HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Page 1

I am looking up a youg dog for my frnd..the parents wwere both pink papered SV rgistered GSDs... The pup in question is 8-9 months old.. its height is 20.5 inches... the head face and years are good ( but still has the puyppy look) the ears are erects..its quite robust.. however I am in a dillemma as to the final height that this puppy will reach....i have a nagging feeling that its growth will be stunted.. the color is rich red and black ith anice mask.. could u help me in solving this problem.. I like the over all look but only thing is the sixze.. loking forward to some help.. Fida

This size of 20.5 inches at 8 or 9 months seems small (to me!) The pup should be (by the median standards) about 70% of it's adult size by the 7th or 8th month. Trouble is, different lines grow at different rates - The American dogs are huge as puppies and some grow at an alarming rate that seems way too fast to be practical or prudent for good development. Some lines from whatever contintent - continue to grow past 12 or 14 months -- I owned a bitch that grew an additional 1/2 inch between 14 and 18 months of age !! Males - could take longer -- If the mother is at least 23 inches and the sire is at least 25 inches -- you could still get a smaller pup for sure -- but you would at least have the chance of something in the "normal" range if you're starting out with normal sized parents but there is always the odd duck -- If his legs appear short -- I would not hold out much hope -- I would rather see a 20 inch dog have at lest that height in his legs -- and not a low stationed, squatty looking male that has the body of a nice female !! My friend has one of those now -- and it will not grow up to be anything special -- She altered him at 12 weeks -- oh my-- another crazy topic !!! We don't need to go there right now. I find 25" males to be "smallish" even with good heads - I guess that's because I've had the 24 and 25 inch females -- I don't want OVERSIZED -- but as the Germans rate them -- "upper middle size" then would be good. My puppy is now 15 months and has just made it to 26 inches -- I don't expect he will grow taller - just put on about 10-15 more pounds in the next year.

saoa ...i saw the pup as at 6 wks..was grt then ..but had been through some tough times in the middle...the guy i knw got it recently but even though hes feeding well cos the pups plump...the size is small.. yes they are kept loose on a open rooh ...with sufficent shade but i dont think they have any other exercise.. fida