# "OMG! She's so TINY!"



## balloons (Aug 18, 2012)

Piper recently turned 1, YAY! However, I get people asking me ALL THE TIME if she's like 4-6 months old. When I tell them that she's actually a year old, they're always like, "But she's so small, is she sick? What's wrong with her?" It's pretty disheartening if I'm being honest. (coupled with the fact that everyone thinks she's a collie, aussi, belgian, etc. and will fiercely argue with me on her breed) 

I measured her just now and she's about 21" at the withers, and definitely still growing. I know this is close to breed standard, albeit at the lower end. As far as I know, though, she will continue growing for at least another month or so, and she hasn't gone into heat yet so there's definitely some development left to happen.

I think it's because around here people have enormous shepherds that are well out of the breed standard range. ~90-110lb is common to see.
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I guess I'm just wondering if there are others here that get those kinds of questions often about their breed standard/lower end breed standard dogs and how do you respond?
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Some pictures: (When she's standing right up against that red bull thing, her withers are right at the middle of the middle shelf piece which is ~21")
Does she look freakishly small to anyone else?

_*** Images removed by ADMIN due to size *** _

apologies for the bad quality. it's hard to catch her standing still.


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## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

My puppy is 5 and a half months old and about 33 lbs, so I get comments like that all the time. She's about 20" at the withers. I actually had someone today ask me if she was a cat lol.

Your girl just looks like she's on the smaller side of the female spectrum. She's very pretty


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## balloons (Aug 18, 2012)

Thank you! I think she's very pretty too, especially now that her coat doesn't look ridiculous, lol.

I think at 5 months, Piper was probably about 14-15" at the withers. I had originally hoped she'd be on the large side, but I'd never owned one before and I'm actually glad that she's on the smaller side. Much easier to manage, and I can lift her if I need to.


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## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

It's like people where you'll get one woman who is 5'0 ft tall and another who is 5'10 ft tall. It is what it is. I think she's a very pretty girl regardless of of how big or small she is


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## mandiah89 (Jan 18, 2013)

Yes I got this ALLLL the time with Diesel who was 22" at the withers and 45lbs, people would argue too that she must not be pure bred because of how small she was... I just politely told them that she is pure that she is a female which tend to be smaller and she was the runt of the litter (not that has much to do with anything) but that would pacify them  Your girl is beautiful!


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## balloons (Aug 18, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the kind words.  Definitely reassuring that she's not some freakytinyruntdog.


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

She is what she is, personally I think she's really cute! She will fill out a little bit yet, so she is not completely done growing. Mine is at the top of the standard, and sometimes it's a pain 'cause he's so dang heavy, it hurts when he steps on my toes! And when he's coming through, WATCH OUT! Someone in my neighborhood has a GSD x Golden who is the SWEETEST thing. She looks like a very small GSD, probably around 40 lbs and 9 months old with floppy ears and a longer silky coat. Your dog reminds me of her, and she is darling. Absolutely the sweetest thing EVER!


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

She is only slightly below standard and is not done growing yet. GSD is not a giant breed - they are medium sized dogs. Don't let the super size crowd put a damper on things! 

Do what I do when receiving unsolicited comments from the "experts" - smile, nod, roll eyes, and move on with life!


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## lyssa62 (May 5, 2013)

my girl is 35 lbs and 4 months + old... to me ( Roxy - mine) looks small when she's around other german shepherd puppies her age...but most of those have been male and I'm guessing most times the males are bigger. Her size doesn't mean diddly in her strength ..she can still pull me off guard when she spots something.


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## ugavet2012 (Apr 15, 2010)

My GSD was 35 lbs at 7 mths when I got her. She's just filled out to 55 lbs at 3 yrs. She was 49 lbs for the longest time. I've only had 1 person ask if she was a puppy still . She would be a great agility GSD if I had that sport available here.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Piper's a beautiful young lady, I'm sure you'll enjoy her even if she's tad below the AKC GSD breed standard height recommendation.

Slider's 24" and often I hear comments about how small he is for a male. My biggest boy was 30" which is way above the breed standard and I got comments about his size too. All the other Hooligan males have fallen in between the these two. My four girls have been about average.


