A humongous dog who weighs 15 stone often gets mistaken for a cow because of his size and colouring. Diego, a black and white Great Dane, is taller than his six-foot owner when standing on hind legs. “Almost everyone knows him” near his east London home and taking the tube can be a “nightmare” with large crowds of doggy fans, reports MyLondon. Diego is so popular that even the police have even stopped him in the street to take photographs.
Owner Carlos takes Diego with him everywhere, and the pair love riding through central London in a two-wheeled motorbike together. The Great Dane even has a pair of dog goggles that fit his head – so he can ride in style.
Carlos, who is originally from Brazil, bought Diego in 2015. His wife, Ellie, was terrified of dogs, and had taken some persuading (17 years, to be exact). On Christmas Day, they got the call: a breeder had one Great Dane left. And so, at 11am, Carlos set off for Peterborough to collect Diego. Ellie may have had her reservations, but Diego has won her round. “Now, if I asked her to choose [between] me or Diego, Diego would stay,” says Carlos. “She does everything for them – they control the house.” At 95kgs, Diego is taller than six-foot Carlos when standing on his hind legs. Diego has been known to steal food from strangers. “He steals food everywhere – he’s not very well-behaved with food. If some guys are having lunch and they blink, Diego will grab it,” Carlos said. Carlos has tried to put Diego on a diet, but it’s tricky – strangers in the park will readily dispense treats to their favorite Great Dane, and there’s also the issue of pizza. “If he sees pizza, his favorite food, he gets crazy – he’s a different dog. He’ll do anything for pizza,” he explains.
Six years after getting Diego, he and Carlos are inseparable. “Everywhere I go, I take Diego,” says Carlos, explaining that when he sits down – on the sofa, on the Tube, to put his shoes on – Diego will always sit on his lap. Docile Diego will happily accompany Carlos to the pub, on the Tube, or join him at a restaurant. At The Bike Shed, a motorcycle club in Shoreditch, Diego is the first dog in the venue’s history to have become a Gold Member. “When we go there, it says on the table: ‘This table is reserved for Diego and his human,” Carlos says.
Diego is well-liked. In Victoria Park, where he takes his morning walk, he has doting fans who’ll slip him treats; at work at Bravos Motorcycles, people will regularly drop by to see him or take him for a walk. Because of his size and black and white coloring, some children even mistake him for a cow. “In East London, almost everyone knows him,” says Carlos. “If you have a Great Dane, everyone wants to come and talk and take pictures.” This can be a liability. “The Tube is a nightmare sometimes…one [person] wants to take a photo, and then another one, and then there’s a crowd,” Carlos said.
