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by harley on 22 February 2009 - 00:02

thank you 1doggie,
he's a looker!!!!

by harley on 22 February 2009 - 00:02


by harley on 22 February 2009 - 01:02
can't believe it isn't clearer!!
piece of crap brand new camera. 9.1 mega pix sony cybershot.

by MVF on 22 February 2009 - 01:02
They not only mature at a smaller size (obviously) but they grow at a different rate.
Females often hit half their final weight at 15 weeks, and some a little earlier.
Furthermore, they vary more than males. Some females barely double their 15w weight, others double their 17w weight, but the latter is rare except for puppies kept very thin.
Often, the big female in the litter will be the size of the big male (around 13 lbs at 6 weeks). That larger male will mature to 90 but that same-sized female will only mature to 75. Those pups will be the same weight until around 3-4m old and only then will the male leave the growth curve and race ahead. So you can't just double the 4m weight of the female.
A DDR female who was 42 lbs at 4m matured to 74. Note that her 15w weight was 37.
Another DDR female (a Bodo Grafental gdaughter who went to Trafalgar and cleaned up in OB) was a huge 47 at 4m and matured to 85. Her sire was the same weight at 4m, but matured to 100+. Note that this female's 15w weight was 42.
Little females who are 30 at 4m mature to a weight in the 50s. At 15w they are usually in the high 20s.
Often, female pups are all similar until 3m and only then diverge.
Best to take a weight at 15w and double it for females. If the puppy is under 30 lbs at 15w, and she is not starving, she is going to be even smaller than double this weight (subtract a pound or two). If she is larger than 40, she may more than double this weight (add a pound or two).
Note that their earlier weights are not accurate for prediction. And they often stop growing at different ages.
**
On a side note, I think there is an evolutionary explanation for the greater variety in females than males. In females, there is a stiff tradeoff between maturing earlier and getting one extra litter in during a lifetime, or even attracting a male and forming an alpha pair bond versus maturing later and having a better chance of surviving well, protecting pups, and defending the alpha bond., In males, maturing early has no real advantage and just puts you at greater risk in the pack. Think of the analogy in humans. Young males were driven to find young females outside of the clan. If they rushed right in, they'd get killed by the mature human males of the strange clan. So they had to persist for a long time, waiting their chance in the bushes to "mate." By this time, the young female has noticed the male and if she has reciprocated affection, she is coordinating strategy to meet. This is the explanation evolutionary psychologists have for why our lustful crushes usually last 18 months -- we were selected to persist in first-time attraction for a long time while working out the getaway. To the point (sorry) the young male who matured too young would be at a much greater risk if he tried this, so most males matured about 18 months before they were capable of defending themselves. The female could not, even at maturity, prevent violence from mature males, so the female of our species had no size-advantage to waiting. Only aggression-advantage vis-a-vis other females.

by Pearliewog on 22 February 2009 - 14:02
Kelly

by Jenni78 on 22 February 2009 - 14:02

by RacingQH on 22 February 2009 - 19:02

by MVF on 22 February 2009 - 21:02
She was about 31 at 15w (and growing at a very good rate during that time!)
2 X 31 = 62 at a year (she is a bit ahead of schedule).
Females don't gain more than 2-5 lbs after their first birthday unless they were sickly as a pup, starved, or are trained to put on a lot of muscle (e.g, weight pull). So she will top out in the high 60s as a fit dog, and will only gain "maturity" weight after that.
She is really not likely to go over 70 in competitive weight, although she may well be a 70 lb middle-aged female at couch weight.

by MVF on 22 February 2009 - 21:02
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