Tues 24th Jan: How big will a puppy grow to be?

Sweet Hester left today

It was Hester's turn to leave our HKDR@Elgin space today, and tomorrow there will be another lucky dog heading off to start her new life.  There are still plenty to choose from if you're looking for a small or medium sized dog, though no poodles at the moment (as many are asking). 

Once again we had quite a few potential adopters coming to meet the dogs, and I was so happy to see that one of the Tai Po doglets had left for a trial with the resident dog.  As always I don't want to give the name just in case it doesn't work out, but this particular boy had come to us as one of a newborn litter who had ended up moving to the big Homing Centre when they outgrew the space at Kennedy Town.  When I say outgrew I'm talking both in terms of age and size, because although tiny as day-old orphans, these puppies just grew and grew.   The question that arises all the time with mixed breed puppies is "how big will he/she get?", and the answer is almost always that we have no idea.  

One of these three left Tai Po today

Sometimes you can tell that a puppy won't be a large adult because of the short legs, like Zoe, currently at our Kennedy Town North Street Centre.  She came with two other "Z" puppies, Zara and Zinnia, and although they all have the same body size, only Zoe has the short legs. 

Short-legged Zoe

When the gorgeous-but-shy "F" puppies first arrived, I had thought they would all grow to be large sized adults, but as they've got older it now seems that at least a couple aren't going to be big at all.  

The "F" puppies

Unfortunately, although they have definitely lost some of their initial fear, these youngsters are still quite timid and will need to live in a home with a more confident dog, and without children. Under the right conditions and with proper guidance and training, such dogs can become as sweet and affectionate as any others, but it takes time.  Many of my Lamma dogs came to me as very scared puppies, but now it's hard to remember that they were once like that as they ask for petting or cuddles. 

One thing I can say about these shy puppies is that they're very good guard dogs, as they respond to strange sounds or anything unusual in the home.  However, even guard dogs do best as family members, living inside the home and not kept out in the garden.  If you really want a dog to protect you, let it sleep in the bedroom by your side, and you will have the best burglar alarm ever.