# What happened to my puppy? (it's about growth spurts)



## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

Soon as I opened the door this evening, I knew something was different...Tucker is at least an inch taller than when I left for work this morning. Three weeks ago, last time I measured, he was 24 1/2 at the shoulder, now he's a little over 26". Haven't seen that kind of growth since August.

I thought growth spurts like this were behind us. Nearly 7 months old, still pees like a girl (what's up with that?), 70 lbs (3 weeks ago, now ???), parents of similar size, 80-90 lbs, 25-27 inches, one a black mouth cur the other a rhodesian ridgeback. The vet forecasted his weight fully grown at 76 lbs (2 times his weight at 16 weeks). Pretty sure we're going to bust through that.

Just curious, if you have a big dog, do you remember whether they had a growth spurt past six months of age?


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## KodiBarracuda (Jul 4, 2011)

Yes, Kodi gained height early and then he put on 5+ pounds a week for a month and a half when he hit 7 or 8 months. And he didn't lift his leg until he was about a year. Although he leveled out at 50 pounds, so he is not really that big.


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## Max and Me (Aug 19, 2011)

Max, my GSD/Lab mix was 23 inches at the shoulder and 55 lbs. when I adopted him at 6 1/2 months of age. He grew pretty steadily 1/2 inch per week until he reached 31 inches and 100 lbs. He never learned to lift his leg to pee. However, he was neutered by the shelter at only 8 weeks of age and I have read about dogs neutered early growing leggy which he did. .


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

DustyCrockett said:


> Nearly 7 months old, still pees like a girl (what's up with that?)


Its not abnormal for a dog his age to not lift his leg yet (some male dogs never lift their leg). Damon is 10 months old and still does not lift his leg to pee (he will occasionally- just not often at all). 
He no longer squats likes a female though (he stopped that at about 9 months old) now he just kind of stands there.

My English Mastiff did not learn to lift his leg to pee until he was over a year old.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I have a 5 year old who still never lifts his leg unless he is marking his territory right behind another dog.  Both my pups Dobie mixed mutts......had a growth spurt between 7-9 months of age. My female jumped I swear two inches over night it seemed. The male has jumped about 3 inches in the last month. He is almost 9 months old and has passed up the female. He lifts his leg most of the time....but not always. ( he has only been home a week)


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for the reality checks! 

Bigger is better as far as I'm concerned. This is just my second large dog, and the first one I didn't really pay attention to growth pattern.


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## LittleFr0g (Jun 11, 2007)

Our male Sheltie squatted to pee his whole life, my Pug Kuma was lifting his leg at 4 months, lol. Every dog is different.


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## Dog101 (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi. I have a 6 and a half month old golden. He grows in growth spurts like that. One night I as away and I came back... triple the weight and double the height! Fenway just started lifting his leg but he only does it in the snow. He will defiantly grow more than 76lbs. How much I do not know.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Rhodesians are a large breed, their growth plates don't lose until they start puberty and growth is complete around two years old.


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## marsha=whitie (Dec 29, 2008)

Both my girls hike their legs...

I guess it just depends on the dog?


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

I met someone with a (possible) Akita, she said he was growing a fair bit until he was 2! Still having fairly significant growth after 1 year. Not abnormal for large dogs from everything I've read and heard. I know several times we've gotten out of bed in the morning and looked at Caeda and argued over whether her tail grew one inch or two the previous night lol. One day we woke up and saw that her butt was noticeably higher than her front shoulders, thankfully growth got rid of that "jacked up" look within a week 

As for the lack of leg lifting....hmmmm....dunno, get someone to demonstrate?  lol


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## WheatenDaneMom (Nov 4, 2011)

My dane continued to grow height wise until about 1 year and filled out almost 1/3 more in weight by 1 1/2 years.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

I got my dog fixed at 6 mos. He didn't learn to lift his leg until 3 yo... and he still squats when he has to pee, as opposed to mark. He stopped growing in size at about 10 mos, but continued to fill out until he was 2 - 3 yo, growing from a fluffy adolescent into a solid adult. It is interesting that at 11 yo, he is less solid, even with the same activity.


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