
Turns out Boomer is not going to cut it as the world's tallest dog.
Weber figured he had a shot when the holder of that title, a Harlequin Great Dane named Gibson, died in August. Gibson, of Grass Valley, Calif., stood more than 42 inches. Boomer, while more than seven feet long and 180 pounds, stands only 36 inches.
"We are in the process of reviewing several claims for the tallest dog living category, some of which are over 40 inches tall," Guinness replied to Weber's claim. "On these grounds, we have no choice but to reject your claim."
Then came news of George, a Great Dane in Tucson, Ariz., who reportedly stands 42 inches and weights 245 pounds. "George wolfs down 100 pounds of food every three weeks, and his droppings can weigh 4 pounds or more," the Arizona Daily Star recently reported. (FYI: This does not require a skid steer loader, just a shovel.)
George, it turns out, has his own press agent, Paul O'Rourke, a friend of his owner, who now wants to get the dog on Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien. Before news of Boomer broke, George's owner was trying to keep the story quiet, O'Rourke told the Star.
"Our hand has kind of been forced," O'Rourke said.
It seems no matter how big a dog you are, there's always a bigger dog.
Guinness has yet to grant tallest living dog status following Gibson's death.
Weber said she's disappointed, since Boomer's height had been verified according to Guinness' guidelines before George was submitted for consideration.
That makes Boomer the tallest living dog verified to date. And it was the publicity surrounding Boomer that brought George to the limelight. So, in her view, Boomer should get the record, and Guinness should then let other contenders try to break it. "Isn't that what records are all about?"
Hey, it's a dog-eat-dog world.
"The purpose of this attempt was to make a memory for the boys," she said. "I wanted them to tell their kids and grandkids that they once had a dog that made it into the record books."
Boomer, at least, has put on quite a dog-and-pony show. I guess every dog has its day.
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