Let's test the theory

[Toad]

Males do take longer to mature both physically and mentally. I don't consider a male to be full grown until they are about 2 years old.

That's interesting to hear!

Johnnie seems to be a late bloomer in general. When I got him, his little testicles were *tiny* - when my friend who is a vet met him at 9 weeks she did a tiny physical exam (force of habit) and said, "his testicles haven't dropped yet." I said, "no, they're there, they're just small - you're looking for little peas!" She said, still palpating, "little peas... little peas... Oh, yep!" The former little peas are now normal saggy dog balls, they just took months to get there.

He also took FOREVER to finish his pee training - he clearly understood, because he would be trotting to the door, but he'd sprinkle all the way there (lol/cry). His primary vet said it sounded like his shutoff valve just wasn't fully developed, but she would work him up more if it persisted at a year. It did not, but we've only been fully dry for about a month.

I'm in touch with the owners of two of his littermates. The female is 57# and the other male is 85#, but his owner said he had gotten noticeably chunky and they cut his kibble so we won't know for a while how they compare as adults.

It's a relief to hear that other males are also slow - although it's not important to me what size Johnnie gets (apart from having fun tracking and speculating), I do sort of hope he gets a little broader as right now he could possibly pass for half greyhound He is field bred so I am not expecting him to be a real chonk, but it would be nice for him to look distinctly labby

[barry581]

Today's "show" Labs IMO don't reflect the breed standard and have gotten away from what they were bred for, and that was a days work in the fields. Most of the show dogs I see get winded running once around the show ring. They are too heavily boned, deep in the chest, short in leg, the heads in many cases look more like Rotties. I can't ever imagine these dogs doing 20-30 retrieves in a day.

Brooks, my 6 year old yellow boy, is too me anyway, the classic looking Labrador. He looks very much like what you would have seen in the show ring 40 years ago. He's fit and athletic, and can literally go all day. Brooks weighs a solid 78 pounds, and is just at 24" tall.

Rose is the exact opposite of Brooks. She is 100% field bred, she very fast and has tremendous amounts of drive. She will run multiple marks in the 200 to 300 range and will be going as hard on the last one as she did on the first. Rose weighs a muscular 56 pounds, and is about 21" tall. She's about 16 months old, and I don't expect her to get any bigger.

Song is bred from British field lines, and based on how his father and brother look, I expect his to be a slightly smaller version of Brooks. He's only 3 1/2 months old so there's still a lot of growing to do.

He is a pic for comparison.

[Toad]

Those are some *gorgeous* dogs. Brooks is IMPRESSIVE!

[barry581]

Song weighed 38 pounds at his 4 month vet visit on 11/30, so I'm estimating 75-80 pounds, about the same size as Brooks.

[barry581]

Song will be 5 months on on 12/30. We stopped by the vet's office today and Song weighed 51.4 pounds.

[zd262]

Tug was 28 pounds at 4 months and at 10 months he weighed in at 69 pounds!

[Toad]

Trying to attach a photo of Johnnie's weight chart here - we'll see if it posts. He is currently 80.8 pounds at 13 months. His rate of growth has slowed and sometimes even fluctuated with a little weight loss (I'm not weighing him at any particular time of day or taking meals or elimination into account, so it's not going to be perfect). He is still getting bigger, on the whole, although it has slowed down a lot. If we follow the 4 month rule I would be expecting his healthy adult weight to be 84#, which tracks as his dad is 85. If that's the case, he'll probably grow very slowly over the next 11 months or so, probably not getting any taller but maybe a little thicker (fingers crossed, LOL). I don't want him to be fat, just a little broader through the chest and head for a "Labbier" look, although he'll never look like an English type and doesn't need to.

[barry581]

Song turned 6 months old today. He weighed in at 62 pounds and is now bigger than Rose!

[Toad]

Johnnie is almost 15 months and still right around 80#. He's a normal adult height and I don't think he's getting any taller, but he's still so *narrow*. Is it possible that his head, chest, and body could still broaden, even at his age, or is this just who he is?

[barry581]

Johnnie is almost 15 months and still right around 80#. He's a normal adult height and I don't think he's getting any taller, but he's still so *narrow*. Is it possible that his head, chest, and body could still broaden, even at his age, or is this just who he is?

Males generally continue to mature until about 2 years......

I haven't been able to get Song's 7 month weight yet, we've been in Hawaii for the past 10 days, and won't get home until this weekend.