Pocket-sized pets remain one of the most fascinating areas of the Guinness World Records database, with petite dogs arguably the most popular of all our animal records.
Guinness World Records currently has two main categories for petite pooches: Smallest dog living (height) and Smallest dog living (length).
Born in December 2011, she weighs roughly 1 pound (half a kilogram) and is known for often sticking out her tiny tongue when someone takes her picture. “She knows how to pose,” says Vanesa.
“People are amazed when they see her because she is so small, and she has a big personality. People love her.”
When she was born, Miracle Milly weighed less than an ounce and fit in a teaspoon, Semler said. Her mouth was too tiny to nurse from her mother, so Semler gave her milk every two hours through an eyedropper.
She slept in a doll’s crib next to Semler’s bed, growing stronger as the months passed.
The Chihuahua now sleeps in a baby’s crib and will eat nothing but food cooked by humans.
Miracle Milly dethroned previous title-holder Boo Boo, pictured below, a long-haired female Chihuahua, owned by Lana Elswick of Raceland, Kentucky, USA, who stands at just 10.16 cm (4 in).
The smallest dog in terms of length is Heaven Sent Brandy, (pictured above), a female chihuahua who measures 15.2 cm (6 in) from the nose to the tip of the tail.
So small that she can’t even bark, Brandy lives in Largo, Florida, USA with her owner, Paulette Keller, who picked her up from a breeder when she was just 9 months old.
Weighing just 2lb, Brandy hasn’t grown since Paulette first took care of her.
“With a dog like this, you have to be very careful. She can’t jump on to or off anything because her legs are so tiny,” says Paulette.
“Walking her is OK but when there are kids around, all they want to do is pick her up and she can get frightened.
“I have even managed to take her on domestic flights without being noticed. I have a small bag that she can slip into and, because she doesn’t make a sound, no-one notices her.”
However, while both categories are dominated by Chihuahua’s, the smallest dog ever on record was a fist-sized dwarf Yorkshire terrier named Sylvia who was owned by Arthur Marples (UK).
Fully grown, this tiny dog stood 6.3 cm (2.8 in) at the shoulder and measured 9.5 cm (3.75 in) from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail. It died in 1945, just before its second birthday.