Pearl the chihuahua is a certified pocket-sized pooch.
Guinness World Records has declared two-year-old Pearl to be the shortest known living dog.
After careful measurement at the Crystal Creek animal hospital in Orlando, Fla., Pearl was determined to be 9.14 centimetres tall and 12.7 centimetres long. To calculate a dog’s height, one must take measurements from the base of the animal’s front leg to the top of its “withers,” the area between a dog’s shoulder blades.
Pearl weighs only 1.22 pounds, significantly smaller than your average 6-pound chihuahua. When she was born in September 2020, Pearl weighed less than an ounce (28 grams).
For context, Guinness said Pearl is smaller than a popsicle stick, but slightly larger than a U.S. dollar bill.
Award-winning tiny genes run in Pearl’s family. In fact, Pearl’s aunt, Miracle Milly, previously held the title of shortest living dog before her death in 2020. Milly was slightly taller than Pearl, measuring 9.65 centimetres. Pearl is the daughter of Milly’s identical sister.
“We’re blessed to have her,” Vanesa Semler, Pearl’s owner, told Guinness. “And to have this unique opportunity to break our own record and share with the world this amazing news.”
Despite her small stature, Pearl still has a big personality. When Pearl was unveiled as the world’s shortest dog on the set of Guinness’ TV talent show Lo Show Dei Record in Milan, Italy, Semler described the chihuahua as a “diva.”
Pearl has a great eye — or perhaps nose —for fashion and enjoys “dressing up nice,” Semler said. Pearl also prefers to eat high-quality proteins like chicken and salmon.
Semler told Guinness that Pearl has an unusually calm temperament for a chihuahua. Ever a connoisseur of class and style, Pearl even enjoys watching TV and listening to classical music at home.
Pearl loves the attention her small stature garners from interested passersby during her daily walks. Her favourite place to visit on her walks, like so many of us, is Starbucks.
While Pearl is the shortest living dog, a dwarf Yorkshire terrier in the United Kingdom holds the record for the shortest dog ever. According to Guinness, the “fist-sized” dog, which died in 1945, stood 7.11 centimetres tall and was 9.5 centimetres long.
Comments