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## Ursula (Jan 19, 2013)

She is gorgeous and I think she is just fine! 
She has nice markings from what I can see and I love her coat! 
People are so used to see those "big boned" battleships roaming around, that they don't even realize that there are GSDs that are having a finer built.
Also, she is still going to grow. So, she might end up on the shorter side, but I rather admire a shorter GSD with a niec coat than a huge dog.
The other day I ran into a guy with a puppy that was 1 month younger than Q but already was heavier and taller than Q. The guy was bragging around that the parents were all around 120-130 Pounds. IMO not a GSD anymore... 
That is the same guy that tried to examine Q's teeth before I could even push him away from my dog... *sigh* 

I know how annoying those questions are though! 
I had a Border Collie that was a little on the shorter side, which is something desired in Agility circles btw, but everybody thought I was having an over-sized Mini Aussie or a mutt.
Let them talk. Everybody is an expert in finding out breeds and telling you that your dog is not what you think it is, even if you had a genetic test done  ... If I would get a buck every time somebody is breed-analyzing my dogs, I could easily feed a few more... 

Y


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I get that all the time.

My youngest female is just about 13 months old now. She's just a wee bit under 22.5" tall, and around 55-60lbs. Lower end of the spectrum, but still there. In my opinion, she represents the breed wonderfully. 

Every time we bring Storm out..... "Oh she's so small!", "She's a GSD? She doesn't look big enough", "Are you sure she's pure?".... "Oh she's really tiny.... All the ones *I* have are over 90lbs"... and my personal favorite: "That's not pure... she's not the right color, and she's too small".... Honestly, a while back I used to argue with them. I used to tell them to read the GSD standards again and actually read what the breed is supposed to be before commenting on others dogs. But, it really isn't worth it. You can't cure stupid, and you can't educate those who don't want it. I just chuckle under my breath and say "alrighty then, have a wonderful day" and go about my business. It's because of the ignorance on the breed. Even those who own them here have no clue what they are supposed to look and act like. Bigger is better in their minds, and it's not a GSD unless it's a huge horse of a dog that tries to bite everyone's face off (oh Fido is just protective!).


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

She's a cutie! If her size is really a problem you can feel free to send her to me. I downsized after having 3 really big dogs who got older and needed help getting in and out of my truck. Rafi is about 60 pounds and 7 years old and people are always asking if he's a gsd puppy. :wild:

I say just love her small size and everyone else can enjoy their oversize dogs.


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

She is HUGE! How can you afford to feed her? Does she take your children to school? When she wags her tail, does it knock down trees? Bet you never thought you would hear that.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

My Mirada is 3 years old, weighs 55 pounds, and is 22 1/4"

People do comment on her size, but mostly because they think she's cute. I get a lot more comments on my males....people think Strauss and Mahler are small. Both of them are oversized.

People think Loch is REALLY small (he's just BARELY 25").


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## LeoRose (Jan 10, 2013)

I thought I was looking at pictures of my Leontine at first. Seriously, they could be twins. I found Leo as a three month old stray, so I have no idea about her breeding or breeder. She is currently 17 months old, 22.5 inches tall, and weighs about 52 pounds. I get the "she's too small to be a German Shepherd" remark a lot, also.


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## Lalaland (Dec 19, 2012)

I get it all the time too with Maya, she´s on the small side and I get some people telling me she´s ´´too small for a german shepherd´´. and even worse than that are people argueing with me that she´s not a shepherd because of her color. Maya is a sable, and it´s CLEAR she is a sable GSD but i had a vet once tell me ´I think your dog is a mix, german shepherds are brown and black` I ignored his comment, don´t feel like educating people 
but anyway. i´m small too so i´m glad she´s tiny =]


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## NormanF (Apr 14, 2013)

A GSD is a medium sized dog. It could be made smaller through selective breeding to get it down to lapdog size like with Australian Shepherds and Border Collies.

No one has felt the need for it. If anything, some people seem to think the dog is TOO SMALL! :laugh:


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## lzver (Feb 9, 2012)

I completely understand how you feel when people say she is small, ask if she is sick, etc.

