[Gunny]

I have a six-month old pup purchased from a very long-time, experienced breeder. My gal currently is around 19" tall and weighs in at 43.5. She's still a little gal. The breeder's females average around 22-23" and the males between 24 - 25." Her vet is telling me she should only grow an inch more at most as 90% of adult size is reached by 6 months. The breeder is telling me she should grow several more inches at least. Right now, her head is only about half the size of my relatively small (21.5, 65lb.) 7 year-old female. I had told the breeder that I wanted a large gal.

What experience has anyone had with the growth patterns of their golden puppies? I'm beginning to wonder if I got the runt of the litter despite what I had requested. She's on California Natural, plus Omega-3 for dry skin, Canine plus vitamins and a little pumpkin on her food.

 

[esSJay]

I haven't measured my dog's height as he grew but I can tell you that he was definitely not 90% of his full height or length at 6 months! He is 9 months now and in the past 3 months I would estimate that he has grown nearly 3" in height and I suspect he has another 1 or so to go.

As for weight, he weighed around 45lbs at 6 months and 63lbs at 9 months. I think he will stop around 75 pounds when he is full grown.

I think your girl still has quite a bit of growing to do. That vet may be more familiar with other breeds whose growth slows down earlier than goldens do. Goldens will usually reach their full height around 10-12 months and slowly fill out between 1-2 years old before they are full grown. I'd say your breeder is the one to listen to in this case.

 

[Gunny]

Thanks so much for your reassurance. The first golden was adopted at 1.5 years and she was about 25" and 75 lbs. (She was a huge girl) She added an additional 10 lbs by the time she was 2 - all muscle, too.

It's good to know my gal has more inches and pounds to go!

 

[Jake's Dad]

As already stated, they will continue to grow up until about 2 years old. At six months, there will be a variance in their weight. Jake is almost 7 months old and is a very big boy at 27" tall at the shoulder and just shy of 80lbs (his mother was normal but his father was very large). As for the runt of the litter, that is also no indication. My male shepard (he picked me out) was the runt of the litter and when he grew up, he was huge at over 120lbs. My take is that I will love them however they turn out.

 

[heartofgold]

As already stated, they will continue to grow up until about 2 years old. At six months, there will be a variance in their weight. Jake is almost 7 months old and is a very big boy at 27" tall at the shoulder and just shy of 80lbs (his mother was normal but his father was very large). As for the runt of the litter, that is also no indication. My male shepard (he picked me out) was the runt of the litter and when he grew up, he was huge at over 120lbs. My take is that I will love them however they turn out.

Agree 100%!

You would never think that my (human) son was only a 4 lb baby at birth. At 12 years old he is 5ft 4in tall and almost off the charts in size.

I say your pup still has alot more growing to do.