Meet Samson, Britain's biggest dog

Meet Samson, Britain's biggest dog

Standing 6ft 5in on its hind legs and tipping the scales at 19st 10lb ( 276LB ), Samson is a giant in every sense of the word.

As Britain's biggest dog with a fearsome set of jaws to match, even the slightest growl is enough to make the bravest of postmen think twice before heading up the garden path.

He boasts a 59in chest and a 29in neck, meaning he has to wear pony coats when it rains and has had to have an extra large collar fitted. The dog's paws are almost the size of dinner plates.

While Samson's awesome build is impressive enough for a fully grown dog, this huge hound is only three years old and will grow even more.

Julie Woods, 54 and her husband Ray, 65, whose last dog was a small terrier, spend £60 a month on dried food and turkey legs for Samson and take him on four two-mile walks a day.

Mrs Woods, from Boston, Lincs, said: "He's a lovely dog whose bark is definitely worse than his bite. People are often intimidated when they first see him because he's about the size of a small horse and very quick.

"But he is so gentle and wouldn't harm a fly. He loves being patted and is very affectionate.

"When he jumps up on the garden gate, it's enough to frighten the life out of anyone."

She added: "To protect him from the rain we bought him a coat meant for ponies. Such a large dog getting soaking wet wouldn't smell very nice.

"He has also gone through two collars, they have to be specially made. His current one is becoming a bit tight so we'll have to buy yet another one.

"At the moment he is only three years old and we expect him to carry on growing over the next year or so. If he gets any bigger, we might have to move to a larger house."

Mrs Woods, who is unable to work after a stroke, and her husband bought Samson from an RSPCA centre when he was six months old. He was already well over 5ft on his hind legs and weighed 16st 2lb ( 226lb ).

Mrs Woods said: "He came bounding over and pinned us both to the wall, even though he was little more than a baby. But we were smitten straight away.

"The other puppies were big but none of them came close to Samson. The staff at the RSPCA centre said they'd never seen such a large dog. He had been re-homed elsewhere before us but the owners were unable to look after him properly.They took him back when he tore their house apart one day while they were both at work.

"We've not had too many problems with him. He can be quite excitable at times but that's down to his age.

"The only problem is that he snores quite loudly - sometimes I swear I feel the house start to shake."

Samson is just over 2st lighter than the world's heaviest dog, a 22st ( 308LB ) English Mastiff called Hercules, from Massachusetts.