Greyhound Height

[Guest vra1974]

I have my greyhound since he was just 3 months old.

 

I do my best feeding him and he is getting bigger, but I dont know if he is growing properly. I am in the southeast part of Mexico, and Greyhounds are non-existent here, so I do not have other dogs to compare it with.

 

This weekend I measured his height following the instructions given at

 

http://www.lgd.org/library/measure.htm

 

and the result was 23.6 in.

 

My greyhound was born on March 15, so he is 5 months 10 days old.

 

But I cant find any growing chart for greyhounds, so I do not know if he is growing at good pace.

 

Thanks to everyone on this friendly forum!

 

[Guest ZBippy]

I do not have a greyhound growth chart. However, I have two male greyhounds that are 8 years old and they are 28-29" at the shoulders. To me it seems like your boy is growing well to be only 5 inches shorter than them at 5 months old

[Guest trevdog]

Not sure if there is a growth chart as they can all grow to be different heights. My girl was the 2nd smallest in the litter and weighed only 5 lbs when we got her at 9 weeks. She's 3 now and only weighs 55lbs but she's quite tall, perhaps beacuse we had her spayed at an early age. Has your boy been neutered yet? If not, I'd hold off until he's at least a year old to give the growth plates time to close. It sounds like he's going to be a tall one, just make sure he gets good food to grow on.

[cleptogrey]

i too got my last grey when he was a wee pup and was amazed at watching him grow. it was amazing watching him grow over night and knuckles become gigantic in his sleep and waiting for him to catch up to those big knuckles.

 

from my past experience it seems as if they have spurts, shoot up and then need tons of good quality food to help their weight catch up and they will still be bony. i kept track of weight more than anything for a while. the rapid growth was amazing. at nearly 6 months felix was just about your dog's size. i remember that is when he finally was as tall as my female.

 

at 2 yrs, 5 months(he was born on march 1) he is now 75lbs and almost 29" at the shoulders. i use a book on top of his shoulder and get out the old tape measure. at a year he was around 61-63 pounds and nearly his adult height. filling out should take some time, he is just starting to not look like a puppy now.

 

from what i have read, a well balanced food is all you really need. i am not sure of what you can buy in your part of the world. larger breeds need, strangely enough, not tons of protein-just a balanced diet. i do supplement w/ fish oil and that is it. the occasional cheese and treats of sardines(easy to find in the states)- if it doesn't upset the digestive system. good food, lots of exercise and love.....are the other main ingredients.

 

now if you can live thru adolescence!!!!.....for some reason all of their common sense just seems to disappear around 10 months, give or take a month. you will have this tall, thin, gawky hound with nunca en la cabeza.... then suddenly the brains develop and you have a wonderful friend for life.

[retiredracers]

I've had Elphie since she was 10 weeks old. She is VERY tall for a greyhound... male or female!

 

At 5 months and about 15 days old, she was just shy of 26 inches tall. (Yes, I was a dorky greyhound mom who kept record of Elphie's growth on a yardstick! )

 

At 3 years and 4 months old, she is just shy of 31 inches tall!!! She weighs about 69-70 pounds.

 

On the other hand, my diabetic puppy, Phantom, who is 7 months old is only 20 inches tall. And 19.8 pounds today!!

Edited August 25, 2009 by retiredracers

[greyhead]

And Elphie has a long, elegant neck to match!

[Guest RocketDog]

I don't know about growth charts, but here are the measurements for my two:

 

Rocket, male, 29" at the withers and 32" withers-tail, 80-82lbs

Cass, female, 26" at the withers and 24" withers-tail, 52-54lbs.

 

I have absolutely no experience with feeding growing pups, but I know the calcium ratios are important... hopefully someone else here will be able to help you more.

[Guest BasilMom]

My experience rasing two grey pups is I noticed that they had growth spurts over night. My female who just turned two is very tall and lanky,she also is about six inches longer than my other greys. My male is who almost 18 months is tall as well but has more muscle to him. I think it has a lot to do with being altered.Autumn was spayed at 9 weeks and Cole was done around 4 months.

Edited August 26, 2009 by BasilMom

[SAVED2]

Like people there all different , my Larry was 31 and 105 and not fat.

