Difference in dog size

This is a question for people who have only had/got small dogs that then got a large dog, was it a big "shock" so to speak? Or did they just "fit in", and just have bigger stuff?

I know I have been thinking of different sizes/breeds for if i get another dog in a few years, and thought I had pretty much decided to get a "smallish" type dog (cocker spaniel/beagle size) but to be honest, I am still loving the big dogs....

Would it be too much of a jump from Alfie to something larger?

It was a big shock to me!

I have had small dogs before-Cairn terriers (same size as Westies) and originally wanted an Airedale but Jamie said too big for our small garden. He found a picture of a Kerry Blue in a dog book and suggested this would be a good choice. After reading up about them I agreed.

I had never ever seen one in real life and thought they were the size of mini-schnauzers so I got a big shock when I picked Cherry and Parker up from their previous owners!

They don't seem that big to me now but they seemed HUGE at first! I should have known better as the picture Jamie had shown me on the internet showed a group of Kerries counter-surfing so obviously they weren't small to reach the top of the kitchen counter! (naughty dogs!).

I guess if I had got puppies rather than adult dogs it may have been less of a shock as they would have started off small.

I may go on one day to have an Airedale but I am glad I didn't as it would have seemed gi-normous after having small dogs.

Yeah that is the thing that does bother me a bit - but then there are a lot of people with big and small dogs... hmm

thanks for the reply

Lilly is a GR x standard poodle. When we got her we saw a sister from a previous litter at 18 months old. She was about average GR size. Mum was a delicate GR, perhaps a little on the small side, but not massively.

Lilly is TINY (well, tiny for a cross between these breeds). She shot up though and was her full grown size at 5 months so we thought she was going to be a MONSTER but then she just stopped growing. The size she is you would think she had been crossed with a mini-poodle. We regularly see a brother from the same litter and he is twice the size she is.

Can't you borrow a large one for a bit and see how you get on
No one else can really tell you what it's like because we all feel differently about it.
I had to look up the standard for a kerry blue because I thought they were quite small and yet Kerryowner describes them as seemingly huge and a shock to the system.
Mine vary from 9 inches at the shoulder to 27 inches at the shoulder and they all just fit in together but I've always had a mix of sizes so it seems perfectly normal to me, it might be a shock to you or kerryowner though

The sofa starts to feel too small and your legs go numb if the dogs resting it's head on your lap, some *think* they are the prefect size 'lap dog'...

Some how just because the dog is bigger it still gets under your feet...

The head bash you get if you lean over while the dog is lifting it's head up is quite something and the thwack of the tail on your legs even on a docked dog can be painful...

The nose tends to be at groin/bottom height and they find this useful when guests come around...

They are able to knock you off your feet if running full pelt at you when you're not looking (though this hardly ever happens now they're older)...

But mostly...

You start to find all your loved possesions get raised higher and higher off the ground (esp when young)...

Um I think you're the one to know if you do or don't want a big dog they can be so gentle or really clumsy.

HTH

Yes there is nothing like that scalding cup of coffee being knocked (lovingly) out of your hand as they push their heads under your elbow.

And having to place anything remotely edible above 6ft at all times.

You need to walk with your intended breed and see if you like the feel of them against your legs and if you can cope with looking straight into the eyes of your beloved when it decides to put its paws on your shoulders for a kiss (usually after it has just hurled itself into a particularly filthy and smelly pond).

everything is bigger with bigger dogs, bills, poops, wees, farts etc

Thanks all!

Well parents don't want a big dog (hence getting alfie) so would only be when i move out into my own place.

I basically want a dog I can feel "safe" with when living alone - plus I have always wanted a big dog

A couple of people have said it may be too much of a jump from alfie to something a lot bigger, hard to know!

ETA: smokeybear - haha that is true!
I am meeting someone from dogsey this weekend with her 2 GSD's as I had never "met" any, only seen them lol

my only other dog when i was child was a JRT, fast forward 20 years and we have a german shepherd. When we went to meet her and take her for a walk, i did think "my shes big" but she doens't seem so now. She is certainly a very powerful dog when she chooses to be. She's fond of shoving her head under your hand regardless of whats in it, when she fancies a head rub!

In the poo department she can be a right horse at times! Shes funny when she breaks wind, only heard her twice, her head whips round to stare at her bum area then she heads off, in denial i always think

The other half finds her small, he had a pyrenean before!

Oh wow! Seeing a GSD as a small dog is pretty impressive
I may not get something as large as a gsd, but would like something fairly large tbh