[Gabrielle L]

I have a 7 month old German Shepherd/Alaskan Husky mix who was the largest of the litter. I was told her parents, fully grown, were 55 and 50lbs, but with Kota, there seems to be no end in sight. She, in November weighed roughly 33lb at the vet and since seems to have DOUBLED in size. She doesn’t seem to be overweight, and is active and happy, but I’m a bit worried about “over growing” her and hurting her overall health and development. My best estimate puts her at around 65lbs and she still seems to be growing (in January we estimated roughly 55lbs). I was warned that her parents matured at 18 and 24 months. I’ve adjusted her food between several brands until we got Eukanuba large breed puppy formula and she seemed like she wasn’t starving 24/7, but it seems like she starts losing weight/starving if she gets less than 2.5-3 cups of it twice a day. I’m not sure if I’m just used to small and medium sized dog breeds, or if I need to adjust her diet and/or prepare for a giant. Any advice?

[Lisa O]

It simply means you are going to have a big dog lol! Nutritional requirements are based somewhat on the breed,,but more so on what the average optimal weight of that breed should be. Larger breeds usually reach their height around the 1 year mark and then may fill out a bit more throught second year. Stick to a good brand that does not have more calcium than is needed and optimum protein levels. If your dog is growing at fast rate, as mine did, feed three meals a day so that she gets a steady flow of nutrition and not overload her body, as I am sure she is pretty active and has high energy needs.
I now only feed Acana or Orijen to my dogs along with some homemade fresh food. The actual,best way to tell if you are over or underfeeding is by the body shape. They should not be rotund and you should be able to feel a bit of the ribs. Obviously, weighing her every few weeks is a tell tale sign. Hope this helps!

[Pitlove]

Hi Gabrielle-

Sounds to me like you may be used to smaller dogs! Especially between those 2 breeds mixed together, she will not be done growing by 7 months. With large breeds it is recommended to feed a large breed puppy formula up to 18 months of age to play it safe and make sure they grow correctly. Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy is a good choice and I would personally keep her on that food. This food has been feed trialed with large breeds as well which is a plus. I understand your concern about her dropping weight, however it is far better for a LBP to be a little underweight than overweight by even a few pounds.

What has the vet said about her growth?

[Jenn H]

As always I agree with Pitlove.
I too am growing a monster GSD right now. He’s expected to be 100+. His mother is 90. Much too big for the breed, but that’s a long story…
My boy has gained a fairly steady 2 lbs/wk pretty much since he was born.
The most important things to remember:
-keep calcium 1.5% max
-make sure she gets plenty of protein
-steady growth, not fast growth
I had a GSD that topped out at 85/90 lbs and it took him 3 yrs to get there. He had 1 last little growth spurt to really fill out.
-thinner puppy is better than chubby puppy

I feed my guy 3x/day totalling 4 cups. He also gets 2 Tbsp pumpkin in morning. The food he’s on now seems to satisfy him. Pretty soon he’ll be getting a little more. The food he was on until 6 months required 6+ cups. He was still hungry.
He’s 8 mon 70+ lbs. Tall, long, lanky, skinny. Healthy as can be.
I’m sure your dog will be fine. Feed her LBP/all life stages food and watch the calcium.

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