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estimating full-grown size of a puppy?

saturnine
March 1st, 2005, 11:43 PM
I'm thinking about adopting a 10 week old female puppy from a local animal shelter. They say she is a Doberman Pinscher/Australian Kelpie mix. The litter of 7 had a mother that was a Doberman (they were born under the foster mother's care), but they don't know what dad was, so they are guessing Kelpie because of their ears and the lengths of their muzzles.

Anyway, I got to hold the little darling, and she was the sweetest puppy I have ever seen. I'm not sure if it was because they all had gotten fixed about 4 days ago, but she was SO calm when I was holding her (is this normal? that would be wonderful if that was her actual demeanor later on in life! ;P). Didn't squirm, pee on me, or shake. She even gave me a kiss on the nose :o
I know that Dobermans tend to be very large dogs, and Kelpies are about medium sized, but this 10 week old puppy was about 2-4 pounds. Isn't that small for a 10 week old with a mother and father of those sizes?

My reason for asking is that I don't want a very large dog...I really want a smallish medium dog (20-30 lbs at the most?). Do you think she will be about that size?

Thanks in advance for your help!

raingirl
March 2nd, 2005, 08:25 AM
Well, it's really unknown if they don't know what the father was. It will grow to a size in between what the father and mother were most likely. Kelpies full grown are between 22 and 45 lbs.

Lizzie
March 2nd, 2005, 08:26 AM
It's really hard to tell. If she is the runt of the litter that won't help either because sometimes the runts end up as the biggest when they are older.

If the mother is a doberman then you're looking at a larger dog mix. More than likely it was another large dog that was bred to this girl---she's too big for a little JRT or Chihuahua to breed with her--if you know what I mean ;)

saturnine
March 2nd, 2005, 09:02 AM
Well, I had looked at this age-weight chart:

http://mixedbreeddog.info/wtchart.htm

And according to that, even if I'm just estimating, the dog will grow to be between "very small" and "small"....??

Lizzie
March 2nd, 2005, 09:23 AM
Hmm....perhaps a vet can help you out?

chico2
March 2nd, 2005, 09:30 AM
Well,you fell in love with the puppy and even if she turns out to be the size of a Dobie,I don't find Dobies to be really large dogs,they are all legs :D
One thing I know,having known a few beautiful Dobies,they are wonderful dogs...what does a few extra centimeters in height matter,as long as she is well trained.... :love:

saturnine
March 2nd, 2005, 03:13 PM
Well,you fell in love with the puppy and even if she turns out to be the size of a Dobie,I don't find Dobies to be really large dogs,they are all legs :D
One thing I know,having known a few beautiful Dobies,they are wonderful dogs...what does a few extra centimeters in height matter,as long as she is well trained.... :love:
Do Dobies usually have that calm of a demeanor? Her and most of her other littermates were extremely quiet and shy :p

GsdDiamond
March 2nd, 2005, 03:27 PM
I don't think you can go by the way they were when you saw them. My little angel was the calmest of her litter too....now....OMG! Will she EVER go to sleep???? They go through fazes.... calm and quiet, loud and full of energy...loud and full of energy....etc....then YEARS later (I'm exagerating of course) they settle down and act their age.

Let's put it this way...we can't wait until our baby is 2 and more mature.

mastifflover
March 2nd, 2005, 03:29 PM
Dobies have great personality not overly hyper but they are active they require regular exercise and a good run chasing a ball or stick don't worry you do not have a super high energy dog like a Border Collie

chico2
March 2nd, 2005, 04:20 PM
Saturnine,I've in my lifetime only known 3 Dobies one who was 11yrs old,I've never known a pup,but I would assume a pup is a pup no matter what breed and you'll have to be prepared for some wild moments and a few wet spots,until he's trained,but I think it will be well worth it,he'll give you years of love and devotion and tons of fun.
The 3 Dobies I knew were wonderful calm majestic dog,but who loved to run...

reddirtgirl
March 14th, 2005, 10:55 AM
My friend Andy has a Dobie named Java and she's just abot the sweetie poorch you've ever met. He kept her ears long, so I wasn't even sure she was a Dobie at first. She's VERY tall, mostly legs actually, but I'd say she has to be at least 100 lbs.

MIA
March 14th, 2005, 03:09 PM
Dobies have great personality not overly hyper but they are active they require regular exercise and a good run chasing a ball or stick don't worry you do not have a super high energy dog like a Border Collie

I wish my Dobe wasn't hyper!!! LOL She has serious amounts of energy! She needs a good long run every day or she's not happy!!!! I spend about two hours a night with her at the park training and running around.

saturnine my Dobe girl weighs about 60 pounds and is at a perfect weight, not fat, not skinny....

nymph
March 14th, 2005, 04:44 PM
The vet would be able to tell you that during the first head-to-toe exam.

Prin
March 14th, 2005, 07:04 PM
Frankly, if you really don't want a big dog, I wouldn't consider a dobie mix. But when it comes down to it, the bigger the doggie, the calmer they usually are.

As for guessing the size, I have never been able to tell how big a mixed puppy will grow. You can sometimes tell by the feet- if they are disproportionately huge for it's body. But our newf/pointer had proportional feet and he just kept growing and growing. When we got him they said he was fully grown, being already bigger than a normal black lab, but he lost his baby fat and just got leg.

Unless you know the parents too, it is really hard to tell what the mix will look like until it is an adult. Our doggies morphed into a million different possible mixes until they finally stopped growing.