Judge how big a Rottweiler puppy will get by the size of its paws?
A larger breed like Rotties needs big feet to support height and a heavier build and also typically, a puppy’s paws tend to be proportional to its overall size. Therefore a Puppies paws can be taken as one indicating factor of its overall adult weight.
A good guess can be made by considering the bloodlines norms and the size of the Puppies parents.
Bloodlines play a crucial role in the overall size of the puppy. Also, the quality of food and how much you feed the puppy can help or hinder the overall size. Did you know that worms can stunt your puppies growth?
Some people think that just because the dad and mom are giant Rottweilers that they puppy will be just as big. This simply is not the case. However, there will be some pups in the litter that are just as big or even bigger than the parents. With that, just know that some puppies will be smaller. One way to pick a giant Rottweiler is to pick the biggest in the litter. This doesn’t mean that the others won’t catch up or even outgrow the biggest newborn puppy but it may increase the chances that you will end up with Giant Rottie.
There are several indicating factors that come into play when determining your puppy’s adult size, paw size tends to serve as a helpful tool. It should be considered as a tool not a sole determining factor.
Foot size may or may not work for every puppy and this can’t be the one determining factor!
With that, in general especially with unknown “mutts” a puppy’s paws can be a indicator of his adult size, especially if they are unusually large or unusually small. As mentioned earlier, larger feet correlate with greater height and weight as an adult dog. So, It makes sense why a larger breed needs bigger feet to support a heavier build and tall height. This is because small feet cannot hold up a 100-pound dog like a Rottweiler! Similarly, long, heavy feet will only look a bit too oversized on a boston Terrier, even when the Boston’s is fully-grown.
The majority of growing for dogs is done within the first year. Medium breed sizes can reach maturity around the 18 months, but giant breeds taking almost 3 years. Some Rottweiler lines take up to 3 years to fully grow.
In random dogs where the breed is not known telling anything about the dog’s future growth at less than a few weeks of age could most probably be inaccurate, whether it has giant paws or not.
With unknown breeds the Size of puppy paws are not a very dependable indicator of its adult size. As it was said earlier, although the adult size of a puppy can be determined by its paw size, it is not always a reliable indicator.
This is most prominent with some large dogs, such as collies which tend to have smaller feet as compared to other dogs their size.
Similarly, some small breed dogs like boston terriers have larger feet than other dogs their size. Though most people wouldn’t even notice. So, A lot depends upon the breed.
What this indicates is that predicting adult size by puppy paws is far more accurate for smaller breed purebred dogs than for larger breed and/or mixed breeds. It’s still fun to guess though.
Predicting by considering the puppy’s breed together with its paw size.
Mixed breeds produce varied sizes. However, it can be difficult to guess a puppy’s adult size if his parents are unknown or the mixed breeds of his parents are unknown or the mixed breeds of his parents are unknown.
This is likely to happen if the puppy adopted is a mixed puppy from a local shelter.
Once the bloodline of the puppy, from where it comes is determined, and by considering the average weight and height range for that specific breed, predicting its adult size is easier. If the puppy paws are large and the breed he belongs to is a big dog breed then the prediction is more accurate, as they will likely follow their parents.
Consideration at the 16 weeks mark
When it comes to newborn puppies, it is not uncommon that they have disproportionately large or small-looking feet. According to research It is when a pup reaches the 14 to 16 weeks mark that their general proportions are largely set, including the paws. This is true of most breeds, but toy breeds under a year old may still look disproportionate all the way until they graduate from puppyhood.
Another old wives tale to predict a puppy’s size is by doubling his size once he is 16 weeks old. The 16 weeks x 2 formula should be a good estimate of the fully-grown size of a puppy. Although there is no science behind this rule of thumb, it may work, at least some times. Full growth depends upon all the factors that have being mentioned before, but generally, puppies stop growing around 18 months old.
Perhaps the most accurate way to determine the future size of your puppy is to look at both the parents.
The parents’ breed, size, bloodlines and weight can give a good idea of how big a puppy will get in the future. Large dogs generally breed large offspring but sometimes, their puppies may have small paws. So…
So, the puppy paws do not always tell correctly if he is going to grow into a large dog but it’s a fun way to guess.
Conclusion
One must considering the other factors mentioned above, together with the size of the puppy paws. This is a much more accurate way to estimate as to how big the puppy will grow in the future.