How to know if my dog ​​will be big

Knowing if your dog will be big is one of the aspects that most concern those who decide to adopt a dog, a question especially frequent in those who opt for a mestizo animal that, having no particular lineage, does not have a pattern by which we can govern. A very widespread tendency is that observing the size of the dog's leg can tell us if it will grow a lot or little, although this is not always very effective.

Are you looking for more options to discover it? If you wonder how to know if your dog will be big, keep reading, because in this article we give you several tricks that will help you.

Tricks to know if your dog will be big

There are two fundamental factors that determine the growth of a dog:

  • Your DNA, the genetic inheritance that you have acquired from your parents or your own inheritance related to the breed, in the case of dogs of breed or animals with pedigree.
  • Your diet, so that a dog grows strong and healthy is important to have a good diet throughout their puppy stage, so in this article we will assume that it is so and we will focus only on the physical features to determine its possible size .

Purebred dogs

With the dogs of race there is not much margin of error, when adopting this type of pets you must know what is the average weight and height that they acquire when reaching the adult age and, with this information, you will be able to decide if it is the ideal pet for your family and for the space they have. That is to say, nobody can affirm that a German shepherd will be small or that a Chihuahua will have a great stature, the DNA of the races is clear and does not present / display confusions.

However, if you have the opportunity to observe the parents of your future pet, this is a good way to determine the size that your dog can possibly reach, because it will possibly be similar to the mother if it is female and the father if it is male, or, in any case, an average of both.

Mixed dogs

Here the thing gets a little more complicated because there is no standard but a mixture of DNA that can give different results. In these cases the best way to know if your dog will be great is to observe their parents, because if both are of good size it is more likely that the animal acquires a stature similar to them, while one is large and another smaller, the animal can have an intermediate height between both.

Another possible alternative when it comes to the crossing of two dogs of different races that are identified, is to find out the usual stature that reach the animals of each of the races and take an average, for example:

  • If the father of your dog is a German shepherd, the average height of the males is 60 to 65 cm. We will take the highest number, 65 cm.
  • If the mother of your dog is a boxer, his average size is between 53 and 60 cm, we will take 60 cm as a reference.
  • Add both heights and then divide by two: 65 + 60 = 125/2 = 62.5 cm. This will be the maximum average size your dog can have. Of course it is a reference calculation that will not be accurate but will help you get oriented.

And what happens if I have not seen the parents of my puppy?

In this case there are some tricks that will allow you to approach the possible size that the animal can reach reached adulthood, for example:

  • As some say, the size of the dog's legs can be a good indicator of the height that will reach, because a dog of greater stature will need large and strong legs. In addition, excess skin can also be a good reference, if the dog has too much skin will have more space to grow and stretch, this is the reason why small dogs always have excess skin.
  • In most dogs, when the animal reaches 6 months will have reached 75% of its final height provided it has been fed correctly, so at that height and you can get an idea of ​​its possible final size.
  • A formula that some propose and that, although it may not be definitive can guide you, is weigh and measure the animal when it reaches 16 weeks (4 months), then you must double that value to find the weight and approximate size of the dog in the future .

Growth speed according to size

The growth rate of the animal is defined by the final size it will reach, something that can be clearly seen in breed dogs. Some useful aspects about the animal's stature related to its type are:

Small dogs or toy

This type of animal grows fastest, reaching its adult size with only 10 months. In addition to the height, at that time will have all the characteristics of an adult dog, from behavior to heat in the case of bitches. Because they develop faster they need more nutrients, so you should watch your diet. Some examples of this type are the Yorkshire, pincher or Chihuahua.

Medium dogs

This type of animals usually culminate their growth at 12 months, because they also have a rapid growth is important to take care of their diet and offer a balanced diet. In this category we find races such as the French bulldog, the welsh corgi or the pug or carlino.

Large dogs

This type of puppies have a much longer growth, taking up to 15 months to reach full size and reach adulthood. This type of animals usually have great digestive sensitivity because although the stature of the dog increases its organs take longer to grow than the dogs of small breed. This group includes types such as the farmer, the rottweiler or the Brazilian row.

Giant dogs

They are the type that most delays in reaching their full size and, in addition to that, go through two different phases of development. The first occurs until 8 months of age, stage in which they grow very quickly developing their bones quickly, the second is slower and consists of muscle growth, which occurs between 18 and 24 months. This type of animal requires a good diet and a lot of exercise so that they can grow and develop fully. The best example of this type of breed in the German or Great Dane.

Now that we have clarified how to know if your dog will be big, there is nothing left but to take care of it properly, give it a good diet and offer all the attentions so that it grows healthy and happy.