A nearly 170-pound Great Dane’s antics has cost his family a pretty penny.
Three-year-old Larry has destroyed three recliners while attempting to cuddle with his owners, costing the Kempen family well over $2,000 to replace their broken furniture.
Hilarious video footage shows the black-and-white speckled dog, who ‘thinks he’s a lap dog’, trying to squeeze his six-foot-frame on top of his loving family members while they sit and watch TV.
The video, posted to the dog’s Instagram account @larrygreatdane with more than 103,000 followers, shows father-of-three Ken Kempen, 40, relaxing on the lounger. That is, until Larry launches himself onto his lap.
Ken shouts, ‘Oh s***’, as the giant puppy settles into his lap.
The post has gained more than 1.6million likes and been viewed over 45.8million times.
Additional videos shared to the app show Larry energetically bouncing off Ken, and the final clip features one of his daughters with the dog.
Beth Kempen, 38, and her husband Ken live with their children Madalynn, 12, and Colin, 16, as well as their 16-year-old Yorkie, Harley. Their 20-year-old son John moved out earlier in the year, the Daily Mail reported.
The Kempen family, who live in Combined Locks in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, created the Instagram page to track Larry’s growth.
Within three months, Larry tripled in size, and when he stands on his hind legs he towers over six-foot-tall Ken.
The family has spent more than $2,000 after the rambunctious dog broke foot stools, back rests and arms on three recliner chairs. They even had to spent $1,000 on a ‘Larry-proof’ sofa to help prevent further damage to their furniture.
Larry has become a viral sensation over the past three years, with followers loving to watch videos of his ‘lap dog-like’ mannerisms and enjoy his family’s reactions to his antics.
‘I knew Great Danes were big, but it’s a different reality when you’re living with a dog this big. Sometimes we’ll fight it but when he wants to jump, he jumps,’ Beth said.
The dog mom added: ‘You never know when he’s going to do it and he’ll never take no for an answer. He’ll do it to all of the family because if it’s a lap he’ll sit on it. He’s got to be one of the biggest lap dogs in the world.
‘Every night he’ll block the TV. Ken will push him off his lap but then he’ll jump right in.’
The family even gets bruises from Larry’s forceful jumps.
‘My daughter can’t just push him off so she gets stuck there,’ Beth said. ‘He can be a little gassy too, so that’s not nice when you get stuck under him. She has to call for help.’
Larry’s need to be on the family’s laps may stem from when he was a puppy, according to Beth, who says in hindsight maybe they shouldn’t have held him so much during the first four months of his life.
‘Ken always wanted a bigger dog, so we bought Larry as a puppy and we thought we needed to hold him all the time because he was going to get so big that we wouldn’t be able to,’ Beth said.
While the constant need to replace the furniture Larry breaks may be annoying for some, the family says they wouldn’t change anything.
‘People say if they had a dog this size they’d stop him, but there’s not much you can do to stop him jumping across the room,’ Beth said.
‘Despite everything we’ve made some truly amazing friends through our page and we love Larry so much. We wouldn’t have it any other way.’
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