# 65 lbs @ 7 months - can you help me predict his future weight?



## teresayvonne (Dec 1, 2010)

I'm new to both puppies and Goldens...

My Charlie is 7 months old and around 65 lbs. Not overweight - seems to be filled-out and defined in just the right places. Any guesses as to how large he might get? And around when do they usually reach full size/weight? I'm so curious, I feel like he's a big boy. Thanks for the help!

-Teresa


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

teresayvonne said:


> I'm new to both puppies and Goldens...
> 
> My Charlie is 7 months old and around 65 lbs. Not overweight - seems to be filled-out and defined in just the right places. Any guesses as to how large he might get? And around when do they usually reach full size/weight? I'm so curious, I feel like he's a big boy. Thanks for the help!
> 
> -Teresa


My guy weighed about that much when he was 8-9 months. He was 70-75 pounds when he was a year old, which had our vet all prepared to lecture us about keeping his weight down... until she saw how trim he was. 

He's a month shy of 3 and weighs 80 pounds. He's exactly 24" at the shoulder. 

Oh, and I have pics<: 

He was about 8 months here, 65 pounds, and going through his "lab" phase... 










Here he is about 15 months old, and about 76 pounds. Not an easy angle to see his "tuck" but you can see the "dent" in his side where his waist is. At that point he was already at full height (24" at the withers), but need to fill out a bit more.










And this is him at three and 80 pounds. He is still within the ideal range as far as having a tuck and waist and being able to feel the ribs without pressing. He's done growing, and at this point the only changes I'll see will be his coat maybe getting darker. And I'm watching his nose to see if it stays black. All my previous goldens' noses turned pinkish at the tip by the time they were 4 or 5. 










So I'm saying you might notice similar changes in your dog as he grows up. One note though - my guy is not neutered. I've read here on GRF and other places that if you neuter your dog before they are done growing, that it affects how filled out they are, how tall they are, and possibly how heavy they are.


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## wenryder (Oct 21, 2010)

I checked with our vet, and she told me that the neuturing/growth does not affect all breeds, and not goldens. She mentioned it is more common in cats, that if they are neutured before they are done growing, their heads don't grow as large. It also affects pitbulls, and their heads do not grow to the same size.
Goldens should still reach their full size, neutured or not.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

wenryder said:


> I checked with our vet, and she told me that the neuturing/growth does not affect all breeds, and not goldens. She mentioned it is more common in cats, that if they are neutured before they are done growing, their heads don't grow as large. It also affects pitbulls, and their heads do not grow to the same size.
> Goldens should still reach their full size, neutured or not.


Might want to search GRF on this, although I expect some people might chip in with the usual links. There have been interesting studies.

Personally speaking, I think it probably depends on the dogs themselves and their genes. None of our goldens were neutered (I'm not counting the one who had everything snipped off when he was ten), and they all developed differently. 

All of them had big heads. I'm not sure if that means anything beyond it was in their genes. Our one boy was only 23 inches tall and everyone thought he was a girl, despite his big head. Keep in mind that goldens' fur hides the evidence.

Our other boy never had a big front, mainly because of his elbow dysplasia. When he was young, he was kept thin and exercise was limited. So his shoulders and legs were straight and narrow. Had nothing to do with whether he had testosterone or not. 

Most people who see my Jacks immediately know he hasn't been neutered. I think that's possibly because he has a huge head and there is nothing effeminate about him.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

wenryder said:


> I checked with our vet, and she told me that the neuturing/growth does not affect all breeds, and not goldens. She mentioned it is more common in cats, that if they are neutured before they are done growing, their heads don't grow as large. It also affects pitbulls, and their heads do not grow to the same size.
> Goldens should still reach their full size, neutured or not.


At lot of golden retriever breeders and enthusiasts feel the opposite, that early neutering can change some of the characteristics such as height, head shape, and so on. It's hard to tell, there are many people that compare littermates that are intact and altered and see no difference. A lot of unknown factors here!

I'd say that your puppy will be about the size of his parents. About how large were they? Did they have their CCA or AKC/CKC Championships? If so, I'd expect your puppy to be within the standard.

How much are you feeding? Sometimes that contributes to faster growth but the dog will still reach the same size that their genetics have determined.


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