Ridgeback weights

[masterhulk]

Hi Everyone
This is my first post (so be gentle lol )
My Ridgeback is coming up for 10 months and weighs 42kg he is extremely lean and gets 2 3mile walks every day
I was just wondering if people could post their dog weights at that age and now if they are older or even their weight if younger than 10 months, I am trying to get a comparision for how big he will grow, and if indeed he is big for his age.

thanks
Peter/Deezal

oh he is a male intact!

[caro]

I think weight depends on a lot of things.  First, how big are your dog's knuckles and feet.  That's usually a good indication of how big he is going to be.  Second, is he a long lean type of dog?  Often these don't appear to be heavy, but very well may way a lot more than they look.  Do you know how large were his parents?  That would be a good indication. 

I have one dog who weighs 93 lbs when he is in good condition.  He is a heavy boned short coupled type of dog--very strong and muscular.  I now have a puppy who is just 12 weeks.  He is the exact opposite--long and lean with very long legs.  He will probably grow to be quite a big dog judging by his knuckles and feet, but right now, he looks skinny and should be quite light until you try to lift him up, then you find out that he is a whole lot heavier than he looks.

A good rule of thumb to judge correct weight is that you should see the shadow of the ribs; you shouldn't be able to count the ribs, but you should be able to see them when he moves.

Can you post a picture of your dog and we can see if we can guess how large he will end up being.

Caroline

[brian]

Hi,

Our RR is 10.5 months old and is 85lbs which is 39kg. He is lean and intact as well.

[masterhulk]

thanks Brian
its great to get a comparison!
Caroline I tried to post some pictures but I am away with work right now and have limited bandwidth and pictures so will post when i return home.

cheers guys

Peter

[rrbylexus]

I agree with Caroline, weight can vary so much.  As she said, to make sure your dog is at a weight that is right for him, make sure you can always see a faint outline of ribs and you should be good to go.  Enjoy your boy for who he is and don't worry about what size he will be when mature. :-)

Pam Mathews

[masterhulk]

thanks Pam
yeah I love him 1million %

Peter

[heiditr]

Caroline writes good words. If you can see the shadow he's perfect.

My boy is now almost 6 years, and he has always been lean and his weight has been around 43-44 kilo after he turned 2 years. He was down to 41 after a case of stomach flu. He looked so skinny, and his ribcage showed really good.
So last week I thought he was getting too skinny again, and started feeding him extra, poor boy... It's hard work too keep up with an active young lady. Weighed him the day after, and what do you know: he was 45,2 kilo! All muscle and no fat, so he is still getting an extra ration of food, because he looks skinny.



Heidi

[Deniseeb]

At 10 months, my intact male weighed 90 pounds.  He is now 2 years and 5 months and he weighs 95 pounds and is 29 inches tall.  As Caro pointed out, you can see a shade of ribs and he is lean and muscular and fit.  He has much more bone that my other male does.  Finn gained about 10 pounds a month until he was 9 months old and then he slowly got about an inch taller and a few punds heavier.  He reached his height at 18 months and his current weight at about the same time. 

My neutered male was 65 pounds at 10 months.  He is now 3 years and 5 months, 28 inches and now, FINALLY, weighs in at 84 pounds and he is lean and healthy.  He is finer boned than my intact male.  He was a picky eater and gained 7-8 pounds a month.  Once I started adding a little canned food to his diet, he gained his weight.  He reached his height at about 16 months of age. 

Denise

[kitoyogi]

My intact male weighed between 41kg at 10 months and was 27" tall. He is now almost 14 months and weighs 42kg and is 27.5" tall. Hopefully, he is done with most of his growth. He grew fast and at 9 months slowed down almost overnight. I went from feeding him 6 cups a day to 3 cups. Now he gets between 3 to 4 cups a day.

[George Boateng]

I think weight depends on a lot of things.  First, how big are your dog's knuckles and feet.  That's usually a good indication of how big he is going to be.  Second, is he a long lean type of dog?  Often these don't appear to be heavy, but very well may way a lot more than they look.  Do you know how large were his parents?  That would be a good indication. 

I have one dog who weighs 93 lbs when he is in good condition.  He is a heavy boned short coupled type of dog--very strong and muscular.  I now have a puppy who is just 12 weeks.  He is the exact opposite--long and lean with very long legs.  He will probably grow to be quite a big dog judging by his knuckles and feet, but right now, he looks skinny and should be quite light until you try to lift him up, then you find out that he is a whole lot heavier than he looks.

A good rule of thumb to judge correct weight is that you should see the shadow of the ribs; you shouldn't be able to count the ribs, but you should be able to see them when he moves.

Can you post a picture of your dog and we can see if we can guess how large he will end up being.

Caroline

Very interesting. George has always been an little on the skinny side, although he's had his food upped plenty of times. His ribs have always been visible whatever he's doing ... although recently, its more of a shadow rather than the ribs. Even at his skinniest, my vet said he was perfect so I was pretty happy with that but he does look better now he's gained a more weight.

He still has huge front paws which still seem out of proportion to the rest of his body ... I suppose this could be a sign that he's going to be a big boy!!

[aerobins]

Apollo is approaching 8 months (on the 30th) and is nothing but legs. He is still intact (until he hits 1 year) and weighs a little over 70 pounds. He is very leggy with very large feet. I imagine he'll continue getting taller, but will probably max out at around 100 lbs. Right now he is on Nutro Puppy and gets a little over 2 cups in the morning and in the evening.

[caro]

George, with big dogs it is better to err on the side of being skinny than to have a fat dog as being overweight puts an awful lot of stress and strain on the joints which is something you absolutely want to avoid at all cost.

Caroline

[Deniseeb]

With regard to the amount I fed my growing boys (and the bitch I have) - from 5-10 months old, they were eating 6-7 cups of food per day - 3 in the morning and 3 at night and on a particularly active day - 1 cup at lunch.  I also never fed a puppy food to them.  At about 10 months/11 months, I cut them back little by little to what they eat now - 4 cups a day.

Caroline is right.  Skinny is better than too fat.  But too skinny is not good either, especially when they are growing.  A shadow of rib is good.  I find that I have a harder time maintaining the weight on the female.  She has a voracious appetite and has no problem putting on excess weight.  I am always adjusting her food.  She grew pretty much the same as the boys, with her last half inch coming after her first heat. 

Denise

[joecop]

Our vet told us to give our 2 girls 3 cups a day, 1.5 in the morning and 1.5 in the evening.  It was the same as a puppy as full grown.  Ziva the rescue weighs 60 lbs and is almost 2 and Jasmine last weighed 77 pounds and is 2 years and 3 months.  Y can see a shadow of ribs on both.

[kitoyogi]

Being too skinny can also stunt growth. Ideally, with pups you want to see the shadow of ribs when they are running and playing. On an adult, you don't want to see more than the last two ribs.