# when do puppies reach their full adult size?



## carey

I have a 3 month old puppy. I was wondering at what age most puppies stop growing


----------



## ioreks_mom

i heard that puppies stop growing up at around 8 months and start filling out then, unless they are a giant breed and i heard that they aren't fully grown until about 2 years!

i am curious about this too since i have an 8 1/2 month old puppy!


----------



## Dogstar

Depends on the individual dog and the breed. Mal grew until about 20 months and he's far from a giant breed (60-some pound collie). Kaylee, his sister, was full height by 14 months. Lizzie, who has just turned a year (spitz) is beginning to fill out so I suspect she's reached her full height. Toy breeds typically mature earlier than larger dogs. Giant breeds- like IWs can continue to grow well into their second year and a friend of mine has an IW boy who isn't mature yet at 3 and a half!


----------



## pugmom

APBTs don't fully mature till about 2yrs or so ....more then a few owners have told me their dogs kept growing till then as well. 

My Boston seemed to stop somewhere around 18 months..my pug was around the same time too....18mo


----------



## Meghan&Pedro

The growth rate is dependant on two things - size and breed

*Small breeds - under 20lbs full grown - will be skeletaly done growing at 8 months, with adult muscle developed by 10 months 

Medium breeds - 20lbs to 50lbs full grown - will be skeletaly done growing at 12 months, with adult muscle developed by 16 months

Large & Giant breeds - 60lbs and up - will be skeletaly done growing at 18-22 months with adult muscle being formed by 30 months*

Now the trouble with this is that there are always breeds that are on the cusp of small / medium breed. Or on the cusp of medium/large breed so this is just a guideline, and this guideline is meant to, mainly, suggest when full athleticism should be pushed.

ie - a beagle can be as small as 18lbs and as large as 40 depending on breeding - so for them, although they are on the cusp, their breeds growth rate is that of a medium breed.

And boxers - they can be as small as 35lbs and as large as 90lbs, but their growth rate is that of a large breed, so should be fed and exercised as such.

For example - my Miniature Pinscher showed amazing potential as an agility dog by 5 months, but we did not introduce any of the real equpiment until he was about 10 months, and started getting him into shape that way. I didn't want to push too hard on soft bones and open joints.

Where as my Boxer X Rottie cross, at 7 months, still has another year before she can try any agility equipment for the first time!


----------



## ioreks_mom

Meghan&Pedro, thank you for the information! it was very informative.


----------



## Deriffic

Good question, I was wondering the same thing.


----------



## musicmom116

carey said:


> I have a 3 month old puppy. I was wondering at what age most puppies stop growing


I'm always wondering how big Dallas will get. We met 2 other owners that have the same type of dog as we have from the same breeder. They said their dogs are 50ish lbs and one is 1 yr old and the other is 2 yr old. However Dallas is now 37 lbs at 6 months old. So does that mean she will only gain 13 more llbs as an adult?


----------



## japhyr

I have a friend who has a catahoula/ heeler mix. I used to go hiking quite often with the dog. She was a perfect hiking dog - big enough to climb hard mountains, and hardy enough to climb glaciers and snowfields. At the end of the day you could pick her up and hold her upside down in your arms and rub her belly, or she could sit in your lap after dinner. She was four years old at the time.

My friend left town for a while, and I did not see the dog for a year and a half. The dog stayed at different people's homes for a while, sometimes getting good exercise and sometimes being a couch dog. I saw her a couple weeks ago, and did not recognize her. She did not just gain weight - she got taller, longer, thicker, and even her face got longer. I had no idea a dog could change that much after four years.


----------



## Windsors_Dad

I kept a growth chart for my Golden Retriever/Lab mix. He's 14 months old now and 61 lbs & 25 in. in height. 

He leveled off at this weight and height at 10 months.


----------



## jconli

Somebody told me that to find out what size your dog will be, you take their weight at 5 months and double it. Anybody know if that is true?


----------



## melgrj7

Lloyd is almost 2 (will be in december) and he just seemed to have stopped growing. He was full height probably around 10 months, but then he got wider and filled out.


----------



## bevgo

jconli said:


> Somebody told me that to find out what size your dog will be, you take their weight at 5 months and double it. Anybody know if that is true?


Nope. Not true. My CC was 5 lbs at 5 months and is now 27 lbs at 8.5 months


----------



## wvasko

Standard rule that I have gone by that they stop growing up at 15 mths and then will mature(widen etc) and by 3 yrs done except for the rascals that get fat. This does not means all dogs keep growing till 15 mths as all dogs will do their own thing it just means none will get taller after 15 mths.


----------



## Meghan&Pedro

ioreks_mom you're very welcome 

It's neat to see some of the other ideas and theory's that other people have come up with. I've never heard of some of them!

I've always been taught it's strictly by breed's growth rate and mom & dad's sizing.

And one interesting thing for the person talking about the catalouah : "Disturbed release of growth hormone in mature dogs: a comparison with congenital growth hormone deficiency"
http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/133/22/542

That's a neat article. Probably nothing to do with the dog in your story, but that might explain some dogs that continue to grow for longer periods of time than others?


----------



## Gryff'sMom

Windsors_Dad said:


> I kept a growth chart for my Golden Retriever/Lab mix. He's 14 months old now and 61 lbs & 25 in. in height.
> 
> He leveled off at this weight and height at 10 months.





