# Gangly and awkward!



## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

Wow, Saphira is going thru a wonky stage right now! She just turned 5 months old last week and is as awkward as she's ever been.

It seems like almost overnight she sprouted these gangly, long, loose, legs and once again, you can see wayyy too many ribs. She looks like a hungry kangaroo and she moves like one too! She is so clumsy, trips over her own legs and eats it multilple times a day. Stresses me out each time she hits the ground. When she trots her hindlegs overlap her fronts and either she hits herself or doesn't track straight. Running is ok except she can't transition down gracefully, she gets going so fast when she stops or slows she just sorta lands in a heap. 

I also never really thought she was cow hocked but all of a sudden, her hocks are really turned in too! 

I can't wait for this stage to be over...hopefully it goes away as fast as it came.

Make me feel better people...who else has a half grown klutz crashing into things, knocking stuff down, falling off the couch, tripping over their own feet, big eared, long tailed, goofball? 

Ronda


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

Except for the "long tail"...you just described a guy I used to date when I was *much* younger...LOL!:wild:


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## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

Robin, that made me spit water out when I read it!!! Too funny.

Ronda


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## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

:rofl: Robin!!

Sage is 2 and is a total goober. He still has moments where he forgets how big he is :crazy:


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

...Right there with ya on the awkward stage!! 

Zira is 7 months and she has the longest legs I have ever seen on a dog, with a tail that looks like it's the length of her whole body... it drags on the floor when she has it down. Her ears are still huge, her body is very long, she has the longest tongue I have ever seen in my life... I mean, I have no idea how the dog doesn't bite it and draw blood. Lol! She is SO weird right now. Her movement is sometimes beautiful, but there are moments to where it's just a disaster... and honestly, a bit embarrassing when out and about! She gets very clumsy, and also tends to eat the ground still. It's not as bad as when she was younger, but... still is awkward. She is not graceful at all. I was told by many though, that once she hits a year or so, all should fill out and look normal! I sure hope so! haha Gotta love the growing shepherd awkward stage! 

Fortunately for me, I work with horses... and there is nothing on this earth more awkward then a young horse. So I am used to waiting a while for the real look and movement to show! lol


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## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

YES! That's exactly Saphira! The movement can be breathtaking sometimes, other times, I'm ready to X-ray her hips and spine because she looks so bizarre and is falling all over the place! 

Ronda


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## VomBlack (May 23, 2009)

Shade is 6 months old and just the other day I was looking at her and thinking "Where the **** did those legs come from?!" It's like she sprouted overnight, she's got long gangly legs and her muzzle seems longer.. she reminds me of an awkward deer.  She's looking ribby too, i've upped her food a little bit but the dogs are so active and she keeps growing in all sorts of crazy directions.

Poor Odin had awkward stages until a little after 2, when he finally started to fill out more, so i've accepted the fact that with puppies they're going to hit some downright goofy stages.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

We tell everyone to not look at their dogs from about 5 months to a year old. Otherwise you'd be tempted to set them free, they are so awful to watch at this stage. We have taken to calling my 8mos old girl "The Black Noodle" because she is so long and her movement is all over the place. I just close my eyes to it and know that "this too, shall pass".

Annette


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## Anjulian (May 28, 2011)

My younger dog,who is a GSD/Husky also hit this at 5 months. He would run at a gallop then smell something, the nose would go down and the rest of his body would go over the top and he landed on his back. He then got up and did it again. He would also jump for the sofa, miss, and crash onto the floor. Julie


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## DWP (Mar 31, 2011)

*Awh, I remember those days.*

You folks with those gangly pups; you bring fond memories. 

Both the Girls went through that stage and did much of the same things. Get ready for more! Our girls, grew out of it of course, but until they were at least two plus years old, the gangly puppy trot would still show itself once in a while. Our youngest is 2 yr and 8 mo, and it has only been a few months that she hasn't relapsed. Rest assured that by 2 and a half, they will be all grace and power. Of course they still act goofy once and a while, but you will come to miss the laughter.


