# Anyone has a small purebred GSD?



## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

My female sable puppy is 7 months and 46lbs. She has small paws and her tail doesn't reach the ground and looks short compared to other GS I've seen. She is lean and will likely gain more but in the last month has only gained a few pounds. When she stands next to other GS we see in public, she's about half their size. I'm guessing she'd be at most 50lbs when done. 

Question - does anyone out there have a small purebred GSD? Just curious how prevalent this is since I haven't seen or heard of one this small. She is not from a breeder but looks 100% purebred to me. 

Here's a youtube of her drinking water at 4 months. She still looks like that except bigger and lighter in coat color.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Kenya is pure working lines and weighs 50lbs. She is going on 9 years.
Alta-Tollhaus-Krieger Lamb Chop - German Shepherd Dog


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

If she's 46 pounds at 7 months old I pretty much guarantee she'll be more than 50 pounds when fully grown. 

Halo is on the small side compared to other females we've had, but at just under 60 pounds she is almost exactly at the mid-point of the standard. She didn't grow a lot after she turned a year old, and even less between a year and 18 months, but she definitely put on more than 3 pounds after 7 months old, which is still a puppy.


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

Found a previous post - Halo was 46-1/2 pounds at 6 months old: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/feeding-our-puppy/109715-13-5-weeks-28-lbs.html#post1488433


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

is your dog also in a youtubey under the name "eating lunch"? this one 



 -- in either video I can't see anything wrong with paw size or tail length or even body size. You are taking a young 7 month and comparing her to an adult (?) .
If that is your dog , what is that stuff you are feeding. If that is your dog there is lack of tone and ribbiness . The coat looks mat . In the first video you can (drinking water) you can see the lack of tone in the thigh and the difficulty getting up into standing .
The dog is still hungry and looking for food. Looks like a lot of water and little substance . Exercise . Less crate time. Run with the dog . That will get some muscle , tone , and even bone density.

Carmen
CARMSPACK.com


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Don't forget, your puppy is only 7 months of age! If she's 46 lb now, she'll probably be at least 55 when mature, probably more. She'll certainly be within the breed standard.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

My female is 23" at the withers and 63lbs at 14 months old. I always considered her "small" but was told by a well known judge yesterday that she "a large female" as part of her critique (SV show).

If she is large, I'd be quite curious to see what a "small" GSD is like!


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

carmspack said:


> is your dog also in a youtubey under the name "eating lunch"? this one Eating lunch - YouTube -- in either video I can't see anything wrong with paw size or tail length or even body size. You are taking a young 7 month and comparing her to an adult (?) .
> If that is your dog , what is that stuff you are feeding. If that is your dog there is lack of tone and ribbiness . The coat looks mat . In the first video you can (drinking water) you can see the lack of tone in the thigh and the difficulty getting up into standing .
> The dog is still hungry and looking for food. Looks like a lot of water and little substance . Exercise . Less crate time. Run with the dog . That will get some muscle , tone , and even bone density.
> 
> ...


Yep, that's my dog. She eats raw and for that meal (lunch) she was having grounded turkey mixed with eggs and maybe a little garlic. She is always looking hungry!! She gets at least that much every meal 3X a day back then. Was that too little? I kept upping her food when she was younger till I start to see the tummy becoming less defined so we did go thru a phase where I kept increasing her food intake but it was done slowly. The coat is probably matted since I didn't brush her much when she was younger because she thought it's an invite for more biting so I avoided it. At that age, she was crated only for sleeping and meal times and when I can't calm her down. She doesn't get crated when I work since I work from home so I just watch or leash her during the day. The drinking video was right after she came back from an off leash hike... she was really pooped as she normally stands when drinking. That was the only time she laid down to drink thus the reason I took the video because it was so unusual. She gets lots of off leash runs in the park and trails daily. She looks more toned now especially after we started to fetch and tug. 

Thanks for watching the videos so thoroughly and the detail comments!! You got it pretty good.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

My male is 13 months and only 65lbs.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Wow. My male is 23 weeks old and 50 pounds already


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Thanks for all your responses. So my dog isn't extremely small after all!  I was just curious since I haven't seen a small GSD in person and in the threads on this forum where people talk about how much their dogs weigh it was always more than my dog's. 

Some GSD owners I met on the walks have thought she's not pure because of her size, even considering the age she's at (and then there are people who don't think she's a GS at all because of her sable-ness). I like to tell people that my GS kept herself small to ease my learning curve as a first time GS owner.


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Kira was 42 lbs at 7 months. Not sure what she is now, a month later...I really don't keep track of weight, as long as they look/feel good, I am not concerned. Wherever she ends up is fine with me, she should be within the standard.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Bear L said:


> Some GSD owners I met on the walks have thought she's not pure because of her size, even considering the age she's at (and then there are people who don't think she's a GS at all because of her sable-ness).


Most people are simply ignorant. Tell them the standard for female GSD is 48.5 - 70.5 pounds at maturity; anything more than that is either oversize or overweight. Then they will have learned something.


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

I'd guess she'll probably be in the mid-50s as an adult. Nothing wrong with that.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

My girl is 2 yrs and fluctuates between 63-66 lbs.  
My friend's shepherd is 6 months and weighs 45 lbs


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Freestep said:


> Most people are simply ignorant. Tell them the standard for female GSD is 48.5 - 70.5 pounds at maturity; anything more than that is either oversize or overweight. Then they will have learned something.


Thanks, I'll memorize those numbers for the next GS chit chat on "Is your dog pure bred?"


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Looks perfectly fine to me, a pretty girl to boot! My female is 59lbs, my husband's female is 51lbs soaking wet. We measured her recently and she is at the bottom end of the standard, but within standard. We absolutely love her size, she is an absolute hoot to work and everyone who meets her and sees her work wants to take her home. 
A friend recently bought a half sister, who is going to be a peanut just like our Rocket. Like her half sister, we think if she were any bigger it would be just too much .


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

bocron said:


> Looks perfectly fine to me, a pretty girl to boot! My female is 59lbs, my husband's female is 51lbs soaking wet. We measured her recently and she is at the bottom end of the standard, but within standard. We absolutely love her size, she is an absolute hoot to work and everyone who meets her and sees her work wants to take her home.
> A friend recently bought a half sister, who is going to be a peanut just like our Rocket. Like her half sister, we think if she were any bigger it would be just too much .


Curious how people weigh their dogs at home? I taught her how to sit on the human scale today. If she were any bigger her butt wouldn't fit. Previously the way I weigh her is - weigh myself first then weigh together with her, then subtract how much I weigh. Today when I tried to do that again she squealed and ran away from me like I was crazy so I had to teach her to get on it herself. 

I like the smaller size too since it makes some things logistically easier. Good to know there are people with small dogs like mine!


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## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

This thread reminded me of the Dwarf German Shepherd Dog. Has the look of a pup throughout it's entire life.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

GSDkid said:


> This thread reminded me of the Dwarf German Shepherd Dog. Has the look of a pup throughout it's entire life.


Wow, that's kind of weird. Doesn't look very GS but more like a toy dog. Interesting!


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Holly is 20 months old and weighs between 60/62 lbs depending on how long between weigh ins.


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