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BooBooBear
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04-11-2014, 11:27 AM

Puppy height and weight experience

Hello,

My husband and I got a Shepherd Mix from the human society. We initially were told the puppy would end up 80lbs, because he was 13.6LBS at 2 months, estimated. So we bought an extra large crate, large breed puppy food (at first) and everything else for a large breed.

Then we started getting a ton of people who said he’s way older and he’ll be a maximum of 40lbs. Please take a look below; the first set of pics are from when he was 2 months old (they estimated-some puppy teeth, none permanent).

The second set of pics are now when he is roughly 13/14 weeks old. He now has 2 permanent incisors but no permanent canines or molars yet. Still a ton of baby teeth and I see others popping through near his premolars.

He is currently 17 inches and 23.5LBS. Started off at 13.6 lbs. I don’t recall his height.


Please help as we are wondering if we need to change his food since the calcium level in Merrick is pretty high. He had horrible diarrhea for a while and gained virtually nothing for 3 weeks. We took him back to the vet, put him on antibiotics, and he gained about 1.5 lbs pounds in a week, thankfully!

I have listed the pictures as 2 months, which is when we got him and 14 weeks, which is what the vet determines he is at now.



Look forward to hearing from you!
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mjfromga
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04-11-2014, 06:39 PM
My puppy was 20 lbs at 16 weeks. I was told he'd be 60 lbs fully grown. He is now 22 months and 87+ lbs, nearly 90 lbs. His ideal weight is probably about 86 lbs. He DID NOT get taller than we expected. He currently stands just short of 25" at the shoulder. But he is over 30" from base of neck to base of tail. Very long of back.

His BACK got really long, and his bones are massive. Puppies with diarrhea can barely put on weight as they are not absorbing their nutrition. Merrick is a great food (we buy it for the cats, expensive) but not all foods agree with all pets.

His growth has likely been slowed down a tad by the diarrhea, but he has some clunky looking feet and he doesn't look at all like an older puppy. His feet and tail don't match his body at all. My guy weighed about 40-ish lbs at 5-6 months.

You won't see a lot of weight gain in 2 weeks regardless. Larger breed puppies take many months and even years to grow to their proper weights etc. Your dog is far larger than mine at this rate, and I'd not be surprised at all if he got to the size they say he will... or even larger. You have to give it some time.

17 weeks next to our 55 lb GSD/pitty mix



21 months next to the same dog



Growth rates can differ. My youngster is confirmed as not done growing yet, his head just keeps expanding and he's simply not quite done filling through yet, and vet says probably won't be until next spring. Big dogs grow slowly ideally, and it takes a lot of time. Your guy is mega cute BTW!!
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LMost
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04-11-2014, 08:32 PM
No way he is going to be only 40lbs.
With teeth currently where they are at I'd say 4 months max, most likely younger. I could see 80 to 90lbs easy if he is only 13/14 weeks.
Also you do not want high calcium. Your talking a decent size dog not a little dog, that matures in a year.
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LMost
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04-11-2014, 08:39 PM
Calcium causes fast growth, you want slow and steady growth. Shepard, I see a lot of and is a large breed dog.
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mjfromga
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04-11-2014, 11:46 PM
Originally Posted by LMost View Post
Calcium causes fast growth, you want slow and steady growth. Shepard, I see a lot of and is a large breed dog.
This is true, as I said ideally you want slow growth for large or giant breeds. I have no knowledge of giant breeds, and this is my first very, very big dog as I'm used to medium-large dogs.

They don't grow fast and they keep growing even past 2 years old. Fast growth means frail joints. Your guy will get big like they said he will, or even bigger probably.

Extra protein also can speed up growth where it's not wanted. Giant breed dog food has lower levels of this and calcium, and also extra glucosamine oftentimes.
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BooBooBear
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05-11-2014, 01:26 AM
Wow! Thank you everyone for all your input This is my first post so I feel very welcomed. I’m excited to see him grow up, but you are all right about not doing it too fast and that the growth rate can be different for all dogs.

I heard Merrick is great, so without looking at the ingredients, I bought the "Puppy All Breeds". I got home, did some research, and realized that’s a lot of calcium to give them! 1.70%.

Anyone feed there large puppy Merrick? Should I switch to something else? Unfortunately, Merrick doesn't make a Puppy Large Breed formula

My Vet also told me to feed him 4 times a day because when I was feeding him 3 cups he was still a very healthy weight but constantly hungry. Feeding him more has helped a ton.
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BooBooBear
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05-11-2014, 01:29 AM
@mjfromga : You have a beautiful dog! Is he lab? What do you feed him? His coat is gorgeous~
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LMost
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05-11-2014, 01:48 AM
Your looking for a calcium and phosphorous ratio of 1.0-1.5 to 1 for giant breeds. I would suspect it would be close to the same in large breed dogs.
Currently his bones are soft and should stay lean as his frame will grow quite a bit in the first year to 18 months when the plates close. Extra weight will cause issues as mjfroma stated. From plate closing to full maturity he will fill out adding another 10 to 30% weight wise.

For the diarrhea a tablespoon of pumpkin (not filling) will help.

Also what may help in the future if it happens again is to reset the system with.Boiled Hamburger or chicken with rice. Make sure to get all the fat out if you use hamburger.

feed this for a day or 2 and slowly add your food of choice.
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Jackie
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05-11-2014, 09:15 AM
Unfortunately due to you not knowing what mix he has in him, you cant really gauge how big he is going to get, there looks a bit of shepherd in him, but it could be deceiving, size of feet are NOT an indicator of the size the dog will end up at, feet size can be breed specific, and some smaller breed have very big feet as puppies , it all depends on the purpose of the breed, the best indicator of size and finished height is the knee (carpel joint) where his front leg bends . they are his growth plates and , the bigger they are the more growing he has to do, as he reaches full height they will become less evident, they look quite big so I am guess he has got some growing to do, I would guess he will probably end up about Lab size, or there about.

I would forget about worrying what weight he is or is going to be, you just need to concentrate on a good growth, and make sure you exercise accordingly.

i would forget about the "large breed " food, a good quality puppy food should have all the nutrients he will need to grow into a healthy pup, then at around 6/8 mths I would put him onto "adult " food.

What brand you use will be dictated by the dog, don't get hung up on a particulate brand, you feed what your dog will eat and what make shim thrive.

4 feeds a day is a good idea, he only has a small stomach and smaller meals will be more beneficial to his digestive system, don't think because he is asking for more he is hungry, he may just be a pig... you can reduce to 3 meals when you think its the right time, then again down to 2, i would keep him on 2 for life, unless he dictates otherwise.

He`s a lovely pup, enjoy him
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mjfromga
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05-11-2014, 02:02 PM
Originally Posted by BooBooBear View Post
@mjfromga : You have a beautiful dog! Is he lab? What do you feed him? His coat is gorgeous~
He is a Labrador crossed with suspected Great Pyrenees. I'm still not positive. I feed him Victor Super Premium dog food High Energy formula or Hi Pro Plus formula. It's GOOD stuff and I'm VERY happy on it and will probably never switch.

They also have wonderful grain free formulas. It's hard to find and only sold at independent retailers but you can do a search for it and you might find it if you wish to try it. Of course not all foods work for all dogs, but I highly recommend this when people comment on Nigredo's coat (which happens all the time).
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