Measuring a Sheltie for growth

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pogopup

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Hello-first off, I would like to apologize for my stupid question. :lol: But I am trying to figure out if my puppy will be a standard size or undersize when he's full grown. Where do I measure him? I know I'm supposed to measure him at the withers, but sadly, I don't know if that's the front or the back. :o
 
The withers are the top of the dogs shoulders ( shoulder bone ) If you don't have a measureing devise you can use a yardstick next to a wall and a triangle ruler flat against the yardstick( one side of triangle ) and come down to the top of the shoulder blades.

Nina
 
Thanks for the site OntarioSheltie! :smile2:

Now I can't wait to go home and measure him. I personally think he's going to be undersized. Especially when I'm out with him and we come across an adult Sheltie-he is so tiny compared to them!! :lol:

But that's OK! We'll kick some jack russell terrier butt in agility!! :biggrin2:
 
Ok, so I measured him and he is either right at or a hair below 13 inches and his last vet visit (which was Tuesday) was 12.2 lbs. I think he is on track to be standard size. :smile2:
 
I have 2 little itty bitty shelties. They are 7 and 11. Both are under 11 inches tall. They make my regular sized shelties look like moose. The medical issues this little ones have are sad and it was because some breeder thought they are too cute to not want. Ok I am going off topic here. They are adorable but they will always have issues This is Holly my normal sized pupper and she is 9 and this is Maizie who just turned 7
 
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sheltiemom said:
I have 2 little itty bitty shelties. They are 7 and 11. Both are under 11 inches tall. They make my regular sized shelties look like moose. The medical issues this little ones have are sad and it was because some breeder thought they are too cute to not want. Ok I am going off topic here. They are adorable but they will always have issues This is Holly my normal sized pupper and she is 9 and this is Maizie who just turned 7
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You are so correct about the smaller ones. Zoe is way smaller than my other two and she is almost 7 and has to be on K/D because she has Juv. Kidney disease. The breeder that she came from was trying to make a toy Sheltie so they breed for smaller dogs...... duh! Some people just don't realize what they are doing when they try to change the breed standards!
 
OntarioSheltie said:
There are no stupid questions pogopup :smile2:

If you do a search there is a thread from a few months ago about sheltie size.

Below is a link to a growth chart you can use to predict how large your pup may grow. Typically shelties are measured for height at their front shoulder.

http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/size/size.html
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I had the same question a few weeks back!

Bacca is 5 months old and measures about 13 inches....I added an additional inch because I wasn't sure where the top of the shoulder was) :confused2:
If I read the chart right, this would put him in standard range but it does not really tell me how big he will grow. Compared to Timber, Bacca is a big bruiser! I can imagine him turning into a hulking 35 pounder (please, no! :-)

Can someone help interpret the charts? Thanks much!
 
Maybe this site will help you know where to measure at the withers http://www.lgd.org/library/measure.htm
We have been weighing and measuring our puppy since we got her week by week also taking pictures of her weekly. My son is nine and this is his 4-H project on how she is growing. I also found another chart stating at 3 mos. "add about 4" to 4 1/2" to get estimated full Growth Size" I'll have to let you know if this is true or not. Shelly our pup is now 12 weeks (3 mos.)
She is 10 1/2" and weights 7lb 2.8 oz So if that chart is true our pup will be around 14 1/2" to 15" full grown.
We use a postal scale (that goes up to 50lbs :eek2:lets hope she don't tip the scale at that weight LOL:lol:)to weigh her and made a wicket (not a real one like in the shows but it works for us) here's the web site we used
http://ezwicket.homestead.com/index~ns4.html
At first we tape a yard stick to a wall and then put a piece of cardboard across her back at the withers but she moved around to much this wicket we made really helped.
It really won't matter either way what size she turns out to be as long as she is healthy. But it's kind of fun tracking her on the charts.
I'm sure someone can interpret the charts better than what I can. But it seems to me being 13" at 5 months (20 weeks) is in the safe zone. Again I'm not sure if being a male or female has anything to do with it or not. Here are some pic's of weighing, measuring height and a pic of the wicket we made.

12weeksoldmeasurementsandweight021.jpg


12weeksoldmeasurementsandweight015.jpg


12weeksoldmeasurementsandweight020.jpg
 
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