Couple forced to upgrade car and move house thanks to 73kg ‘pony-sized’ Great Dane say he is ‘a celebrity’ in local area

A couple who were forced to upgrade their car and move house because of their 73kg “pony-sized” Great Dane have said he is known as a local “celebrity” in their area.

Hollie Lees, 28, a service manager who lives in Staffordshire, surprised her husband Ben, 28, an installation engineer, with their “dream dog”, a Great Dane, in February 2023.

The pup, named Cooper, has gone from weighing 14.3kg (2st 3lbs) at eight weeks old to 73kg (11st 6lbs) at nearly three years old, but he “thinks he’s a Labrador” and loves sitting on people’s laps.

Measuring 3ft 9in tall but around 6ft when standing on his back legs, Hollie said strangers often ask them: “How much for a pony ride?”

Thanks to Cooper’s size, the couple have had to sell and upgrade both their car and home, and they said he sleeps on an almost double-sized bed and has to wear pony rugs in the winter.

Hollie, who is 5ft 5in tall, said having Cooper is like living with another “grown man” in the house.

“Everyone’s obsessed with how big he is,” Hollie told PA Real Life.

“They’re just amazed and they ask, ‘How much does he eat? How much does he cost?’

“He’s like a local celebrity in our area.”

Hollie and Ben have been together for five years, and married for two years, after they first met at secondary school and later started dating.

They had both “always wanted a Great Dane” but kept putting it off – until they found their preferred breeder.

Hollie explained: “The breeder was up in Scotland and I wanted to surprise Ben, but I thought ‘how am I going to get to Scotland?’.

“He’s got me on Find My iPhone, there’s no way I could travel to Scotland without him knowing, so the breeder ended up meeting me halfway.

“I had an afternoon off work, brought him home and the rest is history.”

Hollie said Ben “cried and cried and cried” with happiness when he saw Cooper for the first time in February 2023.

She recorded the emotional moment, posting it on their TikTok account @ourgreatdanecooper, and the video has now received more than two million views.

Hollie said Cooper was “hilarious” as a puppy, as he was unaware of his size, and at just eight weeks old he weighed 14.3kg (2st 3lbs).

Before he received his puppy vaccinations and was allowed to go for walks, Hollie bought a pram, thinking she could push him around, but his legs were “falling” out the sides.

“As a puppy, he was the size of a normal dog,” she said.

“Now people often tell us he is the biggest Dane they’ve seen.”

Cooper will be three this December, but Hollie said he “still doesn’t know how big he is”.

Hollie jokingly said that he sleeps on a “double bed”, which measures 127cm x 102cm x 33cm, and his bowl has a circumference of 25cm and is raised to 51cm so he can reach it easily.

For comparison, the size of a typical UK double mattress is 135cm x 190cm.

From the floor to his head, Cooper measures 3ft 9in and can see above the kitchen counter, meaning they have to be careful not to leave food out, and when he is standing on his back legs, he is around 6ft tall.

“He’s got a few other Great Dane friends and he towers above them,” Hollie said.

“We take him to the dog park and some of his favourite friends are tiny, so he’s got a terrier that’s one of his best friends.

“Cooper picks him up in the harness and the terrier loves it, and then the terrier will hang off Cooper’s tail and Cooper will just walk about.”

Prior to getting Cooper, Hollie had a Mini Cooper S, but she has since upgraded to a Skoda Superb Estate to accommodate Cooper’s size and weight.

Hollie said: “He would not fit in a Mini, hence why we called him Cooper.

“It was a running joke: ‘We’ve had to sell the car to fit the dog in’.”

According to new research from Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, 83% of pet-owning Brits have gone out of their way to adapt their vehicles to suit their furry companions.

The research reveals the average dog owner has paid up to £500 on pet-related car accessories this year alone, equating to £6,500 across the average lifespan of their dog.

On top of this, the couple have upgraded their home as well, moving from a two-bedroom 1880s cottage to a larger four-bedroom home, with a conservatory, in the same area.

“We ended up moving house as our cottage simply wasn’t big enough for Cooper,” Hollie said.

“He couldn’t turn around in our kitchen and had to reverse.”

With Cooper weighing 73kg (11st 6lbs), Hollie said he consumes 4kg of meat every day, usually raw chicken and tripe.

On average, the couple said they spend £380 a month on Cooper’s food, treats, insurance and secure dog fields, which have high fencing and allow larger dogs to run around freely, and his favourite snack is chicken feet.

In terms of accessories, Hollie said there are no raincoats for Great Danes on the market, so they have had to buy him a pony blanket, and strangers often ask if they can have “pony rides”.

“It’s silly because you know how big Great Danes are, but you take him out on a walk and you just think, this dog weighs more than me,” she said.

“He could literally walk me.”

Despite his stature, Hollie said Cooper is placid, loving and “cheeky”, and he spends most of the day sleeping.

Hollie and Ben said Cooper makes them “laugh every day”, but there is one particular memory that stands out.

“The reason that I wanted Great Danes is because I used to deliver the free paper to this lady’s house and she had three Great Danes,” Hollie said.

“She only lives down the road and, since having Cooper, we’ve become really close to her.

“She’s in her 70s and she wears a wig and, when Cooper was a puppy, we took him round and he stole the wig and ran around the whole garden with this lady’s wig hanging out of his mouth.”

The couple said they openly admit that having a Great Dane is expensive, but they adore him and said his cuddles are “the best”.

They said they will continue sharing “silly” videos of him with their 12,000 followers on TikTok as they love seeing the joy Cooper brings to others.

Hollie, who is soon expecting her first child with Ben, said: “He’s like our baby. He’s our first baby and we just absolutely love him.”

Ben added: “I couldn’t imagine life without him. He makes every day a great day.”

To find out more about Motorway’s research, visit: motorway.co.uk/sell-my-car/guides/wagging-wheels.