# When will my dog reach his full frame size?



## eeloheel (Dec 28, 2010)

Ah, the joys of being new to not-already-adult dogs.

Barsky the ACD is 8 months old. He's on a good food (thought he has had to endure some switching around as I find the one I like. He's on EVO right now.) He is 43 pounds right now, and gets 2.5 cups a day (wet and dry.)

Exercise is not part of the diet equation in this case; While I don't have a herd of sheep for him to corral, he gets plenty of directed exercise every day (between two and six hours of fairly heavy exercise, including hiking, frisbee, target training, and the hardest thing on earth for him; a couple of patient walks where he's not allowed to run around like an idiot. )

How old will he have to be before I can safely assume his frame is not going to get any larger, and I can perfect his diet? I am being on the lenient side since he is still a growing pup, but eventually I am going to have to hone in on the perfect amount of food. I don't want to risk doing that when he still had growing to do, since I know it's natural to 'pudge up' a bit before a growth spurt. 

(He is a healthy weight now, started a little scrawny; However, at his current RATE of weight gain, if it continues he'll probably be pushing the heavy side soon. My vet said to watch him closely; He doesn't think he's got another growth spurt in him, and he's gaining weight a little quicker than he'd expect at his age and size.)


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

General recommendation is to keep on puppy food for one year. As far as amount, ask the Vet if he has the pup's weight at 5 mos., because the general rule of thumb is that a pup is at 50% adult weight at around 5 mos, after the adult teeth have come in.

A small dog matures quickly, less than a year. A large dog (over 60 lbs) may not fill out until 2.5 years. And a medium dog (40 -60 lbs) matures in about a year. Yours looks like a medium dog.

On the other hand, I don't think that it is catastrophic for a dog to go through a 'fat phase' as you learn and adjust his feeding schedule. Observe the size that you want, ideally shoot for being able to feel his ribs with a tucked in belly... but not being able to See his ribs... in this dog.

At 8 - 10 mos, some dogs look like lanky adolescents, and then fill out... but I don't think there is a reason to change the amount of food, except to match the weight which supports the size, as described above. And, if he gets a little fat, so that you can't feel his ribs, then reduce his food by 10% every 4 days, until you can feel his ribs, again.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

They can gain height until 15 months and then mature at their own individual speed. Some will/could reach full height before 15 months of age but will not get taller after.


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## pitbullfriends (Oct 28, 2010)

Usually they are done getting taller after a year but waiting another 3 or 4 months after that to be certain may be good if you wanna be sure. (all dogs are different just like people). After a year their build will likely fill out a little bit but this can go up and down their whole life just like we can unfortunately continue to gain size even after our height is set. Most vets recommend feeding puppy chow till a year, and if he is really getting that much exercise every day (which is great by the way, I wish I had time to spend 4-6 hours a day recreationally, good for me and the dog) I would start off just feeding him as much as he will eat and if he starts gaining to much weight put him on a diet.


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