[Guest vra1974]

Thanks to everyone for your comments.

 

I found your experiences very usefull to know what to expect.

 

Regarding feeding, he eats purina beneful puppy, he eats a little bit and gets bored, so I add some Lamb/Rice (because he loves the taste) then he eats it very happy and then gets bored again, so I add 1/5 pint of chicken soup and finishes everything. This is every day, and twice a week I give him raw egg.

 

In some other post I read about foods that can be dangerous to our dogs, but I found some of the cautions very exagerated ,like not giving him raw egg because it can block the correct absortion of B12 or having salmonella, in this case I would have to sterilize my garden, because he plays there and can get some bacteria from the dirt or bird dropings! and also, some say that ray egg is healthy for the dogs skin and hair, and some say it is the most dangerous thing in the planet. Of course I keep in mind that greyhounds have a kind of very delicate stomach but I cant treat him like a sick dog, I want him to be a happy dog and if he likes raw egg and pizza leftovers, I am happy to please him maybe once or twice a week as a reward for learning something new or good behavior.

 

What do you think?

Edited August 26, 2009 by vra1974

[Guest trevdog]

Beneful is not a very good quality food, especially a growing pup. I'd try something else, at least Purina One or Pro Plan. It has a lot of filler, not what a growing puppy needs.

[cleptogrey]

if you can't get a better quality dog food do suppliment w/ a good quality pet vitamin and some fish(salmon) oil. your puppy needs lots of calories, but not empty calories to keep up w/ his rapid growth. his coat and skin will reflect the quality of the food. there are pleanty of sites on the internet to check out suppliments. some of the other grey owners might be able to recommend some. (i only use salmon oil & brewer's yeast.)

 

puppies will seem bored w/ their food if they are either in between growth spurts or not exercised enough. the more they play and run, the hungrier they are.

 

i have heard of quite a few breeders who include raw eggs in their feeding rituals as well as apples and veggies. it's up to the individual as to how much they see their dog can tolerate. the crust on the pizza is fine as a treat(bread as well), watch out for the sauce and cheese. i have not had any problems w/ cottage cheese and or yoguart with all of my dogs over the years. i'm not sure of what inexpensive cheese similar to cottage cheese you have availabe, but it is really a good product for the pups and they love it! boiled beef or chicken is always a plus to a lower quality food as well as brewer's yeast.

 

where in mexico are you located?

[Guest vra1974]

I am en Veracruz, Mexico.

 

We have Wal-Mart, Sams, Costco and dog foods we have Eukanuba, Pedigree, Purina Pro Plan and Beneful.

 

I checked the differences in protein content between Beneful (US$30.00 for a 15 Kilo bag) and Pro-plan (US$100.00 for a 10 Kilo bag) and it was just a small 3%, so I think my best choice is Beneful with vitamins added vitamins, chicken soup and egg.

 

I wil try to find salmon oil, how much should I have to give to him?

[cleptogrey]

try the kirkland foods. both are used by many of the grey owners on greytalk, i use the premium chicken kibble they make. they also have a lamb and rice which is as good. it depends upon which one agrees w/ your puppy. costco will take an open bag back. i don't use canned food, i just soak the food well, can add some chicken or beef broth or a tiny bit of yogurt and rice.

 

as to the salmon oil, transition over slowly, i usually add over cooked rice (white rice only)while i am transitioning, also it's not a bad thing to give them rice anyway. so after the transition, read the suggested amount and try it. if the coat seems dry slowly up the amount. my 60lb girl gets 4 squirts since she is black and they tend to have drier coats. felix, my pup also gets 4 squirts- he weighs 75lbs. when i got him at 7 weeks he weighed 10 lbs...it was fun watching him grow. costco has a salmon oil, i use laske cronch, i get it on-line and it works well, 88 oz. for around 50 bucks. try alpha nutrition on the web.

[Guest vra1974]

Thanks!

 

I will be switching to Kirkland because as you say, many owners are giving that to their hounds with good results.

 

Anyway I will be adding sardines, tuna, raw egg or something else just to keep him away from boredoom,

 

The price here in Mexico is just US$15.40 for a 9kilo (18.5lb) bag! so, its cheaper than Beneful, with is the one I am buying for him now.