How big will my dog ​​be? Find out! (Computer)

How Can I tell how big my dog ​​is getting?

The question of how big a puppy will be when fully grown is of course a very interesting one that we all ask ourselves out of pure curiosity. However, there can also be practical reasons for being able to estimate what dimensions and weight your four-legged friend will reach one day:

• There are many like that Dog food Manufacturers that offer special food for small, medium and large animals.
• Also at Accesories– When purchasing, it is advisable to be able to plan ahead: If the dog bed, transport box or bowl becomes too small at some point, you have to laboriously order everything again.

Final size is genetically specified

Many animal lovers then think that they can ensure that their four-legged friend grows up particularly large later on, for example by giving them a lot of food. Unfortunately, that is a fallacy, because… Final size of an animal cannot be influenced much by us.

Instead, researchers have found that a dog's final size depends almost entirely genetically predetermined is. Studies have shown, for example, that many smaller breeds have one hereditary growth brake have. Once this is achieved, the dog will no longer grow any larger.

shoulder height & Weight as the most important factors

Unlike us humans, most dog experts do not see body size as the decisive criterion, but that Weight. When it comes to adult four-legged friends, this is often the only thing that matters expected final weight specified.

This often corresponds to the shoulder height. If your dog is not too fat, you can use its weight to determine its later height.

Breed standards are often a great help

It's comparatively easy if your four-legged friend is a true purebred dog: Reputable and recognized breeders then be very careful that both Both father and mother meet all standards, which are specified by the professional associations. Surprises are very rare here.

The breed standards can be found, for example, on the website of Association for German dogs and the world umbrella organization FCI retrieve.

But sometimes there are even bigger differences: General Males slightly larger than female dogs, so that a strongly built male German Shepherd, for example, can be ten centimeters taller and 18 kilograms heavier than a petite female. Nevertheless, both meet the breed standard.

Growth curves offer a good overview

However, if you know the approximate expected final weight of the dog, you can Growth curves fall back. As Percentile curves These also play a role in human pediatric and adolescent medicine. Not only do they serve to determine the likely final size, but they can also help you take proactive measures against obesity.

You can find curves like this on various portals, as an example I'll use one for large breeds that should weigh around 40 kilograms when fully grown. Then you can see:

• If your dog weighs 23 kilograms at 5 months, he will probably weigh around 42 kilograms on the dog scale later.
• An animal that weighs “only” 21 kilos at the same age will weigh around 38 kg when fully grown, so it is one of the more delicate specimens of a breed.

The prerequisite for these predictions to be reliable is, of course, that they are normal weight puppies or young dogs.

“Magic Bag” Half-breeds

Such tables can only be of limited help when it comes to: Half-breeds acts. If both parents are known and are approximately the same size, it can be assumed that the puppy will later have the same dimensions.

It becomes much more difficult when crossing two breeds with very different sizes. Growth curves can then hardly be used for serious determination. It is often the case that the four-legged friends match the mother animal in terms of size, but there can also be quite a few surprises: the development of the canine children is very exciting, especially when the father is unknown.

The Growth phases of dogs

In order to reliably determine the likely final size, it is also necessary to familiarize yourself with the Development phases of a dog to deal with. The four-legged friends do it different growth spurts through – only these show how big an animal is likely to be.

In these phases, the dog suddenly grows rapidly: There are breeds that increase their size a hundredfold within a few months: Animals that later become very large can, for example, gain almost 250 grams per day in the 3rd and 4th months of life, while four-legged dogs that remain small are always small still with about 50 grams daily.

Biggest boost between the third and sixth months

The biggest growth spurt occurs then between the third and sixth months of life instead of. This is exactly the time when the four-legged friends change from puppyhood to young doghood.

At the beginning of this phase, then at eight weeks, You can then make initial rough estimates regarding shoulder height:

• If the dog then measures less than 20 centimeters, it will probably grow to a maximum of 35 centimeters.
• If the dog is between 20 and 30 centimeters tall, it will probably grow to 35 to 50 centimeters later.
• A puppy size of more than 30 centimeters at this age suggests a giant breed that reaches a shoulder height of over 50 centimeters when grown up.

This forecast is not just a gimmick, but can also help you in the future to determine your future adult weight quite accurately. Then you already know roughly whether your four-legged friend will be a mini dog, a medium-sized dog or a huge dog.

A few weeks later, significantly more precise predictions are possible. That's how it applies at six months approximately:

• Small breeds have then reached around 80 percent of their adult weight.
• Medium-sized dogs have reached about 70 percent of their physical development.
• Very large animals weigh around 60 percent of their final weight.

This means, for example:

• If your puppy is 35 centimeters tall at eight weeks, it is a large dog. If he weighs 40 kilograms at 6 months, he will most likely weigh a little over 65 kilograms when fully grown.
• A small four-legged friend who only weighs 5 kilograms at 6 months will reach around 8 to 9 kg as an adult.

Time at which a dog Final size has achieved

Over the course of the seventh month of life, the weight gain curve flattens considerably. But that doesn't mean that the four-legged friends are adults: they continue to gain mass Time of final size of a dog then also varies by breed:

• Small animals here grow up quite quickly and are often physically mature after around 9 months.
• Large breeds take a little longer; giant animals sometimes only reach their maximum size after about 2 years.

You should definitely keep in mind that not every dog ​​that is still growing is a puppy: they puberty For four-legged friends, it begins much earlier, usually between 6 months and a year.

Maturation phase with many detailed developments

After reaching its final weight, the dog is still far from being an adult. This is followed by the so-called “maturity phase”, which can last until the third birthday.

During this time the dog mainly does one thing intellectual development through which he also grows up behaviorally. They also continue to grow during this time Bones and joints still together.