# When Do Mals Stop Growing in Height



## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Hey all, I have a male Mal pup, who turns 9mo tomorrow and I'm curious to know at what point, on average they stop growing taller (at the withers). Right now he's 25.5" and between 55-60lbs. 

He's on a raw diet but also gets omega oils, NuPro supplement, and the honest kitchen- preference with his meals. He is being fed about 22-26oz of meat per day, as I think he's growing again.... He was looking skinnier as of late. I'd like to see him hit 27"... As his site and dam were larger (85 and 72 lbs respectively) 

So any ideas on when he'll stop getting taller? 

Thanks all Here's his pedigree


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Well, the technically correct answer is "when his growth plates close". On average this is around 18 months, however I've seen pups that were full height at 9 months, and I've seen dogs who's growth plates didn't close until 3 years old. The irony in those dogs being that they were on the smaller side, but kept growing for a LONG time. Just tiny bits of growing LOL


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## Peter Cavallaro (Dec 1, 2010)

Thursday afternoon at 3.17 pm on the third week of the 11'th month after its birth.

kidding, i have no idea.


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## Jason Davis (Oct 12, 2009)

The puppies that Arras produced here in Ct were a little on the smaller side, and the female was large. I'd imagine your dog isn't going to get too much bigger. Oh and Arras may be 85lbs as an old man, couch potato, but when I was training him, he was about 75lbs max as a mature adult.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks guys... I'd like to see him get a touch taller, but the pup works amazing and is fantastic in the house (has a real off switch), so the height/weight is a bonus I guess.

Yeah Mako grew very fast between 2-5/6 months, and has levelled off over the last couple. I haven't noticed too much more on him in those couple months.


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## Jen Henriksen (Dec 21, 2010)

I used to think the answer to this question was 'never' in Riley's case :grin: But I think he stopped over the summer at some point, so around 16-18 months? Just when you think they're done, they prove you wrong.

He just wanted to be eye level with the kitchen counter. Very convenient that way.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Jen, I hear ya, but your guy is a Mal/Dutch cross... Although he's mostly Mal, he's still got Dutchie in him. Plus he's just a freak


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Jason Davis said:


> Oh and Arras may be 85lbs as an old man, couch potato, but when I was training him, he was about 75lbs max as a mature adult.


LOL Good point. I just heard a few weeks ago that one of my stud dogs who I have on a co-own is 85 lbs. Except when I was training/trialing him he was 68-72 lean, he's probably a 75 lb dog if you don't want to see any but the last rib. I'm thinking there aren't any ribs to be seen anywhere on him now


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

I guess that raises and opens a whole other can of worms on whether you can trust what you read on the internet by breeders. I'm not so much worried about weight, it's the height. I can put muscle on him to a certain extent, I just want him a lil taller.

Its even more difficult because most of the dogs I like, and will consider for my 3rd dog are plane flights away. Hell I almost have to do it like I did for my wedding. We got married in Aruba, and went down there year in advance to check it out. Once we liked it, we booked... I really don't want to have to go through that for puppy  I'll fly out to get him, but I really don't want to make a special trip to wherever the breeder is just to take a look at a couple of dogs... not to mention, the fact that the sire/dam are probably at different kennels


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## Jen Henriksen (Dec 21, 2010)

Ryan Venables said:


> Jen, I hear ya, but your guy is a Mal/Dutch cross... Although he's mostly Mal, he's still got Dutchie in him. Plus he's just a freak


Yes, that is true! But don't tell him that, he has low self confidence you know!


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

I know...


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## Tammy St. Louis (Feb 17, 2010)

my guidelines are this, they grow tall till they are 1 yr old and fill out the second yr, but sometimes may grow a tad taller second yr but i wouldnt say more than a inch , but i am not a breeder, just what i have noticed


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

My Malinois added some more height after a year old... He didn't grow much more, but he was still growing.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Ryan Venables said:


> I guess that raises and opens a whole other can of worms on whether you can trust what you read on the internet by breeders. I'm not so much worried about weight, it's the height. I can put muscle on him to a certain extent, I just want him a lil taller.


