Pearl the dog measures exactly 3.59 inches tall and 5 inches tall.
Guinness World Records
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Guinness World Records
Pearl the dog measures exactly 3.59 inches tall and 5 inches tall.
Guinness World Records
Pearl the pint-sized Chihuahua got big news this week when Guinness World Records (GWR) officially certified it as the shortest dog in the world.
The 2-year-old girl measures exactly 3.59 inches tall and 5 inches long, according to her veterinarian, Dr. Giovanni Vergel of Crystal Creek Animal Hospital in Orlando, Fla. In other words, she shorter than a Popsicle stickbarely the height of a credit card and about as tall as a roll of toilet paper.
Pearl is “small as a ball” and “a child at heart,” says her owner, Vanesa Semler.
She is also the niece of the previous record holder, Miracle Milly, who was 3.8 inches tall and was known for her big personality, including sticking her tongue out in photos. Milly, who also belonged to Semler, died before Pearl was born in September 2020.
Pearl and Milly both weighed less than an ounce at birth, GWR says. Pearl has since increased to 1.22 pounds.
Semler says Pearl is “a bit of a diva,” who counts chicken and salmon among her favorite foods and likes to “dress nice.”
A a three minute video posted on GWR’s Twitter account features a montage of Pearl going about her daily routine — taking walks, jogging, playing with small toys — in a series of fashionable outfits, including embroidered sweaters, a ballerina and heavy looking jeweled neckline.
This is Pearl, the two-year-old Chihuahua with a big personality and the record for being the shortest dog alive today 🥰️ pic.twitter.com/rUjydX9A4T
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) April 12, 2023
The couple enjoyed a shopping spree during a recent trip to Milan, where Pearl made her big screen debut on GWR’s Italian TV show. Lo Show dei Record. She was carried on stage in a basket shaped like an Easter egg and remained remarkably calm in front of the live studio audience, GWR reports.
Semler says Pearl is “a bit of a diva,” who counts chicken and salmon among her favorite foods and likes to “dress nice.”
Guinness World Records
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Guinness World Records
Semler says Pearl is “a bit of a diva,” who counts chicken and salmon among her favorite foods and likes to “dress nice.”
Guinness World Records
“We are blessed to have her,” Semler told the record holder, “and to have this unique opportunity to break our own record and share this amazing news with the world.”
How to measure Pearl (literally)
Vergel, the veterinarian, says he took Pearl’s measurements three times in a row with short breaks in between, which she spent “walking on the wee wee pad.”
“In accordance with the rules of the record, each measurement was taken from the base of the foot of the front leg to the top of the back (the line between the shoulders) in a straight vertical line,” explains GWR .
Pearl now takes her place in a long line of short dogs.
The holder of the title before Milly was Boo Boo, a long haired Chihuahua that was 4 inches long. In 2007 Boo Boo had a a made-for-TV meeting with the tallest dog in the world, a Harlequin Great Dane named Gibson who was 40 inches tall.
In its dimensions, Pearl is shorter than a Popsicle stickbarely the height of a credit card and about as tall as a roll of toilet paper.
Guinness World Records
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Guinness World Records
In its dimensions, Pearl is shorter than a Popsicle stickbarely the height of a credit card and about as tall as a roll of toilet paper.
Guinness World Records
Boo Boo came after two tiny chihuahuas, Ducky (4.9 inches long) and Danka (5.4 inches). But other breeds have had the title as well.
In front of them, in the beginning, the shortest dog in the world was a Yorkie named Big Boss who measured 4.7 inches long and weighed 1 lb 1 oz.
GWR says the the shortest dog ever recorded he was a dwarf Yorkshire terrier owned by Arthur Marples, the former UK-based editor Our Dogs a weekly newspaper. Her name was Sylvia, according to Yorkie experts.
“The fist-sized dog stood at … 2.8 inches tall and measured … 3.75 inches from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail,” GWR adds. “She died in 1945, just before her second birthday.”
