Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi,

I apologize first and foremost to post on your forum since I own a Malinois and not Dutch Shepherd. Unfortunately, there are no active Malinois furom on the net.

I recently got a female Malinois when she was 8 weeks old. The breed standard says that females should be around 45-55 lbs. But using her weekly weight at http://www.puppychart.com I am predicting around 75 lbs. Are sites like http://www.puppychart.com to be trusted or she is really going to get that big.

8.5 Weeks 16.5 lb
11 weeks 22.6 lbs
12 weeks 25.2
13 Weeks 27.2
14 weeks 31 lbs.
15 weeks 34 lbs.
16 weeks 37 lbs.

She is by no means fat. If you really pay attention you can see her ribs and definitely feel them when petting her.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Welcome!
Are you new to the breed? From what I've seen, there's a big size variance in both the DS and the Mal. Are you familiar with her lineage?
I've never been to the site link you posted. I don't know that it would really have any significance other than making sure a dog isn't unhealthy.
My Shiloh shepherd was the smallest in her litter, but she put on 5 to 8 lbs each week during her first month with us. Despite sometimes putting on a pound a day, she topped out at 95 lbs(+/-): a full fifteen lbs smaller than her dam and around fifty lbs lighter than her sire.
Are you concerned about her growing to be on the larger end of the spectrum?

Thanks for the reply.

Indeed I am new to the breed. In the past 20 years I have had two GSD whom died of old age (for GSD). This is my first time owning a Mal.

I am pretty familiar with her lineage going back a number of generations. But getting size information for far back is impossible as far as I know. Her great grandfather is Qenny Ot Vitosha. Her mother side is very solid working line as well.

I get a lot of different information on the web, for example one vet says that take her weight at four months of age, multiply by two and the add 10. She will be at least 40 lbs by four month which means she wil hit 90 lbs.

I am concerned about her weight affecting her working ability. I would like to get her involved in schutzhund when time comes. Don't get me wrong, she is perfect health wise and I am not complaining by any means.

Ok. I was wondering if her working ability was what you were worried about. I'm no expert in the field at all. I've never done anything more than nose work. I'm pretty sure Endeavor's sire is in the seventy pound range. He's a pretty hard working guy. Search "Havoc dutch shepherd" on YouTube. He does look slower than some smaller mals. For what it's worth, I had a hybrid that was in the mid eighties and she was the paragon of health and energy until she was ten.