Imagine the slobber.
Rocky, a male boxer from Bloomington, Illinois, set a Guinness World Record for the longest tongue on a living dog.
According to the global authority on all things record-breaking, his tongue measured in at 5.47 inches.
Rocky’s owner Crystal Williams told 25NewsNow she knew her pooch had an abnormally long tongue, so when she learned about the most recent record set by a Labrador/German shepherd mix named Zoey, she knew she had a chance at her dog claiming the title.
“It’s so long….I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I think we have a shot, I have to look into this,’ “Williams told the outlet.
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Measured while under anesthesia
A veterinarian, Dr. Bernard Bleem, was commissioned by Guinness and used specific requirements to measure Rocky’s tongue, the outlet reported.
A team of medical experts placed Rocky under anesthesia so they could pull out his tongue to measure it in its entirety.
A Bloomington police officer was on-hand to witness and document the measuring as well, the police department said on Facebook.
“Evidence collection is critical to building a solid case,” the post reads. “In this case, evidence collection also required a veterinarian and… a measuring tape.”
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Meet Zoey: the most recent record holder
Rocky beat out the most recent record-holder − a dog named Zoey from Louisiana whose tongue measured at 12.7 centimeters, or 5 inches.
Prior to that, Mochi, a female St Bernard from South Dakota, was verified as having the longest tongue in 2016. The dog died in October 2021, according to Guinness. Before Mochi’s death, her tongue measured it at 18.58 centimeters, or 7.3 inches long – the equivalent of two-and-a-half Jenga blocks in a row.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
