I was asked if my pup was the "runt of the litter" LOL

[Anthony8858]

OK, so I'm standing with a few GSD owners, when someone asked how old my little Kira was . I respond by saying that she was born on June 25th, making her either 3 months, or 12 weeks (depends how you want to look at it)

Then someone says, "Oh, she must've been the runt of the litter", and goes on to say how much smaller she is, than any other GSD, he's ever seen.

I go home, and weigh her at 14 lbs. She IS a little runt for her age. She's not skinny or boney, just seems petite.

Her parents are 80 and 70 lbs respectively.

She's a German Show line. Is she that small for her age?

[Shaina]

My girl was only around 9lbs at 8 weeks, so I wouldn't say yours is necessarily small for her age, just smaller than average. I don't expect my girl to get bigger than 65lbs.

[Whiteshepherds]

Dogs grow and mature at different rates. If she's healthy don't worry about her. If that's her picture in the avatar I'd be hoping she'd stay small for a little while longer, she's adorable!

[Anthony8858]

I'd be very happy if her weight topped out at about 60-70 lbs. That's more than enough "pet" for my house.

[gsdraven]

It's amazing how people think that GSDs are supposed to be huge. Her Dam and Sire sound like they are a great size and I bet she will be too.

I had a guy bragging to me on Sun about his 130lb GSD (that was all muscle ) and then pointed to another GSD and said, he's just a little bigger than that guy. I just laughed and said THAT dog weighs no more than 85-90lbs. And then I had someone tell me my 65-67lbs male was big. I don't get people and don't take their opinions on size to heart.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Anthony8858

Then someone says, "Oh, she must've been the runt of the litter", and goes on to say how much smaller she is, than any other GSD, he's ever seen.

Ah, welcome to the wonderful world of owning German Shepherds. Last night a gentleman, looking at Kopper, said, "His paws are huge! And he's only 9 months, he's gonna be at LEAST 130 pounds!"

I told him that no, his dad, uncles, grandsires, and everybody have been in the 85-95lb range and that's where I expect him to end up as well.

His reply? "Oh, well, your dogs are both really narrow. Most of the Shepherds I've seen have been a lot thicker than yours."

Translation? People are used to seeing big, fat German Shepherds.

[Anthony8858]

Funny.... When I was shopping for a GSD, all the breeders kept telling me how their pups were "big boned". It was assumed that that's what I was looking for.
I went to a local breeder. He brings out the "parents" of his current litter. The Sire was 140lbs, and the dam was at least 120 lbs! This breeder was glowing at the size and massiveness of his dogs.
I asked him if he has any German Shepherds. He looked at me with this dumb look on his face, and pointed to his dogs. Again, I said I was looking for a German Shepherd.

[martemchik]

No one has any idea what any puppy should look like at a certain age. Mine is 14 months and I've already forgotten how big he was at certain intervals. There is no way to remember with the rate they grow at. I look at puppies now and go, they look way bigger than mine was at that age, but its probably because I remember him at 6 weeks old and think he's never been that big. I look at pictures and realize he was just as big as all the other ones. I wouldn't worry about what people say, most do think GSDs should be 120 lbs.

[Stosh]

Like Emoore says, you'll hear all kinds of crazy stuff about gsds- mostly from 'experts' who have never owned one. Then you'll hear from everyone who's ever been bitten by one or knows someone who has been- must be 90% of the population apparently. Stosh is 21 mos, weighs 85 lbs and he's in perfect shape. Most people's first question is "how much does he weigh?" and don't believe me- they swear he's got to be over 100.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

It's true what these guys are saying. My extended family asks me every single time they see Sasha how much she weighs now. I always tell them that I assume she weighs about 70-75lbs (She weighed 75lbs when I took her to the vet in may or June and I put her on a diet as she was kinda round lol) and they always say, "Wow, she's going to be big when she grows up!" Every single time.....Sasha is two by the way and no matter how many times I tell them she's done growing they insist that she's going to be HUGE someday....*sigh*....