Really? My Golden/Lab is 50 pounds at only 6 months. i know every dog (especially mixed breeds) are different, but i think I may end up with a very big boy! How tall is your dog? What did he weigh at 6 months?


----------



## tuffycuddles

this makes me so happy....i was under the impression that dogs were fully grown at 6months..don't know why i thought that.. but anyhow my pup is 4 months old weighs 26lbs. she is about 15-18inches at the shoulders....i know she is germanshepherd and husky..but i keep getting worried she was also something else pretty small and wasn't going to get very big.. i'm a huge fan of big dogs!  so i'm happy to hear that she'll keep growing. P i'll love her every bit as much if she doesn't grown any too  )


----------



## me2sdog

I have a 5 month old yorkie-poodle mix and she's 2.6 lbs. Does anyone know approximately when she will reach her adult size? Right now, she has a poodle body length and short yorkie legs. Cute as heck.


----------



## NalaBaby

musicmom116 said:


> I'm always wondering how big Dallas will get. We met 2 other owners that have the same type of dog as we have from the same breeder. They said their dogs are 50ish lbs and one is 1 yr old and the other is 2 yr old. However Dallas is now 37 lbs at 6 months old. So does that mean she will only gain 13 more llbs as an adult?


It could, because most puppies grow very fast until 6 months and then the growth rate slows down, however, your dog could end up bigger than those too.


----------



## Erick Aguilar

It really depends...
Feeding also plays a big role in a dogs growth.

I had a rottweiler that wasn't done growing until his 2 1/2 years.
And my Siberian Husky is 9 months old and i still think he should be bigger.


----------



## Desiree S

Hey all, I am so bloody lazy so I thought I would just push up a really old thread! My 5 month old pup is now 30 lbs, what do you all think she will be when fully grown. She is some mix between a German Shepherd and god know what!! She has sexy long legs too for you male friends out there lol!


----------



## ireth0

General rule of thumb is double weight at 4 months, so based on that possible in the 50-60lb range. But that's just a general guideline, there are always exceptions.


----------



## looktheresalump

Well... Unless you have a mix. Which mixes are great. Generally, they have less health issues than pure breeds. Not all, but many. Our Saint Bernard is mixed with a small amount of Setter. He has an elongated face but other than that he looks all Saint. We have a growth chart. I'm going to post it soon. He's grown so much! But he's a giant breed. We don't know how how much he will really weigh or how tall he will be when he's finally done growing.


----------



## hanksimon

To add to what ireth0 wrote: 
"General rule of thumb is double weight at 4 months, so based on that possible in the 50-60lb range. But that's just a general guideline, there are always exceptions."

And 1.5 times the weight around 6mos. 

A more accurate *guess* is to measure the weight every month, and then estimate that the pup will keep growing at that rate until about 10mos, and slowly add a few more pounds, depending on breed, size, etc.

@Desiree - I think 50 - 60 lbs is a good estimate. She resembles Shep and Mikee, so may be a Lab/GSD mix? Webbed feet and loves water may add to that speculation... I like the photo of the invisible wagging tail ;-)


----------



## Kyllobernese

Bonnie who is Golden Retriever, large Miniature poodle with a bit of Aussie in him, was 25 lbs. at four months and now at 10 months is between 48 to 50 lbs. so that is pretty close for her even with the variety of size in her.


----------



## Joao M

hanksimon said:


> To add to what ireth0 wrote:
> "General rule of thumb is double weight at 4 months, so based on that possible in the 50-60lb range. But that's just a general guideline, there are always exceptions."
> 
> And 1.5 times the weight around 6mos.


For small to medium breeds, perhaps (I don´t have the experience).

But for large breeds...not really. They easily double the weight at 6 months. Sometimes, mostly in XL breeds, they double the weight at 8 months 



hanksimon said:


> A more accurate *guess* is to measure the weight every month, and then estimate that the pup will keep growing at that rate until about 10mos, and slowly add a few more pounds, depending on breed, size, etc.


I agree



hanksimon said:


> @Desiree - I think 50 - 60 lbs is a good estimate. She resembles Shep and Mikee, so may be a Lab/GSD mix? Webbed feet and loves water may add to that speculation... I like the photo of the invisible wagging tail ;-)


It would depend a lot on the "god knows what" side of the mix, but it is a good guess


----------



## Desiree S

hanksimon said:


> To add to what ireth0 wrote:
> "General rule of thumb is double weight at 4 months, so based on that possible in the 50-60lb range. But that's just a general guideline, there are always exceptions."
> 
> And 1.5 times the weight around 6mos.
> 
> A more accurate *guess* is to measure the weight every month, and then estimate that the pup will keep growing at that rate until about 10mos, and slowly add a few more pounds, depending on breed, size, etc.
> 
> @Desiree - I think 50 - 60 lbs is a good estimate. She resembles Shep and Mikee, so may be a Lab/GSD mix? Webbed feet and loves water may add to that speculation... I like the photo of the invisible wagging tail ;-)


I have a new photo of Smokey but can't figure out how to post it here!!! Everyone also loves that wagging tail, I caught her just at the right moment lol! She is such a riot!


----------



## Desiree S

So this is Smokey at 5 months. I weighed her 2 weeks ago and she was 33 lbs. She will be 6 months old on 11th June so I am guessing she might be in the 50 lbs range. Still no idea what mixed breed she is!!!


----------



## hanksimon

At this angle, she looks like a Golden x GSD mix (search Google for pix).


----------

