German Shepherd Males Reaching Maturity - Page 1

My male German Shepherd Dog, Sarge, is 4 years & 3 months old. It appears he is still growing, and I don't mean fat. Within the past couple of months, he has filled out, especially around his neck (looks broader). It appears he has grown taller and more muscular. He is of DDR/Czech/Slovak lineage. He is and has been on grain free dog food/raw. His hips were graded excellent/elbows normal by OFA when he was 25 months old, for the record. He is a lot more muscular and stronger than he was then. The only thing I have done differently is let him retrieve dummies from the pond more frequently than usual and run longer, as we go around land on Gator. I have a question for those of you that are much more knowledgeable about this topic than I am. Is it possible for German Shepherd Dogs to reach maturity around 4 instead of 3 years of age? If not, could he have a growth hormone problem or something else that could make him appear to mature later? Also, for the record, he is around 87 lbs. Thanks for any information any of you may provide on this topic.

My male, from Cz lines, is about 3.5 yrs old and although he is showing more 'doggy' development in the neck/head/chest, he is still not fully mature, physically or mentally. I think with some lines it is not unusual for males to fully mature until around 5 yrs.

An interesting question; a guy I used to know who was in the Royal Army Vet Corps here in the UK and therefore saw a LOT of dogs, used to say he thought many of them did not "finish growing up" until they reached 5 years. He primarily meant temperament / emotional development; but also included was that some of them continued to 'fill out' physically until then, too, at which point they could be said to be ' in their prime'.

I too have noticed some dogs, especially males, go on getting more 'solid' (and often more temperamentally reliable) beyond their 3rd year, certainly. I don't know many dogs originating from the Czech / old East German etc strains, so cannot say if this is more, or less, a feature with them than with other lines. There is certainly a variability in the WGSL basis dogs I am most used to. Nor do I know for sure - but I do wonder about this - whether the longevity of the particular 'family' of dogs is in any way a factor; does a slow-maturing dog usually live, on average, for more years, or doesn't that make any difference ?

Dogs develop ( better: change ) their whole life, no difference to humans.
Between the first breed survey ( age two ) and the second breed survey the weight of males increases around 4.5 - 9 pounds, females less, but due to less overall weight.

Not only the body changes, but the mind, too. Again, think about a 20 years old guy, sporty, but still lanky, impulsive, and than think about him 20 years later, 40 years later...

Lifestyle, experience, sport ( or not ), food, health, and so on - all of this does influence humans, so does it influence dogs.

In my mind a 2 years old dog is an adult, but a "young" adult, kind of green behind the ears, body and mind won´t stop to change.

Srfwheat, the changes you observe in your dog are pretty normal, right now he is in his prime, he is trained well, and with further good training you are able to keep him like this for a couple of years.
He doesn´t "grow" any more, he just filled out and got muscles - he became a "man" ...

Agree, Susie; it is like people: a human fella may reach his maximum adult height by age 21, but he still goes on 'changing'.  I think because GSDs (and other breeds of similar size) are usually about as tall as they will get by around one year to eighteen months, owners sometimes think "That's it, he's adult now" - but that couldn't be further from the truth.

gsd regardless of lines is juvenile untill 4 years old and some even later .. both mentally and physically .. one of the downsides of the breed imo

Juvenile still, at 4? Ridiculous. Showing puppy play at ten doesn't make my dog a juvenile.

5 is a prime age.

What indicator does one use to determine a dog has reached 'mental maturity' ? Do they begin taking responsibility for feed bills? Not being asked to show ID for beer purchase?

Haha Joan. I was thinking more like 'stop acting like a teenager dickhead.' ;)

How does "dick head" manifest....