Growing Like a Weed (or Two)

Ever since we got the puppies we've been curious about how big they are going to get. Chuck likes medium-sized dogs, and I am one who thinks "the bigger, the better." I think we're both going to be pretty happy with our pups when they become adults, if we can believe the suggested estimates for weight. One thing's for sure; they're growing like weeds!

Every several days, I've had to loosen both of the puppies' collars. Bristol and Sami have both nearly doubled in size in the seven weeks we've had them. That amazes me. They don't seem to be that much bigger, and yet, the numbers don't lie.

Bristol is a couple of weeks younger than Sami, and has always outweighed her by about four pounds. He has huge puppy paws, and Sami's are medium-sized. Bristol has very loose skin to allow for some serious growth, but that may also be due to the possibility of his being part Shar-Pei, which is a breed known for its deep wrinkles. 

There seems to be some consensus out there that if you double a puppy's weight at four months, you can predict their adult weight. I love that one veterinarian clinic posted an article online for How to Sorta Kinda Predict a Puppy's Adult Dog Weight. Apparently, this isn't an exact science, but since I'm just curious, and think it's fun to think about, I'm recording where the puppy's are at this point to see how accurate the guesstimate is. 

At four months, Sami weighed 22 pounds, and Bristol weighed 32.5, so we're looking at 44 pounds for Sami and 65 pounds for Bristol when they're adults. In the past I've mostly had large Labrador retrievers. Sami will be much smaller than any of them, and Bristol will be the size of a small male Lab. Considering I'm not as strong as I used to be, it's probably good Bristol isn't going to be as large as I'd originally hoped. He'll be plenty big enough for me!