BRAG! How BIG is your female? - Page 5

Jennie, I think your little boy has a very wise mother. It's just too much for most of us to raise a child/children and breed dogs if you want to do it the right way. I always had dogs when my kids were growing up, pound puppies, but I held off getting a purebred until the youngest was 12 and even then it got to be overwhelming at times.

Blitzen, that's what I did! I actually got an ancient mutt from animal control as our lazy housedog so he could have a dog to pet, watch tv with, etc. The GSDs love him, but they're more interested in watching him and protecting him than actually playing with him. Plus...lying around watching Disney's Cars for the twelfth time isn't really their cup of tea. ;-)   But to try to have working dogs and do anything with them when you have a toddler (especially if you're a single mom) is kind of........impossible. Now, if I wanted to stick them in kennels and just feed them and clean up after them, sure, it could be done. But for them to continue living the life they're used to, numbers had to drop once the kid appeared. 

There is a serious issue of mediocre, pet quality dogs out there in multitudes. Anyone who doesn't have the time, education, resources, and ETHICS to do it properly, imo, should wait until those things are in order, and imho, anyone bragging about size on a WORKING DOG needs a lot of education before embarking on breeding. Just look at the mediocre dogs in shelters everywhere. 

I have 4 GSDs - 3 of my own and 1 kinda "on loan" so I can train him.

My oldest, Zane will be 4 years old soon. He stands at 104cm at the withers and weighs 58Kg (125lbs ish). He is athletic, I can easily feel his ribs and can see the last couple if he stands still ong enough. I can see all of his ribs on either side of he turns in one direction or the other. He easily jkeeps up with me. He doesn't have any health problems I don't know about as yet.

I am very proud o fhim but for who he is, not what he looks like. He's my best friend and my Son's protector. They play together every day (as do the other dogs). He doesn't have ED, HD or spine problems. He has no heart problems nor digestive problems (colitis etc). He is extremely healthy but I can't help thinking I'm going to lose him at a young age because of his size.

Yiannis is next at just 3 years old. He is smackb ang in the middle ofthe breed standard in terms of size and weighs about 70lbs. Again, although he is a different body type to Zane, he is very slim.

Jenzi is next at almost 2 years old. She weighs in at around 55lbs and she looks to be on the small size (but standing next to Zane she would do anyway). She's on the skinny side of slim because she has severe HD.

Last but not least I have Koda, a 6 month old pup here to be trained and if I decide to keep him, then I pay for him. He's very slim. Because of a dog attack 2 weeks ago he lost a lot fo weight and I've had trouble just maintaining his basic body weight. He's currently eating almost twice what he'd usually have to stop him lsing too much so he can heal properly and get well asap.

All fo my dogs are healthy and I intend to keep them that way. I know nothing about breeding but have done a lot of rescue work in the past and I agee that those who breed for size are fools. However, as  I stated, I am proud of all my dogs, regardless of size because of who they are and hwo they've turned out in terms of training etc.
Not all of us with an oversized dog think that in itself is anything gto brag about.

Laura

I have two females.. one that is the right weight at 68lbs.. and one... just a tad larger, who is 7 and 85lb (and overweight... though not overfed)... just slowed down and spayed at 6yrs. 

I have a 16 wk old male and here I am freaking because he's already 44lbs (though his parents are tall and I know males get larger).  I know the risks of feeding too much, growing too fast because I LOVE this breed and try and keep educated, as well as work in a vet office... 

It's funny what this world thinks is a skinny or fat anymore. 

On an IDEAL WEIGHT dog you should be able to feel the ribs by gently pressing, but not see them, the dog should have a waistline.    I bet 90% of the dogs we see in our office are about a "6 to 8" out of a 1-9 scale (i.e., moderatley overweight).

I have finally made it, back to this thread and can I just say, how proud I am, of all of you!!!

Last time I was here, we were still on page one. (Seems like when one mod is busy in personal life so are others) And sometimes (when we're short on mods and their time here or busy with other things here) we miss things on threads or just can't make it back to every thread right away. So, I was a little nervous, coming into this thread. thinking for sure it had gotten out of hand!

I have seen some, not very nice threads, about breeders of large dogs and the dogs themselves! I think you guys have done a wonderful job of trying to show this member (who has been signed up for a couple of years and should know how the majority of the people feel about this subject) how you feel and the reasons why. And you do this without all the personal attacks that I've seen in the past!!!

Kudos to you!!!

a growing pup should stay very lean or thin if you call it that

ours is a "thin" 80. she is tall so it's porportioned well, no pressure on the hips, and you can see her rib structure. She is a butchy female. :)

Stumpy, your dog is 104cm tall?!  I am assuming that is a typo? 

An oldie, haha.

Kinda odd.  I own Tessa's full brother from a previous litter and he was under 50lb at 5 months:
    


He was 75lb at 1 year: 




I'd be interested to know which one is the anomoly.