Hi

Does anybody know what age dogs stop growing? I have a chocolate lab called Bailey who will be six months on 22 October. People keep stopping me the street to stroke him but when they ask his age they keep telling me he's really small for his age. The vet has also agreed with this but obviously he can't do anything. Should I be worried that he isn't developing correctly?  My friends lab who is two weeks only than Bailey is nearly twice the size!

Firstly were the dam and sire small ? Is he also from show or working lines ? Working dogs are often slighter in build and sometimes height.

Have you been in touch with the breeder to see of they have had contact with the other litter mates and if they have any comments on size as he may well have been small as a pup ?

What have you been feeding him and how often ?

If the vet has examined him and has given him a clean bill of health I wouldn't be overly worried but the only issue you may have is if you are intending on showing and he doesn't come upto the breed standards :)

Sorry forgot to say 18 months to a year is normally when Labs stop growing and then normally outwards until old age if given the chance ;) :D

Lucy
xx

He is from show lines. Both of his parents were a good size. His dad was particulary chunky and large in size.

We are feeding him on Arden Grange three times a day at the mo.

No we haven't been in touch with the breeder but as a pup when we picked him up he was one of the three biggest ones.

We will probably get in touch with the breeder to see if she has had any feedback from any of the other owners.

To be honest he is the same size as a lot of 4 1/2 month to 5 month pups are. He is only just up to my knee and i'm only 5 foot.

Will love him to bits either way but like you said i may have problems showing him.

Got the opposite problem with my Cav - at 6 months she was bigger than a lot of the adults in Open!!! Luckily she appears to have stopped growing now and at 10 months doesn't stick out quite so badly! Don't let your boy get fat in an effort to get him to grow upwards!

Awwww, bless - he could just be a late developer. You never know, he might just shoot up all of a sudden. Did you buy him as a showdog?

Hi Cadbury
First point of call would be to go back to the breeder. What is the breeding of your dog -i.e. what is the name of mother and father. A few years ago some labs were a bit on the short side, and indeed Labs can suffer from a condition called Dwarfism (I have never seen a case), but it does exist.

One thing you must remember is he is still a baby, my labs have not reached full potential until 16/18 months. I would suggest you get out the breed standard, and measure him. I would also suggest you go to a dog show and look at the male pups entered into puppy class and see if they are bigger.

The other thing you must consider is exercise, a young pup of 6 months should only have perhaps  two 15 minute periods of exercise a day, i.e. lead walking. Remember puppies spend a lot of time playing and expending energy. One key to good growth is to limit exercise, to allow the dog lots of periods of sleep, and to grow.

Hope the above helps

Thanks Manxpat

I have checked his pedigree and his parents were called - Sire Cherapippin Nelson and the Dam was called Shandalmar Sapphire. Has anyone heard of them?

I have measured him and at the mo he measures about 18 1/2 inches at the withers. According to a book I have on labs male adults should be 22 - 22 1/2 at the withers when fully grown so I suppose he isn't that far off.

We do limit his exercise and are only lead walking him a the moment -  much to Baileys disgust!!!!

I'm sure he will be fine he is all in proportion its just upsetting when people keep telling me that there must be something wrong with him as he is so small.

I'll see if I can check the names for you, I don't recognise them.

Anyway, I think you shouldn't worry, go and see for yourself at a show. See the pups entered in his age group and you will get a good assessment. He is only still a puppy, and I would think that is a fair size - do the people who say he is small have much experience of Labs ? Every dog is different and has different growth rates, but really if at this age he is only 3 inches off the breed standard I would not worry too much.

I still think you should go and see for yourself, make your own decision on what you see entered in shows.

good luck

If he is healthy why worry? Like children they all grow at different rates and Im sure that he will catch up when he is good and ready :)

Cadbury,
I am new to this forum but your post was the first I looked at because I have a lab as well. And it has been in my mind ever since. I always think that my lab is small compared to other labs, he just turned 11 mths (Oct 7) and because of your post I went measured Remi and he's 19.5, so compared to him,yours seems to be going just fine. Although he is a good 70 pounds and all muscle!! I did some searching and the general consensis was that although a few cases are found in  European lines, most cases are from American field lines, which..sigh..is exactly what my little guy is.
It stated (the website) that there are two predominant types/forms of dwarfism, both which are linked to retinal dysplasis, one is phyiscally visible where the dogs legs will bow out, giving a bulldog-type stance with short legs and a large disproportionate head. The other form is caused by adnormal pituitary glands (the ones dealing with their growth hormone), in this case the dogs are proportionate just smaller then average. But if your sweet pup had this form, you would have noticed it in btw 8 - 12 weeks, him now being 6 months, I would think he's just in between growth spurts. Also, this form slows down sexual development in the dogs.
I found all this information ( in a readable form, instead of scientific lingo) at www.labrador-retriever-dogs.org/item/8 just in case you wanted to look further. Sorry not quite sure how to put a link within my post. From everything that I have read, I doubt Bailey has a form of dwarfism. And comparing him to Remi, he seems big, 18.5 at 6 months. lol! Although now with everything I just read and compared your Bailey to Remi, you'd think I should be worried about my lab being small. haha! But his vet has never mentioned anything other then positive things and how so excited Remi is when he's there! But that's a lab for ya! Hope this helps ease your mind!  I wish we could put up pictures, I'd love to see him!!

~Remi's Mom

if its any re-assurance cadbury, my eldest lab was teeny as a baby. She never looked her age. Saying that, she's not particularly big now, but her mum was quite little! On the flip side, my choccy dog is coming up 6 mths. He's about an inch shorter than his big sister, and his paws are almost the size of my neighbours 1 year old rottie ! He's going to be a monster!