German Shepherd Dimensions & Drawings | Dimensions.com

German Shepherds are a medium to large German breed of a dog originally bred as a working dog used for herding purposes (shepherding). The average German Shepherd has an overall height of 26.5"-31" (67-79 cm), withers height of 22"-26" (56-66 cm), and body length of 36"-42.5" (91-108 cm). A...

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I have found lots that say he could get to 26" and im pretty Sure one of our boys when I was younger was bigger than 26"

however he is only 6 months old. is this normal to be this height at this age?

 

How big were mom and dad? Where did you get these pups and do you have a pedigree for them?
There are an awful lot of oversized German Shepherds running around.
If you told me they were purebred I would believe you. If you told me they were mixed I would believe you.

 

How big were mom and dad? Where did you get these pups and do you have a pedigree for them?
There are an awful lot of oversized German Shepherds running around.
If you told me they were purebred I would believe you. If you told me they were mixed I would believe you.

Well i was told they were purebred, I saw momma she was pure bred, but not sure on the father.
how n earth do they become over sized, and will this compromise their health etc later on?

 

Have they been neutered? Desexing at an early age can delay the closing of growth plates so the dogs tend to grow taller.

 

No both fully intact at the present moment.

 

[agrees with Sabis Mom] Yes, it's impossible to be sure without a DNA test, and I really can't tell from the picture. There are a couple of things that make me go hmmm...could be something else in there...but it's hard to say for sure. And there ARE an awful lot of oversized purebred GSDs out there, as well as dogs that look like GSDs, but aren't (King Shepherds and Shiloh Shepherds both have some other breeds mixed in, and both are bred to be taller than the GSD.)

 

Their DNA packs arrived this AM, so im excited to see what the results are.
Like you there are a few things that have made me go hmmm.
well I knew I was gettin large dogs....didnt think they would be beast hahhaa. I didnt realise there was such a thing as over sized GSDs, just one of ours was larger than the others when I was a kid, so I thought surely they would seem smaller to me now I am grown up, and well, hes big. hahhaa.

 

Male GSD can be up to 90 pounds and still be in breed standard so at the top, they are a large dog. At the lower end, females can be in the 50 pound range so more medium sized.

Breeders aiming for the higher end of the spectrum will naturally produce some outliers but should never be the goal.

 

Seeing the DNA results will be interesting! I'm commenting to get an alert when it updates.

 

Beautiful pups! My boy was also over height standard at that age. Some German shepherds can be larger then medium!

 

Breeding a dog responsibly means getting it registered and titled (conformation or working titles) having hip x-rays and other health tests done, etc. etc. You also need to learn about the breed and study pedigrees to determine which dogs are the best match. It's much more than just randomly putting together a male and female of the same breed.

Whelping and raising a litter is messy, time consuming and exhausting. If there are problems with the birth, you may find yourself paying big bucks for a C-section delivery, or other help from a veterinarian. I really don't recommend it until you've had much much more experience with the breed than you do now.

You should wait until she's at least a year old before you spay her. Early spay/neuter means the growth plates on the bones don't close as early as they should. As a result, the pup will grow taller and be more prone to joint and ligament problems. It also increases the risk of certain cancers.

 

It depends on the dog, Luna. My first intact female had this little pad holder, held with elastic belts. The good thing about it was she could push it aside to lick herself. I think one of the reasons my two other female didn't tolerate special heat panties or diapers was because they couldn't clean themselves.

Would love to find one of those pad holders, but alas, it seems no one makes them anymore. The current thin menstrual pads fitted the holder perfectly!

 

I'd wait until at least 2 yo before spaying the bitch and the same for neutering the dog. As far as bitch britches go, my two intact bitches thought they were special and would run to have them put on. But bitch britches are not chastity. belts ....

I spayed the most recent two at about 4 (false pregnancies) and at 8 (pyometra) No breeding took place in those years. One only came into heat at about 2 yo, the other closer to 12 mos.

 

My male GSD at 7 months appeared to be on track to be oversized but his growth rate slowed significantly during the following months and at now at 3+ years old he is within breed standards. Your dogs may be experiencing the same growth rate pattern.

 

UPDATE.
They are level 1 German Shepard and level 5 tan and black Coonhound. so they have some where along the line had a coonhound in the family. well im hoping he will slow down with the height. I'm glad I did the DNA test. phew thats a bee out of my bonnet haahaha

 

UPDATE.
They are level 1 German Shepard and level 5 tan and black Coonhound.

ShepHERD, not shepARD.

What does level 1 and level 5 mean? I've never seen a DNA test that puts it that way. Usually it's a percentage of each breed.

 

HAH! So, a mix! Yes , I could see something in the shape of the head and ears that wasn't quite GSD!

 

How accurate are these tests actually? Has anyone ever tested the test by submitting DNA from a known cross bred whose sire and dam were known for sure and their lineage as well?

 

You could find out by sending Deja's DNA and give no information except for male or female. Do you think the health testing is inaccurate also?

 

i got Keystone from the shelter when he was about 8 months and was informed that they’d also removed seven other dogs from the residence. i asked what breeds just out of curiosity and was told german shepherds, malinois and “some other herding type dogs”. Keys is smaller than a GSD and the shape of his ears is a bit off….. did the Wisdom panel - came back as 50% GSD, 35.5% Mal, 12.5% Cattle dog. No reason for me to doubt the test….although I suppose the percentages could be off and I have no way of knowing if either of his parents were purebred or what breed came from which side.

 

If one was intensely interested in how the testing is done and the accuracy I'm guessing the fine details are available to research online. But then there's the matter of is the service chosen to do the testing have an impeccable record. Anyway, I'm satisfied with the results from the two dogs I had tested.The first dog I sent a picture, the second dog the only Info provided was Dog,Female.