# How big will my siberian husky/german shepherd mix get?



## kwiwen (Jul 3, 2013)

I've been a long-time various dog owner (mostly german shepherds). 

I've recently adopt a siberian husky/german shepherd mix that I'm very proud of. He's 6 months old and approximately... 40-45 pounds.

I was just curious if anyone had an idea how big he'd be fully grown? The biggest dog I've owned was a retired police dog (german shepherd) who was 130 pounds. The bigger the better, in my opinion 

My handsome man, Riker:


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Well, normally I would say look at the parents but since you adopted him...

He sounds like he's going to be somewhere on the larger end of the scale. Sibes aren't large dogs at all, quite a bit smaller than GSDs.


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## blenderpie (Oct 5, 2012)

The general guide to go by is to double the weight at 4 months. It, of course, is not always accurate, but it's usually pretty close. 

I'd guess between 70 and 80lbs


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I'd say 60-70lbs.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

He sure is one handsome pup!


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

He is adorable, love his eyes! I agree with the 60-70lbs guess.  Welcome to the forums as well!


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## kwiwen (Jul 3, 2013)

Thank you, all!

I'd taken a look at some guides and they said he was about 60% grown. His paws are still pretty large for him but I was thinking roughly around 80 or so also. 

The poor guy. I'm his 4th owner. He needs to be seeing me at all times. The first time we get in a new car he'll refuse to get in until I put him back there and stay with him. He just wants a forever love  

He also likes to be held like a baby doll, as in picked up, paws over the shoulder, curled up in your arms. He's such a big galoot I'm going to have phenomenal upper body strength pretty soon. 

My girlfriend keeps telling me to take him to like, PetSmart animal college. I've never had to take an animal to obedience training before, I've always just been able to train them myself. However, since I do want my new companion yo be my adorable alarm system AND protector, I am considering police academy and getting him pretty awesome police dig training does anyone have any opinions/experience?


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

kwiwen said:


> My girlfriend keeps telling me to take him to like, PetSmart animal college. I've never had to take an animal to obedience training before, I've always just been able to train them myself. *However, since I do want my new companion yo be my adorable alarm system AND protector, I am considering police academy and getting him pretty awesome police dig training does anyone have any opinions/experience?*


Please no. Just no.

If you do not have experience with formal dog training, then please do NOT try to train this dog for personal protection. It is dangerous for the dog and for your family as well as any stranger. Personal protection training can be very, very serious business and most people who *think* they want a dog trained this way, really would just be better off with a good watchdog. Any dog can bark and alert you of things out of the ordinary and any dog can be a decent deterrent without any special training, just by alert barking.

Protection dogs come with additional liability should anything go wrong and someone get bitten, in some cases and places, you can be liable for damages even IF the person was bitten after breaking into your home and threatening you on your own property! Protection dogs are at added risk to be put to sleep...just for doing what you have trained them to do. You have to handle protection dogs differently than regular pets in your home, which many people just don't want to be involved with.

This fella has already had 3 previous homes and is nervous. A good protection dog candidate has had a stable background and is confident. Please, please, just let this dog be a devoted pet. He'll likely bark to let you know if anything is amiss and he'll likely look like a decent deterrent without going through this kind of training. You can even train him to bark on command.

Training him in bitework, though? Just has tragedy written all over it and this poor guy doesn't deserve that.


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## kwiwen (Jul 3, 2013)

packetsmom said:


> Please no. Just no.
> 
> If you do not have experience with formal dog training, then please do NOT try to train this dog for personal protection. It is dangerous for the dog and for your family as well as any stranger. Personal protection training can be very, very serious business and most people who *think* they want a dog trained this way, really would just be better off with a good watchdog. Any dog can bark and alert you of things out of the ordinary and any dog can be a decent deterrent without any special training, just by alert barking.
> 
> ...


I think you misunderstood me. 

There are a lot of different training classes. I'd never take a dog-buddy to be trained as a guard dog ala Rottweiler guarding a yard. I'd like to think people who aren't running drug businesses out of their homes are smart enough to be aware of this.
(However, I've owned a retired police dog before. I am fully capable of understanding what goes into owning a dog with that kind of strict training and re-establishing it into a home, had that been what I was trying to say). 

I'm talking about the "professional" training classes. He's already well behaved and doesn't need a fru-fru training class from a pet store. There are training classes offered that use a mix of police academy and service dog training. They teach impressive, strict obedience like a service animal would need but it's like a training course that teaches him to be your partner and have that undying bond that an officer and a police dog have where they'd do anything for each other. They're a lot more expensive than a regular class but from what I've seen well worth it.

I've only had one friend that I know to take their pup to one of these courses and she's an amazing animal. She would die for her (and vise versa) but is the sweetest 80 lb lap dog you'd ever meet. That's why I was asking if anyone else had experience because I like to hear more than one review.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

Well just hope the GSD side overrides the husky side. Lol


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