lab ?

[ohiyotee]

I have a 5 mounth old female lab and am afriad she will go over standard. she is already 20 inchs and the max is 23 .5 what do you think ? will she grow more than 3.5 more inches?

[Bristleback]

What's the size of her parents!

[ohiyotee]

they are true to type, she just seems big for her age but i have never raised a lab.

[trappnman]

unless you are going to show her or trial her in sanctioned events, its of no concern.

the AKC standard says -

Size--The height at the withers for a dog is 22½ to 24½ inches; for a bitch is 21½ to 23½ inches. Any variance greater than ½ inch above or below these heights is a disqualification. Approximate weight of dogs and bitches in working condition: dogs 65 to 80 pounds; bitches 55 to 70 pounds.

so a female can go to 24 and still be shown-

but these numbers are low for many hunting strains 100 lb males aren't that uncommon, and their height excedes 25 inches by several inches.

bigger dogs- larger chests better endurance, larger bitches far easier on whelping-

its like beagles- I used to know a few guys that breed and ran for their own pleasure registered hounds, that they bred into strains almost like harriers- 15-18" where 15 inches in beagles, is the cutoff-

5 months old- she has most likely done most of her growing heightwise- the average first season is from 6-9 months, and most dogs I've found are at adult heights when that occurs-

if i had to guess- she will stop under that 24 by an inch or two

[ohiyotee]

I plan on breeding her down the road , and out of respect for the breed i think that one should hold true to type. i mean is a 100 pound 30 inch dog still a lab? to me no it is a new breed, it fits no where in the description of what a lab is. It doesn't even move the way a lab should . No matter what , if we are going to label something, don't we have a responsibility to the past ,shouldn't it fit the description?.

[Steve Gappa]

why not breed her to a small male? your pups should mostly be smaller- eps if your bitches hertatige is for staadard sized- genetics is all important here-

I hd a beagle bitch- 15 and 1/2 inches- out of 30 plus pups none every went over 15, and 4 finished.

trust me, a 100 lb lab moves exactly like a lb should grew up with lots of labs including Fd chs- my son in law owns a 100+ male tat is all ab in eveyway-

not sure why you ade this post- you got youur mind made up so don't breed her

[jadams]

If her folks were pure labs, than she's a lab. I have had two dogs, both from central South Dakota. First was a Blk lab female that weighed 83 in her mid to later years. The excellent specimen I have now is a 63 lb female at 4 years. If she is a good one, forget the text book stuff.