Boy, do I feel silly.

[Shaina]

Some of you may have seen my complex about how small my GSD Versailles is at 10 months. I had gotten used to the comments about how she can't possibly be a purebred, how she's only 5 months old, is she going to get any bigger??

Then I saw a thread asking about how long a GSD will continue growing in height for and saw that at 10 months, the chances of her growing much isn't likely. That day I'd decided to try to measure her height, got out the tape measure, and battled her to stand up nice and straight while I clumsily measured her. When I saw my measurement was 19", I'll admit I was a little bit bummed. I don't mind a smaller sized GSD, but I wanted a dog within breed standard!

Then I kept reading posts about the "small" gsds that were 55lbs and 23", and I couldn't figure it out. Versailles is very petite, but she weights the same. I couldn't figure out how my dog weighed the same as dogs bigger than her.


...So I got smart. And I decided to ask my dad to help me hold her still so I could properly measure her. Guess who sucks at using a tape measure? Versailles is 23" at the withers at 10 months old, and I am an idiot for being bummed about it for a few days.

[Miss Molly May]

thats funny!!

[Cassidy's Mom]

It's practically impossible to get an accurate measurement by yourself, and even with my husband helping me measure Halo I'm pretty sure it wasn't that accurate! Keefer is almost 6-1/2 years old and I still have no idea how tall he is. We had to measure Halo for dock diving, but dogs over 16" are in one class and under 16" are in another, so if we were within an inch or two that was good enough.

[iBaman]

I have an awesome pup who stood still for me to measure last time I did...at 7 months old he was 20 inches at the withers, and 50lbs. =3 need to do some more measurements soon...

I feel your pain with the 'in standards' thing... I want his left ear to stand up already!! (stood up for two days without strips, then it finally flopped over...back to strips...)

[Shaina]

I just feel really silly and shallow for being upset in the first place.. and then to figure out I was wrong is just, wow!

She just looks so small compared to others. There are 6 month old pups in my schutzhund club her size.. whenever a helper goes to work her I constantly get "HOW OLD IS THIS DOG" like I am working a puppy that shouldn't be doing bitework lmfao. She is 10 months, I swear!!

[KZoppa]

LOL i was always looking at Shasta and thinking she was pretty small until a GSD came into the store we hold class in for a bath weekend before last and Shasta dwarfed this dog. Yes the other dog was only a year old and Shasta is almost 2 but holy cow she dwarfed that dog!! Shasta next to that other shepherd... she looked like she was a giant. My jaw dropped. I havent measured her height recently and she's about 70 lbs.

I admit i do still have days where I look at the dogs and think "My gosh they sure are small." and other days, like when I sit on the floor and suddenly have a dog standing next to me and i realize just how large they really are.

[brembo]

Smaller dogs live longer and have fewer joint issues. That's a plus. Dollars to donuts a smaller GSD will whip a bigger one in speed and agility too. My Mal moves like a housefly, soooo quick, my big hulking GSD (he's edging in on 30" tall) is quick but nowhere near the level of the Mal. You have to witness the speed and power of a Malinois in person to grasp the ferocity of the movements.

[Shaina]

I do refer to V as a shepherd trapped in a malinois body... It is actually very convenient, she has the small compact size of a mal, but the calm, intense demeanor of a shepherd, so it is kind of the best of both worlds.

Once she thickens out a bit I think she'll be taken more seriously.