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Meet Tyson! The UK’s Smallest Dog: You Won’t Believe His Size

By Tim Butters
Published on: 23:13 PST, Aug 21, 2014

They say it’s not the size of the dog in a fight but the size of the fight in the dog, but it’s doubtful Tyson, the UK’s smallest dog, will ever be a heavyweight contender like his namesake “Iron Mike.”

Weighing in at 11 ounces and standing at 4 inches tall, Tyson the pup is thought to be the United Kingdom’s smallest hound.

In fact, Tyson is so damned dinky that he has to be carried around in a hamster cage. His 46-year-old owner, Rosemarie McLinden, has failed to find a collar small enough to fit the little chap.

Admittedly, it takes a big leap of the imagination to think that Tyson carries in his genes the same wolf DNA that the biggest Rottweiler boasts.

The little hound weighs lighter than a bag of sugar, his head is smaller than a golf ball and his owner can stand him in the palm of her hand.

Yet Tyson, who is a Lhasa-Chi (a cross between a Lhasa Apso and a Chihuahua), is perhaps a fine example of what happens when you take a wild animal and domesticate it to the point of no return.

Yahoo! News reported that Tyson, who was born on March 30, didn’t have the best start to his life. He was rejected by the rest of his litter who regarded him as little more than a squeaky toy.

He had to be separated from the rest of his siblings and was unable to eat properly.

Tyson’s owner and mother-of-four, Rosemarie explained:

“He was tiny when he was born and he was eventually pushed out by his brothers and sisters because he was so tiny. He just hasn’t really grown since.

“I had to start feeding him myself as he couldn’t latch on to his mother. He was so small he just could not breastfeed due to the tiny size of his mouth. I bought a little dropper and had to feed him day and night every two hours until he was a little bigger.

“We had to take him away from the rest of the litter because he is so small they think of him as a squeaky toy. I’ve been doing a lot of research and I can’t see a smaller dog anywhere in the entire country.”

Although Tyson is now fit and healthy, his four brothers and sisters still tower over him at a gigantic seven inches and they weigh three times as much as the diminutive canine.

Rosemarie added:

“They are all so boisterous, but he is just too small to be boisterous, he’s just an energetic loving pup. He loves toes, he will chase them and give you a nip, but they are bigger than him.

“He has one ball that he likes to chase, we found a practice golf ball that he can use, but even that is bigger than his head. We’ve just started trying to wean him onto dog food, and we have to rub around his little gums to help him eat. He seems do be doing well though and we hope he stays fit and healthy.”

Tyson may not be any bigger than an iPhone, but the bite-size barker’s got the true grit and character of a natural born survivor. Go get ’em champ.

[Image Via Facebook]

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