Our Jake had chronic digestive issues from the age of 3 – 11 months (he’s 17 months now and finally healthy!) and for quite some time he was underweight to the point that you could see his ribs. He’s also a very tall and short haired 75 lb black and silver GSD. So we got the ‘is he sick?’ question all the time when he was younger. Now we get the ‘is he a pure bred shepherd?” question all the time. We met both parents and they are pure GSD.

The way I look at it, not all humans are the same and not all dogs are the same. Love her for who she is and don’t worry about what others say. Now that our Jake is maturing he is an awesome dog with so much personality … we love him to death! He may not look like your typical shepherd, so he’s our unique shepherd J

Your girl is gorgeous by the way J


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## valb (Sep 2, 2004)

:congratulations: 
on your beautiful little 'pocket shepherd'! (Not my term but
I read it here a few years back, and like it!)

I have one, too, and people (even a vet tech!) mark her down
as shepherd mix. She is 24" at the shoulder, and 62 pounds.
But we had a DNA test done, just out of curiosity, and she's
pure at least 3 generations back.

Our first 2 were early spays and grew a bit out of the standard
(although to most eyes, pure shepherd) but Lillie wasn't spayed
until about a year and a half, so had 1-2 heats to turn off growth
which makes a difference.

And at 60 years old, I'm a lot more comfy with bathing a 62
pounder rather than a 72!


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## balloons (Aug 18, 2012)

Thanks again everyone for the kind words. I know that it's been a while, I just haven't been able to log in (and had also kind of forgotten about it after I was put at ease with a bunch of the responses). Until today.

Today, I was at Petco with Piper, my girlfriend, and Tilly the corgi. Tilly is just coming out of heat so she was in the shopping cart, and just for fun I put Piper in there with her because that's how they were for the trip to Petco right after I picked her up from the breeder. So I thought I would take some comparison pictures. While I was doing this, a man walked over and introduced himself as a new trainer. (He was not wearing a petco shirt so I wouldn't have guessed otherwise) He started telling us how cute they were, petting them, and then asked the dreaded question: "So how old is she, like 6 months?" Then the following exchange happened. (abridged for clarity, there was more but that would have been repetitive to type.)

Me: No, she's a year and a couple months.
Him: Oh wow, she's really tiny.
Me: She's on the smaller side of average, but still within breed standard and will grow a little more.
Him: No, she's just tiny. Was she the runt? (Here I will interrupt my own story to fume about how people seem to think that tiny=runt! >:| )
Me: No, she's small, but not THAT small and she was neither the runt nor the smallest.
Him: Well runt is just another word for small. Anyways, German Shepherds are supposed to be 80 lbs.
Me: Sure, males are.
Him: No, females are. Males should be 130.
Me: O_O wut? No, that's way over-sized.
Him: No, that's normal. I've seen a lot of shepherds.

At this point I offered to show him the breed standard, but he kind of just blew me off. He was being super rude, imo, and acting like the king of GSD knowledge. Later while still in the store, my gf tells me that she heard him talking about me & piper to someone else, and at that point I thought he'd crossed a line. I found the head trainer lady who I'd met before, told her about the situation and she agreed that the things he'd said were uncalled for and that a lot of shepherds in our area are definitely oversized but that Piper is a cutie. She said that she would talk to him.

So, small victories, I guess.


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## Apple (Jun 21, 2013)

Summer is 11 weeks old and 15lb 7oz. People keep telling me she's small. I'm going to my local shepherd club on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see. She is on the slim side (burns more than she eats IMO lol!) but I would prefer her trim and athletic for agility anyway. 
People will always have opinions on your fur babies, if you love her, then ignore them. I have a GSD x husky who is 95lbs... He should be 73lbs. But people always tell me he "looks fine" he's in a diet and I get asked all the time "why is he on a diet? He looks great!" Yeah sure... Cause wobbling when he walks is great!!
I can't see the pic of piper, but I'm sure she's beautiful!  


