# too small????



## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

i took Ava to a puppy play thing at petco this morning. there were about 18 dogs there. there was a 5 month old doberman that was huge also 3 GSD pups who were like 2 weeks older than Ava. all 3 GSD were a fair bit bigger than Ava. the resident trainer then started to tell me how Ava was small for a 4 month old. she is 18 inches at the shoulder and about 32lbs. is the really that small for a 4month old female? and am i wrong for being offended by having some one call my girl a runt?


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

here are some pics of her


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

No, that's not small. Even if she were on the smaller side, so what? The standard for an adult female GSD starts at 48 pounds and if she's 32 pounds at 4 months old she'll certainly be over that. 

And why should someone else's ignorance bother you? _They're_ wrong, not you.


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

She's very cute! Looks like a working line girl, they tend to be smaller than many of the showlines which are often oversized. My working line girl Halo is 58/59 pounds at almost two years old, and I LOVE that she's not going to be huge!


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## perseuslove (Sep 3, 2010)

*Think you are in the clear.*

We have a 4 month old boy who weighed in at 36 pounds at his 4 month visit. He is fairly tall and everyone says he is huge for his age. Maybe there opinions were skewed? I think she looks beautiful.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

her paws are very pretty big. her daddy was a retired police dog and her mom was a fair size. i was just kinda shocked because she has grown so much while she has been with me. she doesnt look small to me.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

when i first saw those pictures i was wondering who the heck stole my pup!!! 32lbs and 4 months old i wouldnt be concerned. Shasta is almost 4 months old and weighed 27 lbs at her last vet check. I'm curious to see her current weight at her checkup on the 15th. Honestly as long as your pup is healthy, she's good. I saw a GSD pup the other day and he was HUGE. he was 5 months old and 50 lbs. He was in good body condition and healthy too. Just like kids, pups grow at different rates. For all you know, she'll be a small pup and then she'll be huge! She'll hit a growth spurt and you'll wish she was a small girl again.


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## Shavy (Feb 12, 2009)

Keep in mind that BYB GSDs tend to be WAY over standard, oftentimes even over 100 lbs, AND that ignorant owners often feed their large breed pups food that promotes lots of early growth. In all likelihood, this "trainer" doesn't know much about the breed and is used to ginormous GSDs instead of dogs well within standard. She looks GORGEOUS, btw!


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

I wouldn't worry either at all. Zoe was a moose at 4 months, but has barely grown since she was 6-7 months old. She just grew faster and slowed down. Her brother and litter mate is just now catching up to her but for awhile she was literally twice his size,lol Ava will grow at her own rate and slower growth tends to be healthier anyway


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

i already miss the little fur ball i brought home that day. lol as i was typing this ava came strolling in to my room with a piece of base board the she just removed from the wall .lol god i miss my fur ball


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Working lines are usually smaller in structure than the showlines. I bet they see showlines more often.
I would not worry about it and look at the source of the comment, do they even know the breed?


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

she thinks she is a bloodhound when we are out walking. she will pick up a scent and start to follow it. doesnt matter what is going on around her she will just keep on the scent trail.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

did the person say she's small for her age or did she call
her a runt? all Sheps are different in their growing patterns.
come on, you were in a pet store and an hourly
misinformed employee made a comment, so what?
nature will decide what size your pup is going to be.



armymp1014 said:


> she is 18 inches at the shoulder and about 32lbs. is the really that small for a 4month old female? and am i wrong for being offended by having some one call my girl a runt?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Your puppy is fine! 

But you are not. You need to decide today NOT to let other people influence you about your dog. Do not get upset about things people say about her or the breed. 

You have a GSD.

People have said the most terrible things to GSD owners. 

Some examples:
German Shepherds usually turn on their owners and sometimes kill them.

Those are killer dogs.

Those are Nazi dogs.

Those dogs always bite people.

Those dogs aren't good with kids.

Those dogs should not be around babies.

That dogs is skinny.

Boy is he small.

Boy is he huge.

What is wrong with his back.

What is he mixed with.

They all have hip problems.

It is a wolf and they are illegal. 

You better show him whose the boss or he will chew you up.

And the list goes on and on and on. You need to learn to smile and nod and turn a deaf ear to all of it. And then come on here and start a thread about the newest crazy thing someone said to you about your dog.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

i wasnt really upset. i was just kinda shocked that the trainer who i assume has some knowledge of dogs (that probily where i went wrong) would come out and be like "she is kinda small for her age was she the runt of her litter?" trust me i understand most of the people havent a clue what they are talking about. that is why i brought the question to the forum. there is alot of people here who know far more about the GSD than i. this forum is an amazing place to gather info for owners who are new to this breed


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Welcome to GSD ownership. The next illusion you need to lose is the one about trainers having knowledge of dogs. Some of them have lots of knowledge about a variety of breeds. Some have next to none. One of the gals training at PetsMart had titles, etc, on dogs, and quite a bit of experience. The next trainer that I had up there, his entire experience was owning a badly behaved three year old bloodhound. 

And classes at these stores are not cheap -- almost double what an obedience/rally judge charges for a set of classes in our area. So it is not like you get what you paid for either. 

It is good to drop the trainer knows best idea. Unless you have an awesome trainer with great references and accomplishments, you really have to go with your gut. If the trainer wants you to do something you are not comfortable with, don't do it. Run it by some people on the forum. You know your dog best, and you will have to live with and work out any problems caused by bad methods, not the trainer.

ETA: training classes are great for socialization and training puppies and dogs. Just, understand that there are no real protocals trainers need to have to put out their shingle, if a trainer is not ok with your not following a suggestion or does something with your dog that you do not like, drop them.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

that is a great point. i have been doing alot of research trying to find a good trainer in my area. i have watched the training sessions at both petco and petsmart and wasnt real impressed. there are a couple of dog clubs and even a local schutzhund club that offers training classes.


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## CaliBoy (Jun 22, 2010)

army: I'm no expert on how big she should be right now, but I think if cuteness was against the law, that dog of yours would be on the Most Wanted List. And I just can't find the write word to describe that puppy picture where she is a mostly black little fur ball. Adorable does not come close--it is way beyond adorable.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

thank you. i cant even tell you how much i have enjoyed having ava here. i got hurt while i was in the army and she really seems to help me on the days where i am in alot of pain. just having her here helps me to keep my mind off of the pain.


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## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

Your Ava is beautiful :wub: My Molly is the runt and at 10 months is 50 pounds and has soft ears! Today at the park, a man I have never seen before with a showline GSD (HUGE) asked me what she is mixed with! I laughed and said nothing, she is PB! Got home and ranted to Brad, but I wasn't going to show him he had offended my beautiful girl!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

She's gorgeous! And just the right size. My vet was telling me about an article she read recently that was about the change in German breeds over the last 40 yrs and they've all been supersized, just like most of us. The standard for a gsd was 60lbs then. I think Ava is on track at 37. You might want to look into training with one of the clubs, I belong to an obedience training club in my area and it's been great! So glad Ava is helping you, that's what friends are for


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## VChurch (Jun 14, 2010)

She's so beautiful!!!

And I wouldn't worry about the size. My little girl is 20 weeks old tomorrow!! And she's a bit smaller as well.

This was Minna at almost eight weeks old:
She weighed....6ish pounds.








And this past week at 19 weeks old:
She is about 19" tall and just over 30 pounds
should mention -- my male that's in the picture with her is 19" and 45-50 pounds (depending on how much running he's been doing with me) -- he's a stocky guy.


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