A mixed puppy or mixed breed puppy is one whose parents are not of the same breed. If you have recently adopted or bought a mixed breed pup, you might be naturally curious about its growth. After all; most pet parents would want to know that. Here are some ways to tell how big a mixed puppy will get.
Puppy age, weight and height
Dogs under 20 lbs are considered small breed, dogs between 20-60 lbs are considered medium breeds and large dogs are between 65 and 120 lbs. Any dog above 120 lbs can be considered as giant breed category. A dog is considered a puppy until it is 1 year old though most small breeds reach their full growth at 6 months. Larger breeds may take nearly 14 months to reach their full potential. So how can you tell how big a handful of a pup will grow up to be?
How big will my puppy get?
Meet the parents
It is often difficult to estimate the size of a fully grown mixed puppy. With a purebred, you can easily search for the height and weight ranges (using the puppy growth chart by breed) readily available on top dog websites. But with a mixed breed, you can only estimate the height and weight of the fully grown adult mixed breed. You can tell how big your mutt will get by meeting the pup’s parents. Even if you cannot meet both parents, you might want to at see the dam. The puppy’s mother’s height and weight can be a good ‘puppy height and weight calculator’. If your puppy is a female, she might grow to be almost as big as her mother. Males tend to be slightly larger than females. This is one way to tell if a dog is going to be big.
Check its coat
Many times, in case of rescue or adopted shelter pups, the pup’s parentage is unknown. You could take a look at the pup’s coat to get a clue to its parentage. Speak to the shelter attendants or a vet who can tell you what the puppy’s parentage is based on the coat. This, in turn, can help you predict if the dog is going to be big.
Get a vet to examine the pup
Vets have tons of experience as they have seen many types of dogs and dog breeds over the course of their careers. Your vet can take a look at your mixed puppy and easily estimate its height and weight at adulthood. General rule of thumb to tell how big your mutt will get is that an adult dog is nearly 4 times the height and weight of the puppy at 4 months of age.
Use puppy height and weight calculator
You can use puppy height and weight calculator charts for toy, medium and large breeds to estimate puppy’s height and weight. The following images show approximate puppy height and weight for different types of dogs. If you vet has estimated your puppy’s parentage, you can use these graphs to approximately estimate your pet’s height and weight when s/he is fully grown. This will help you out when you need to buy a dog bed or dog crate for your pet.
Use mathematical functions formula
Mathematicians and algebra experts have also come up with puppy weight and height calculator using a simple formula. The following method is applicable for medium breeds:
- First, calculate your puppy’s weight –‘w’ (in pounds)
- The age of your puppy is represented by ‘a’ weeks where ‘a’ is 16 weeks or less
Then the adult weight ‘W’ is represented by the function W=W (a,w) in pounds given by following formula: W= 52 (w/a)
Alternatively, you can also multiply your puppy’s height at six months by 100 and divide the answer you get by 75. This is a fairly accurate estimate to tell how big your mutt will get.
Use puppy paw size
Many dog experts can also predict puppy’s height and weight from its paw size. Use the following puppy paw size chart to predict how big your pet could get. However, this is not an accurate way of telling. Many puppies with large paw sizes have only grown into medium sized dogs whereas many pups with paws that aren’t anything to speak of have been known to develop into large dogs.
Take a look at its bone structure
One way to get an idea of whether your mixed puppy will grow into a large or small dog is to take a look at its bone structure, especially the legs. Puppies with large bone structure and heavy legs with larger paws will usually grow into a heavier and larger dog as compared to one with fine bones, small legs and small paws-at the same age. Note that some breeds with very fine bone structure-such as the Greyhound- are known to grow up to be rather tall.
Unless you have a purebred, you can never really tell if a dog is going to be big. With pure bred puppies, the height and weight will lie within certain range based on the breed’s height and weight range. But remember one thing: your mixed puppy will grow for sure so always allow for its adult size before you buy a lead, collar, crate or dog bed. We hope the resources and articles on this website help you to enjoy your new pet and help you take good care of her/him.