Oversized 6 Months Old Female - Page 1

Hello friends, How long or up to what age does a female pup stops growing in height from the wither? I have recently bought a very nice show type 6 months old, daughter of Bravos Steffen haus. As of yesterday, she was already 62cm in height from the wither. How can I stop her from growing in height? I believe she will be disqualified from the show because of her height. Should I switch to adult food to do the trick? Your inputs are most welcome.

You cannot change genetics if her genes say she will be tall nothing you can healthily do will change this fact.As with everything growth is different in the individual,some finish height growth early some late.You will have to accept what will be will be,perhaps this is why she was for sale!!!!

Hi Wok, I switch my puppies off Puppy Chow to Adult chow at 5 months...this slows development, and if your puppy is overweight, the puppy could lose it because the Adult Chow is usually lower in fat. Good Luck, OH, BEFORE I FORGET, another reason I take them off to slow development, if the hips and elbows and joints grow too fast, thats when you might get HD or ED or other problems...slowing development usually slows the growth down, to help with proper bone growth. But, remember, Genetics do have a LOT to do with it...if one of the parents are oversized, or an ancestor that was oversized was line bred, that could effect the size of your female as well. Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com

Hi Wok, Although there is no gaurantee of this, I have several animals from this line, out of Bravos and out of Saber. In my experience all of them without exception have been very big puppies and have shot up at a young age. However, they have not then got any bigger from that. So I had to hold them back from puppy classes but have been fine in the youth/young classes. I hope this helps you but like everything it's not a gaurantee that this will be the case but I hope it is. Heather

Hi Blueskykennels. I have heard the thoughts on food (lower protein)? for a while now and understand some of the German's are adopting this. If this is so it certainly has made a difference in some cases regarding size factors in their dogs. I wondered if you would have more information and why it may work etc, as I do believe foods as well as genetics play a role in the size of a dog. To wok. I too have a very large female, I have shown her and had success with her, but due to her size I have to be careful who I enter her under as not all judges will like big bitches or dogs. As Heather says she may have done her growing early, some of mine have certainly done that over the years! And just a tip: When measuring never have the dog 'on its toes' as this can put a couple of centimetres on the height, one thing I never do, lol!!!! Regards Sting

Hi Sting,] Okay, what would you like to know? Here's what studies have found, that dogs that are heavily overweight-obese often get a lower HIP and ELBOW rating because its more pressure on the joints and that either causes HD, ED or it just makes the joints very weak due to that extra weight...same with humans, heavily overweight humans often have back, feet, hip, and other problems because that extra weight stresses the joints and its too much for them. Puppy chow contains more of a lot of things, more CALCIUM which bones need to grow...If a human or dog get extra calcium that they might not need, it keeps slowly building bones, making them bigger...often makes them develope TOO fast, and fast developing bones can be attributed to improper bone and joint development, which is a leading causer of HD and ED. Another thing that can cause ED and HD is over exurction, such as excessive jumping, running, which also stresses the joints and bones, again, NOT a good thing. At two years, is when MOST handlers recommend kicking things up another notch because by then with MOST dogs, the bones and joints are developed. Not to say that they can't go bad after 2 years of age, but with puppies its easier to screw them up while the pups are young, when they're adults, when they're fully developed, its less likely. (depending on Genetics and the amount of work you put on the dogs bones and joints) Some might argue with me, and thats fine...we are discovering new things every day, Eggs are healthy one day, and they're dangerous the next...who knows, in a few months who's the say what I just typed as truth might not be so in a little while? Let me know if you have any questions, okay? Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com

Thank you Krista, Your post is very informative, I remember a few years ago when we used to feed raw tripe and such, as I recall there was not too many big dogs out there (there probably was but not to the extent as these days) As I said I think food does play a part in the size factor as well as the genetics, and also wondered if there had been any studies to prove or disprove this? Have you noticed a difference in your stock feeding differently? If so what do you use? That question also goes to anyone who has done this. Regards Sting

Hi Sting, I did notice a difference...here I'll share it with you...My stud dog is 98lbs, HUGE boy at two years old...fed him puppy chow till he was 1 1/2. His brother, stopped feeding him puppy chow at 6 months, he's within the Golden Retriever standard...70lbs. Both dogs were similar as puppies, and looked similar till the new owners stopped feeding puppy chow at 6 months...his growth slowed WWWWWAAAAAYYYYY down. Since then, I feed ONLY until 6 months, no later then, and I have found that my dogs fit within standard...All of my dogs have since then fit within the standard...Dakoda was the ONLY one who didn't, he was also the ONLY one who was fed puppy chow longer than 6 months...I don't think it's a coincodence...could be, but seeing as I know these lines like the back of my hand, I don't think it is. Glad I could answer some questions, Sting! :) Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com

Cheers Krista. This I am going to try on my next litter, somewhere down the line I will let you know the outcome. Best Wishes with all yours. Regards Sting