growing age

May seem a daft question but I know the mastiff and larger breeds fill out later in life but at what age do these type of dogs stop growing hight wise? my littl elad is a neopolitan mastiff cross american bulldog and grew very quick, he is now just turning 6 months and has slowed off a lot, just wondering how much growing he has ahead of him

Hello Addi its hard to say as your dog is a cross between different sized dogs. Small breeds grow to full hight and mature faster than large breeds, so it depends to some extent on the breed and correct feeding plays a part in growth too . You can often get a rough idea of how much growing is left to do by the size of the paws (dogs often grow into big paws) and rounded knuckle joints (growth plates).

Dogs stop growing in height between 9 months for small breeds and 18/24 months for large breeds, but there are exceptions. I would think your puppy has a way to go yet

usually between 1 1/2 & 2 years, they slow down then they will have a lil growth spurt & shot up a bit then slow down then have another growth spurt so don't worry its normal.

Filling out wise they usually finish filling out around 2 1/2 to 3 years.

for ours its 18 months -2 yrs in height and some upto 3/4 yrs in weight.

its hard to say some get the height 1st then bulk up others grow slower in height but gain as they go.

mini is right you can usually tell by the growth plates if there is still a lump then they still have more to go.

he does stil have big paws, can someone explain where to find his growth plates?

His 'knees' on his front legs

on his legs............... where you would class as the knees.
if they are still sticking out as if the knee cap is a lump.
if they are the legs haven't grown to full length (ie height) of the dog as adult.
when they look flat they have finished growing.

If you look here you will see her front legs are straight:



But here she has bumps just above her foot at the knee, indicating she still has some growing to do:


(I apologise for the crapness of the pics, best I could find showing her legs )

you have some i don't know if i have but it shows up what we mean by the growth plates.

Wow! Kel that's really clear on her isn't it!

I think Takara stopped growing at about 8 months but others have said they noticed a slight increase in height after that...

She seems to have stopped now and I hope she doesn't bulk out too much! She's nice as she is!

I'm not sure her legs are as straight as Maddy's though... off to look now!