# Afraid my pup is too far ahead of growth schedule?



## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

Hey all, just wanted to drop a quick note regarding Rambo who is exactly five months old as of today. I weighed him this afternoon and he was 59-60 pounds! He's seemed large from the time we got him but, going by the average charts on the internet he's never been a full 10 pounds ahead. I do not believe he is at all overweight from what I read, but I'm not an expert...

We free-feed Canidae all stages (not the grain free) I know there is a lot of controversy over free feeding vs. regulated but...I'm not concerned with this. He fully regulates him self and always eats healthy doses (has been free fed since 6 weeks old)

I should note by free feed i mean twice a day we fill his bowl with about 2 and 1/2 cups of dry food...sometimes we don't even have to fill it again at night as he just eats on the first bowl when he wants to. I've noticed it seems pretty closely correlated to the amount of energy he burns during the day...entire days of play like sat/sun he'll wolf down his two meals, lazier days when he just gets a good walk he sometimes won't eat until night. Overall he seems (as German Shepherds are GENERALLY supposed to be able to do) to never eat more or less than what he needs.

These pictures aren't the best but, he doesn't seem overweight. Think all is well? I just want to avoid dangerous growth spurts, etc.


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## ZAYDA (Apr 22, 2010)

I can't tell by the pictures but you might just have a big boy . 5 cups @ 5 months sounds a little high to me but see what others say. It really all depends on how he looks really. Thin is in while they are puppies for sure.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

As long as his overall condition looks good (not too skinny, not chubby) he's probably getting an appropriate amount of food. Other than that, he's going to grow at the rate he's going to grow. Canidae is a pretty good food, and while I'm not a fan of free feeding, it sounds like he's not overeating. 

Keep in mind that the charts are just averages. If he's got big parents he's going to be a bigger boy once he matures, but even if they're within the standard he could just be doing most of his growing early, in which case you'll see it start to slow down within the next month or two. Dena was 63 pounds at 6 months old - way over average for a female, and a bit over average for a male of that age too. But from there to adulthood she only put on 8 or 9 more pounds. 

Keefer, her half brother, was 56 pounds at 6 months old and ended up 80 pounds, so he put a lot of weight on later than she did.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Can you take a front sitting picture and a stack/side standing foto?

I would go to scheduled feedings. Free feeding is not a good idea. 

Is he in the kennel or crate during the day?

Thanks


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## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

Yeah I will try to get some better pictures soon. I've read a lot on the free feeding debate and I'm ok to stick with it for now. I'd rather him not make a big deal over meal time, etc...for now he can eat when he's hungry. I know it doesn't work for all dogs but as far as Rambo goes I don't think I need to decide when he needs to eat. He's a good obedient dog so far, and he still knows who's in charge of the food.

But anyways, he looks good now I just don't want problems later in life due to growth spurts and such. Maybe it will slow down here soon.

@ smithie, his crate schedule is too intense to try to explain because I go to school and work full time, and my fiance works from 8-4 everyday, but overall he probably spends about six hours in his kennel on an average day, pretty much at two hour intervals while i'm in class. Sometimes he spends the night in there, sometimes in our room...basically when its lights out if he wanders into his kennel i go ahead and shut it, otherwise he's good out of it.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Not criticizing about the crating; understand.

But, we have a 6 month old that was 43 pounds last week. 1.5 level cups in AM, 2 in PM. We keep our dogs very lanky to let the bones and joints grow. And this one will be a big boy, like his sire.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

My male Moses was 55 lbs at 5 months and at 2.5 yr he is a lean 100 lbs. They do grow at different rates but it doesn sound like you are going to have a big boy.


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## Brown314 (Jun 18, 2010)

Just sounds like he is going to be a big boy...

Unrelated...my puppy had that same duck...lasted like 10minutes I believe lol.


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## Lesley1905 (Aug 25, 2010)

He sure is cute though


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## rebelsgirl (May 19, 2005)

He's beautiful. But that's a lot of food. Mine is older but my female gets 1 cup twice a day. And my rescue who is a little older than her gets 1 1/2 cups twice a day. But it just depends too on what kind of food you feed them. 

My rescue still looks underweight. I was feeding him 4 cups a day, and I may have to go back to it. We slowed him down because he's had bloody stools lately.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

My Zoe was 60 lbs. at 5 1/2 months and is 90 lbs. now at a year. She grew really fast but slowed down completely at 9 months- she hasn't gained a pound since. She gets 3-4 cups a day of Orijen or TOTW we rotate between the two. Her father is 105 lbs. lean and mother 78 lbs. so she is about right and probably will only fill out a little over the next year. Just like people some dogs mature faster than others, and stop growing sooner or later. Most when fed normally fall in between their parents weight so I wouldn't be concerned


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## df1960 (Nov 6, 2009)

Hawkeye weighed 65 lbs at 6 months and was very lean (long and lean & all ribs). He has been eating 7 cups of food/day (Acana). 
He is now 8.5 months old and I have cut back on his food by about 1/2 - 3/4 cups per day(depending) on his exercise that day.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i fed my pup 3 cups a day. one cup in the am, one cup at
noon and one cup in the pm. there was snacks during the day
and treats during training. i use the charts in most cases as a guide line.
everything is different for each dog.


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## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

alright guys thanks, sounds good. he may just end up to be a pretty big dog!


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

df1960 said:


> Hawkeye weighed 65 lbs at 6 months and was very lean (long and lean & all ribs). He has been eating 7 cups of food/day (Acana).
> He is now 8.5 months old and I have cut back on his food by about 1/2 - 3/4 cups per day(depending) on his exercise that day.


Holy Crap!


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