# Paw size any indicator of adult size?



## Zan (Nov 12, 2010)

I have always heard this....but started wondering if there is really anything to it. Neko is on the small side - 27 lbs. at 16 weeks, height about 19" at withers. But her paws are gigantic! She has been gaining about 10 lbs/month, so I think she's doing just fine growth-wise.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Paw size really has nothing to do with adult size. Basset hounds have HUGE feet but they are short dogs. (THey are however heavy dogs.)


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

I agree with BlackGSD on this one. It has nothing to do with how large the dog will eventually be.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Nope...no correlation. As said above, consider how little bassets are and how big their feet are, vs greyhounds which are big dogs and have tiny little feet.


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## GoSearchk9 (Oct 20, 2010)

Cyrus has very large feet and he is very much on the smaller size. At 8 months he is only 63lbs!!


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## Hansel & Gretel (Oct 26, 2010)

All of my puppies had what I would describe as huge paws. Only my last male actually got really big. In fact, my second female probably had the biggest paws and she was the smallest. 

I agree, no correlation.

John


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

This is for a lab, but he had HUGE feet as a puppy - estimates for his weight were for 80-85 lbs...he is now a whopping 60 lbs  (he'll be 4 in Feb)


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## GoSearchk9 (Oct 20, 2010)

FG167 said:


> This is for a lab, but he had HUGE feet as a puppy - estimates for his weight were for 80-85 lbs...he is now a whopping 60 lbs  (he'll be 4 in Feb)


LOL sounds like Cyrus!!!


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## Lesley1905 (Aug 25, 2010)

Yeah I don't agree with that either. When I was little, we had a yellow lab that had MASSIVE paws...she ended up being the smallest lab I have ever seen  She almost looked as if she wasn't a pure breed because of how small she was!


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## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

haha i guess i'll be an exception here in that in my experience paw size has been a pretty good indicator of how big our dogs got. 

1) first dog ever was a lab, got him as a puppy, had huge paws, ended up being a tall and lean 85lb dog

2) rescued a lab mutt, had very moderately sized paws, grew to be about 60lbs, just about what was expected

3) rescued a pure bred walker coonhound who was only about 2 months at the time. Had huge paws and grew to be a a lean and well built 80lb hound. 

4) Now have a 5 month old gsd with huge paws, everyone comments on it, and on the day he turned 5 months he weighed 60lbs. So we still have to wait and see what happens with him.

When you post stuff like this you'll often get replies that concern only the extremes (its why no poll on the internet saying "Is Obama doing a good job running the U.S.? Click yes or no," is at all publishable, because only the extremes reply. So, likely, you're going to get people here saying either "my dogs paws were huge and they're a small dog" or "my dog had tiny paws as a pup and grew to be huge." 

I would assume that the case is, in most instances, that a puppy will usually grow to fit their paws proportionately. BUT, big or small paws is operational to the breed. So, what's big for a schnauzer is obviously not comparable to what is big for a gsd. Maybe there is a real study out there that proves or disproves paw size as an indicator of adult size??

I know that for people foot size IS an indicator of height.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Rocky has very petite little paws for his size.



Dr89 said:


> I know that for people foot size IS an indicator of height.


Yes, but is your foot size at 3 years old an indicator of your height at 30?


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## ZebsMommy (Dec 4, 2010)

I don't think it's any real indication. Zeb has huge paws and he is small...only 68 pounds full grown.


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## Lesley1905 (Aug 25, 2010)

I'm only 5'3 and wear a size 8 and a half or 9  That's big feet for a girl!


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## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

Emoore said:


> Rocky has very petite little paws for his size.
> 
> 
> Yes, but is your foot size at 3 years old an indicator of your height at 30?


No no, its not. I wasn't trying to insinuate that it was. I was going to say this doesn't correlate to dogs for many reasons. They grow faster for one, and like with GSD's, there is a much more defined criteria for how big a full grown adult "should" be. 

BUT, I do think that paw size, statistically, is probably an indicator of adult size. My pup right now has bigger paws than my lab mix that is 4 years old and 60lbs, it is unlikely that my pup will grow up to be anything less than 70lbs. 

I would guess that the people who have pups with huge feet who grow to be irregularly small, or vice versa, is in the minority...yet this thread keeps turning up people who fit that criteria (as I thought it might)


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Dr89 said:


> I know that for people foot size IS an indicator of height.


Not always! My grandmother was 5'2" and petite and wore a size 9 shoe!


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## Dr89 (Nov 18, 2010)

BlackGSD said:


> Not always! My grandmother was 5'2" and petite and wore a size 9 shoe!


Haha yea but that's what I mean...thats an exception. How many hundreds of people do you know who have a completely average foot size for their height?

Just like pups, there are plenty of exceptions, but how many thousands of them fit the model [big paws --> big dogs.]


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