Sometimes people exaggerate their dogs size, other time they really don't know how to measure a dog. I see dogs advertised as 29 and 30 inches that I have seen in person, and know aren't over 26-27 inches. But they put a yard stick near the dog, and just kind of guesstimated. I think most of the "big" males are in the 26-27 inch range. With weights it's harder to be sure because some dogs just carry their weight differently. And a dog who is normally in a really lean working weight can handle 5-10 more pounds, without being overly fat.

When it comes to offspring though, even if both parents are big, say a 27 inch male and a 25 inch female, they can still produce pups that are on the small side. Just like to mediium sized dogs can produce pups on the big side, I once bred a 65lb male of medium height to a 52 lb female, also medium height. I got females who were 65-75 pounds and males who were 75-90 lbs. At one point one of the males was over 100 pounds, but that's because he was fat LOL 85-90 was a good weight for him though.


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## Jason Davis (Oct 12, 2009)

Ryan Venables said:


> I guess that raises and opens a whole other can of worms on whether you can trust what you read on the internet by breeders. I'm not so much worried about weight, it's the height. I can put muscle on him to a certain extent, I just want him a lil taller.
> 
> Its even more difficult because most of the dogs I like, and will consider for my 3rd dog are plane flights away. Hell I almost have to do it like I did for my wedding. We got married in Aruba, and went down there year in advance to check it out. Once we liked it, we booked... I really don't want to have to go through that for puppy  I'll fly out to get him, but I really don't want to make a special trip to wherever the breeder is just to take a look at a couple of dogs... not to mention, the fact that the sire/dam are probably at different kennels


I've worked Arras a ton! I used to train him 3-4 times a week. He is far from an 85lb dog at proper weight. He's beautiful and a monster biter, as I have scars all over my chest from him, but far from 85lbs lol.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Jason Davis said:


> I've worked Arras a ton! I used to train him 3-4 times a week. He is far from an 85lb dog at proper weight. He's beautiful and a monster biter, as I have scars all over my chest from him, but far from 85lbs lol.


He must truly be enjoying retirement. I can see where Mako gets his biting from then. We're just starting out in Ring so compiling equipment is a bit of an on going process for a number of reasons. But we were told on no uncertain terms that the next piece of equipment for Mako is a full suit...For a pup of 9 months they say he bites very hard and deep and our decoy is definitely starting to feel it... unfortunately for me, he's my wife's dog 

He's actually off bite work until we get his outing under control... he likes to fight just a little too much

Kadi, I agree, when I measure their height I get right on the ground make him stand next to something and then draw a line then get the measuring stick... 

I guess the best way to really judge is to see the dogs in person first... Or I can just ask all of you guys, you all seem to know every dog I'm interested in 

We'll see how our "red monster" progresses... If he stops growing, I can always put him on "the rack"


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

I once read from a reliable source (have forgotten unfortunatley where) that a Great Dane (and a lot of other fairly large dogs GSD, Mali, Giant Schnauzer, etc) reach their (to us visual) height at 10 months. Their skeleton continues to grow until 24 months but isn't really visible to the human eye.

I have had various large dogs from Newfoundland (Landseer) to German Shepherds and have found this to be true. Around 8-9 months with some breeds they look like a pantomime horse with the rear end higher and then it evens out and around 10 months you can say this is practically the end size.

You can't influence the size - it's genetical. The smallest in the litter can grow to be the largest, whatever you feed it.


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Somewhere between 10/12 mo. Than they fill out, till about 18/24 mo. Some og our dutchies reached full adult feature around 3 yo.


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## Megan Bays (Oct 10, 2008)

Selena van Leeuwen said:


> Somewhere between 10/12 mo. Than they fill out, till about 18/24 mo. Some og our dutchies reached full adult feature around 3 yo.


It seems like ours have had a real growth spurt in the past couple months; grew in height and are now really filling out.


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