Big Dog Breeds…How Fast do They Grow?
I’ve spoken recently about my daughter’s puppy who is a mixture between a Golden Retriever and a standard Poodle. We have always had small to medium sized dogs so it is a new experience to have a big dog breed around.
The first thing that has amazed me is how fast they grow!
It was only three and a half months ago that we brought him home, sitting on my knee in the car now he literally takes up the whole sofa. I am fascinated by the rate of growth they achieve in such a short time. It is so important that they are given the correct food when their bodies are growing so rapidly.
Training is so important when a dog can literally help himself to whatever is on the dining table or kitchen unit. It is so important that the dog has very precise boundaries about what is acceptable. Obviously being the owner of a miniature dachshund I have never had this problem before!
It is so important that a big dog is taught not to jump up someone to greet them. An excitable puppy can easily knock someone over with his enthusiasm and someone who is not a dog lover would not appreciate such an enthusiastic greeting.
Luca can wag his tail and clear a whole coffee table with just one swish and if he catches you with the end of his tail….it hurts.
Also, it can be intimidating for a smaller dog when the bigger dog initiates play, but the big dogs head is as big as the little dog’s whole body!
A stair gate loses its purpose when the dog just strides over it and therefore has access to the whole house.
The question I want to ask is
How do you teach a big dog to be aware of his size?
I genuinely want to know if there is a lightbulb moment when the dog realises just how strong and powerful they are?
Luca is doing well with his training but I’m sure he has no idea of his size. He is a gentle-minded, loveable giant, luckily he would never use his strength in an aggressive way but he is totally unaware of his size. At six months old he still tries to get on my lap, sending my coffee flying and covering both of us in hot liquid.
Here is a list of the most popular dog breeds listed in Wikipedia 2013.
They combined kennel club statistics of 25 countries Worldwide to achieve these figures. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find more up to date Worldwide figures so the list could have changed.
1 Labrador Retriever
2 German Shepherd
3 Poodle
4Chihuaha
5 Golden Retriever
6 Yorkshire Terrier
7 Dachshund
8Beagle
9 Boxer
10 Miniature Schnauzer
It wasn’t a surprise to me that the Labrador Retriever was the most popular breed. I have written about the Lab here.
Many people choose to have a big breed of dog, I’m sure they would be even more popular but people living in apartments or small houses tend to go for smaller breeds.
If anyone has any hints or tips about taking care of these gentle giants I would love to hear from you in the comments. Why do you love large breeds and have you had any funny moments with your dog?
Luca is fed on James Wellbeloved
Luca has thrived on this food, in fact we had to purchase a slow feed dish because he empties his bowl so quickly!
The James Wellbeloved Turkey & Rice is a rich source of Turkey and carbohydrates of rice and barley, that is gentle on your dogs digestion. It is especially designed to support the continued growth and development of young dogs to keep them healthy and active.
James Wellbeloved avoids adding artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. All James Wellbeloved pet foods are hypo-allergenic and use a single source of animal protein to help your pet avoid the misery of food intolerance.
James Wellbeloved is a completely balanced dog food made of natural, wholesome ingredients that are specially selected to provide the nutritional goodness your pet needs:
This is a photograph of Luca the Goldendoodle fully grown. He is a big, goofy chap who still has no idea of his size, and still tries to sit on your knee!
I’ve always been a bigger dog person. There is no light bulb moment. Up to you whether you want to set the rule but if you allow them they think it is perfectly acceptable to sit on your lap when fully grown. One very important thing with bigger dogs is from day 1 not to allow them to jump up at people in greeting/play/exciting times. You may be strong enough but you don’t want to be responsible for killing Granny! A Great Dane I had years ago knocked a friend unconscious by jumping up at him. Be aware generally that people who are nervous of dogs find bigger dogs more scary regardless of the fact they are often gentle giants. Another thing to be careful about, esp when growing is they don’t get stuck trying to squeeze through places they used to be able to squeeze through. I had to saw a gate off Albert who got stuck half way through when he was about 8 months old.
Thanks for the great tips. We feel like we’re constantly telling him off for things that arn’t really his fault. We have to be much stricter with him than the little ones. He’s so adorable though, not a bad bone in his body!