Minnie is anything but what her name suggests.
The black-and-white Great Dane named after a Disney character recently earned the title of world’s tallest living female dog by Guinness World Records.
Having just turned 4, Minnie — standing at 3 feet, 2.25 inches on all four paws — is about half the size of NBA great Michael Jordan, who clocks in at 6-foot-6, as Guinness World Records notes in a YouTube video.
“She’s a gentle giant,” Ken Nogacek said.
He and his wife, Lisa, are Minnie’s owners.
The Nogaceks are a Great Dane family.
“We have horses as well. … Since we’re a horse family, we decided we were OK with having a large dog,” Lisa Nogacek said. “We’ve learned that they’re just gentle, sweet, loving, good family dogs to have.”
The couple’s older daughter, Meghan, decided she was going to adopt a puppy and convinced her parents to tag along. The Nogaceks got Minnie from a breeder in Maine in 2021. Minnie’s sister, Lucy, who is about a half-foot shorter, was adopted by their daughter.
The Nogaceks, based in Connecticut, were born and raised in the Pittsburgh area: Ken is a Penn Hills native, and Lisa is from Peters Township, Washington County.
The couple met while attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. They relocated to Connecticut in 1991 after Ken Nogacek served five years in the Navy as a dentist.
They remain die-hard Steelers fans despite their relocation.
The couple began to notice Minnie’s extraordinary size when they began having to store their television remotes and other items where she couldn’t reach them.
“We noticed she was able to look over our kitchen counter very easily,” Lisa Nogacek said. “Her back was even with the kitchen counter at one point. We also have a bar-height counter, and she was pretty much able to reach anything that she wanted.”
About a dozen remote controls have fallen victim to Minnie’s deisire for a new chew toy, she said.
“Everything has to be Minnie-proofed,” she said.
The couple was inspired to look into Guinness World Records when their younger daughter, Sarah, a veterinary technician, was dog-sitting Minnie and decided to measure her height. Minnie, a 2-year-old at that point, was just an inch below the then-record holder.
The Nogaceks decided to wait until Minnie was finished growing to have her officially measured.
Minnie’s official measuring took place June 7 at her veterinarian’s office. Guinness required Minnie to be measured three times and for the process to be photographed and videoed.
“We had to entice her with peanut butter to try and stand up as straight as she possibly could,” Ken Nogacek said.
It took until October for Ken Nogacek to format the submission to fit requirements. The couple heard back from Guinness about two weeks later, requesting more videos of Minnie.
Minnie was officially named the world’s tallest living female dog on Jan. 12. The Nogaceks had just got done watching the Steelers’ playoff game loss when their daughter showed them an announcement of Minnie’s new title.
“From the downer we were on, it made it a little easier to go to bed,” Ken Nogacek said.
They received an official email the next morning and a certificate the following week.
Since then, Minnie has been featured in news articles all over the world and will be featured in the 27th edition of the book of Guinness World Records.
She has stayed humble through the fame, her owners said.
“She’s as lazy as can be,” Ken Nogacek said. “She enjoys sleeping and playing with her ball in the house with us.”