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Gee, I wish I could see the pictures


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## Piper'sgrl (Apr 20, 2012)

NormanF said:


> A GSD is a medium sized dog. It could be made smaller through selective breeding to get it down to lapdog size like with Australian Shepherds and Border Collies.
> 
> No one has felt the need for it. If anything, some people seem to think the dog is TOO SMALL! :laugh:


The GSD is not a medium sized dog by any means. Females can be but at usually 60-70lbs for a female least the ones I've met..thats not that "medium" A medium dog to me is a 40-55lb dog. GSD's are considered a large breed dog, why? Because they are...


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

70lbs is on the higher range of the females I know (working lines and German show lines that are actually titling and doing breed surveys...many pets seem to be larger).


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

i think breed standards should be fluid. the height and weight of an average size man today is much taller and bigger than the "average" size man in 1950. with better nutrition and health care, of course the german shepherds of today should grow a little taller and bigger than the "breed standard". back then im sure the quality of kibble must be super low. 

german shepherds are considered large breed. a 50 pound german shepherd imo IS considered small


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

The breed was developed before people were feeding processed food in bags. Diet has nothing to do with it. We have altered the breed to fit the "bigger is better" mindset of many pet people and taken the breed away from the agile working breed it was designed to be. They are a medium to medium large breed.


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## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

I always get those comments, " oh she's such an itty bitty thing, my shepherd is so much bigger." Lexie is 70 pounds, so would be at the top of the breed standard, and the shepherds I see around here are very large, aka big boned!!!!!!!!


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## balloons (Aug 18, 2012)

I hadn't realized the pictures were broken.


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## Rbeckett (Jun 19, 2013)

My 23 Mo is just now reaching 54 pounds. She is definitely a smaller female, but her strength is amazing and her bite power isalso quite good too. She can squeeze a Cuz ball completely shut and leave holes where she penetrated the hard rubber. She is a real cutie and her ears are floppy too. She isn't a show dog, she is my forever pet and Service Animal too. From everything I have seen and read, true GSD's are not giants and if yours is a giant I would suspect something could possibly be amiss. I am not casting dispersions on anyone or there ethics, I am just saying a dog that conforms to the breed standard is not a giant. Especially if she is just now coming on a year, she still has a year almost to fill out and firm up quite a bit. Again what I have read states that they do not stop growing till almost the age of two. Hope this helps and it shouldn't make any difference anyway because if she is like mine, she is the twinkle in your eye everyday. Just sayin....

Wheelchair Bob


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## boomer11 (Jun 9, 2013)

i got a german shepherd because i liked the mix of agility and power. a 50 pound shepherd who is all grace but no power or a 110 pound shepherd who is all power and no grace isnt what most people would want; especially those who actually work their dogs.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

A smaller end of the scale GSD is what we are hoping my wife's doc will decide on. He wants a mal primarily due to size. He was under the impression that gsds are all 90-100lbs.


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## Breanne-93 (Oct 10, 2014)

Adorable !! Mines on the smaller size too. Vet said he probably won't get much bigger, but he's only 6 months right now. Also I am in the same boat when people ask about his age and breed since people are used to seeing large gsd and Black and Tan.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

The two GSDs we have now are the smallest I have had in 50 years of owning GSDs. (The largest was a rescue red sable, oddly enough wl, registered with the United Schutzhund Clubs of Am., who measured the same as the low breed standard for female Danes).

Orick, my current male, is 56 lbs (weighed after a meal, lol), is of Czech breeding, but was starved and abused for the first year of his life--no nurturing at all, so he has an excuse for his size. Still, he is as strong as much larger GSDs I have had, very atheletic, and has thrived since we have had him.

Jade, my female, is the finest-boned GSD I have had, no taller than Orick, but longer-bodied--she is very elegant to look at. She is 67 lbs, and also deceptively strong.

At this point in my life (soon to be 68 yrs.) their size is just fine, I can physically do whatever I might need to do with/for them. Pix attached, Orick is the sable, and Jade is black. In the photo where they are together in the house, the bottom of the window molding is about 20 inches from the floor, just to give you an idea of their size (I have never actually measured either of them).



Susan


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