Veterinarians are the professionals who can help us the most to determine the age and future size of a dog. This is especially important in crossbreed or mongrel dogs, because for purebred dogs we have established a standard that will not undergo excessive variations. In addition, in this article we will explain some details that will allow us to know the months, the time of growth and at what age the dogs stop growing.
How to know if a dog is going to grow?
If we have just adopted one, surely we are interested in knowing at what age dogs stop growing and what final size ours can reach. First of all, for a dog to grow it is essential that it is still a puppy. If it has already reached maturity, we will be before its final size. At most, you can get fat or develop a little more.
Therefore, if we have a puppy of unknown breed, since otherwise it is possible to know how much it will grow, we can look at some details to calculate its growth. If we know their parents, or at least one of them, the sizes of the offspring are usually similar, although there can be great differences if both are of a very different size. It is also possible that within the same litter we find very variable sizes between puppies.
It is said that puppies with large and wide legs will also reach a large size, but this criterion is not very reliable, since there are medium-sized puppies with legs of this type. It will be easier to determine the adult dog size when the puppy is a little older. For example, a dog of about six months will be almost his final size. With approximately four months of life, it will be half this size, both in weight and in height at the withers. These data correspond to medium-sized dogs. Those of smaller breeds will reach their final size a little earlier and, on the contrary, the large and giants will take a few more months.
At what age does a dog stop being a puppy?
At what age dogs stop growing is closely linked to the age at which they go from being puppies to adults, although this is not always the case. Specifically, the moment they reach sexual maturity usually marks the end of the puppy stage and growth. In this aspect, we are going to find differences according to the races.
The breeds of small size or mini van to stop being puppies soon, by 6 months, coinciding with the arrival of estrus in females and sexual maturity in males. These times are prolonged in medium-sized dogs, between approximately 10 and 25 kg. In specimens of these characteristics, maturity or heat can be delayed up to 8-9 months, although up to 12 they are usually still considered puppies. Lastly, larger breeds won’t stop being puppies until 18-24 months.
However, it is important to note that not in all cases the end of physical growth also marks the end of the puppy stage. Thus, even if the dog is not going to grow any more, it can still be considered a puppy for a few months or even a year.
When does a dog stop growing?
The data that we have provided for the onset of heat or sexual maturity are what guide us on at what age dogs stop growing. We have seen that it differs according to the sizes. Thus, once the bitch experiences its first heat or we perceive that the male shows interest in the females, we will know that the animal’s growth is about to end.
This will happen between 6 and even 24 months of age in giant breeds. From that moment on, the dog may get fat and grow a little, but it will have practically reached its adult size. We must bear in mind this fact, since some dogs sterilized before the first heat are going to gain weight after the intervention and not always because of it, but because they had not yet completed their development. Therefore, we recommend consulting the article in which we explain the best age to neuter a dog.
As we can see, knowing at what age breed dogs stop growing is quite simple, since we only have to inform ourselves of the characteristics of our dog’s breed to get an idea of its growth. In this way, if, for example, we wonder when a Yorkshire dog stops growing, when a water dog stops growing, when a Labrador retriever, a border collie, a Maltese dog or a German shepherd stops growing, it will be necessary to consult the average weight that these breeds usually reach when they reach adulthood, as well as the approximate age at which they stop being puppies.
How old do mongrel dogs grow?
Knowing at what age mongrel dogs stop growing can be somewhat more complicated if we adopt them very young, with about 2 months, and we do not know the appearance of their parents. In these cases, it is advisable to weigh them to detect a slowdown in growth.
All dogs will develop very quickly during their first weeks of life, but the mini-sized ones, around 3 months, as they have already reached almost half their adult size, will start to grow more slowly. In the medium, this slowing down occurs approximately at 4-6 months and in the large at around 6. By periodically controlling the weight we can include our dog in one of these groups and, thus, know how old it can grow, following the patterns exposed in the previous sections.