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## robinhuerta (Apr 21, 2007)

My husband refers to the gangly 6mos to 12mos (and sometimes even longer. esp w/males) as the age of "closet cases".
They look so funky...you want to hide them in closets.
I call it "troll time".


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## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

bocron said:


> We tell everyone to not look at their dogs from about 5 months to a year old. Otherwise you'd be tempted to set them free, they are so awful to watch at this stage. We have taken to calling my 8mos old girl "The Black Noodle" because she is so long and her movement is all over the place. I just close my eyes to it and know that "this too, shall pass".
> 
> Annette


 
Yup, we call Saphira the Black Mamba sometimes cause she's so long, lean, and twisty!

Ronda


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## cta (May 24, 2011)

my dog was definitely weird looking for a short time there. he was sooooooo cute when he was a puppy and then one day i woke up and was like holy crowly my dog is a gremlin . he was super leggy, his ears didn't match his head size and they were flopping around from side to side and he was all together awkward. also when he used to trot around the yard his back end would stick out a little to one side and he looked like he was running sideways lol. he looks a lot more normal now at 17 months, but i think he still has some growing to do.


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

Depends on breeding as well. Griff, based on what we had seen and knew about his ped, would be the lanky one 

Mia looked like a mini adult from day one . She is 15 months and still filling out, but not gangly.

Norbo same as Mia.....


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## TankGrrl66 (Jun 29, 2010)

My female is about 5mos old, and her back looks a lot longer than it did before! 

It begins...:crazy:


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## Ronda (Aug 23, 2010)

Well Miss Floppsy aka Saphira, got her rabies shot on Monday at my work and since she was there, I figured I might as well have the vet take a good, thorough look at her before we started going to the club for training.

She agreed that this is one clumsy puppy right now but that she finds nothing out of the ordinary and she has been cleared to start going to the club! I had her watch all of her gaits, palpate her legs and extend her hips, and check her mouth/teeth to make sure she was ok for the puppy bitework, etc and everything looks good to go! 

Time to email the ringers and let them know we are ready!

Ronda


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Shasta just finally got OUT of the goofy gangly stage and she's 15 months old!!! She's still a klutz though!!!! Just a little bit ago she went to jump on the couch, didnt get a good enough bounce and slid straight to the floor!


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

bocron said:


> We tell everyone to not look at their dogs from about 5 months to a year old. Otherwise you'd be tempted to set them free, they are so awful to watch at this stage. We have taken to calling my 8mos old girl "The Black Noodle" because she is so long and her movement is all over the place. I just close my eyes to it and know that "this too, shall pass".
> 
> Annette


I wish you were around when Alice was six months old....Jeez Louize she was a spaz.
I also would occassionally wonder if the woman I got her from rented normal looking GSDs to pose as her parents.


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## amac_zeus (Jun 7, 2011)

This is all so comforting. Zeus is 8 mos and is trying to find his legs. What I have noticed is the awkward gait. I was truely ready to have his hips ex-rayed. When we run and play, its majestic. Around the house, when he trots down the hall, he sometimes has this kangaroo looking bounce to his step. :shocked: What is that? Outside of that, he continues to grow into his ginormous feet!


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

VomBlack said:


> Shade is 6 months old and just the other day I was looking at her and thinking "Where the **** did those legs come from?!" It's like she sprouted overnight, she's got long gangly legs and her muzzle seems longer.. *she reminds me of an awkward deer*.  She's looking ribby too, i've upped her food a little bit but the dogs are so active and she keeps growing in all sorts of crazy directions.
> 
> Poor Odin had awkward stages until a little after 2, when he finally started to fill out more, so i've accepted the fact that with puppies they're going to hit some downright goofy stages.


Abby at 6 months

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/members/paddyd-albums545-abby-picture9913-6-months.jpg


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