I need information about my GSD puppies weight, please! - Page 1

This is my baby boy Alexander the Great also known as Xander, I rescued him in Indianola, Mississippi. They seized a puppy mill his mom and father were there too so I know he is pure bred. His knowledge bumb on his skull indicates that he is not imbred. I just had him to the vets to be neutered as they estimated his age at 6 months because he has all his adult teeth and they are still pearly white and clean. He weighted in at 35 lbs, and other GSD that I have met that are his age or less seem to be so big compaired to him so I am wondering if he is the runt and if this sort of thing is normal. Even his paws aren't very big. here are a few pictures of my baby.


Do you think he will hit a growth spurt? 

Yes, probably. Keep him thin.

BTW, he is a nice looking boy and thanks for rescuing him.

I know that I didn't want to fatten him because he's pretty stocky in it that i cant see ribs and I know extra weight wont help his joints in the long run with HD. He stole my heart at the shelter, I'd never seen a bi color before and his personality was what sold me the most, very spunky! I just wanted to know if him being 15lbs less than where the chart puts him for his age is okay and that he's healthy. :) Thank you for responding!

If his ribs are not too prominent, he should be OK. Run your hands down his rib cage to feel them. There should also be a visible tuck in the hollow between his ribs and hind legs. The best way to put some weight on him is to just increase his caloric intake slightly so that he will not gain weight too fast. Admin is right. It is better for a dog to be a little light than overweight.

There is a very large range of weight and size in the GSD breed (both inside and outside the standard (which only lists height for size, not weight)  Your pup may be on the small side, but nothing in those photos you posted look underweight at all, like you said...he looks stocky in the body.  I think that he will most likely be in the 60-70 lb range as an adult and likely inside the standard for German Shepherd size (which is measured at the shoulder height.)  The standard size for the male GSD is 24 to 26 inches tall at the shoulders.   Your pup appears to be out of working lines, some working lines are notably smaller than other working lines or show lines.   Yes, if he is 6 months old then he certainly has some more growth spurts to come.  

You appear to have some misinformation though.  
Although I've heard the old wives tales about the "knowledge bump" or the "dumb bump" ...but I've never heard of that bump being attributed for lack of inbreeding.  Some people think the "bump" is the occipital bone, others think it's the sagittal crest; both of these are parts of the skull's anatomy and neither one has anything to do with any other trait in a dog except for the shape of the skull and resulting head conformation.   There are absolutely no traits in the genome that can be attributed purely to inbreeding, that is not the way that genetics work.  
Also, plenty of puppymill breeders out there will breed dogs of unknown breed or pedigree and pass them off as purebred and plenty will provide false information about who the dam or sire of a pup was.  Don't be so positive to trust what they say, especially since their dogs were seized from them.  Though I do think your pup looks purebred so far from what can be seen in the photos.  

Thank you EuroShepherd for the information :) 
My ex was the one who told  me about the knowledge bump having to do with imbreeding so it doesn't surprise me he was wrong. He looks a little taller now  7 December 2012. I just got him neutered and now his shoulders are 19". I'm feeinging him blue buffalo longevity puppy. I haven't weighted him in a while though.