Dog Template

[Chris the Rebel Wolf]

Owning an Anatolian has altered my perception of 'big dog' - I have met so many bigger Anatolians than Maya, but all the comments when we're in public of 'whoa big dog!' 'put a saddle on it!' get old... everybody else sees her as a huge dog but I just go 'She's tiny! See her play with her Dane friend, THAT is a big dog!!'

[KJJ]

I have found that my perspective has changed over the years - with my old dogs the Dane x Bull terrier was 'normal' and the BC was small/medium, now the Staffy is 'normal' (although I first thought of her as small) and the BCx is small/medium.

[Bjelkier]

I have a number of show friends with very big and very small dogs so to me anything smaller then a Pyr or a Wolfhound is small even my Sammys.

The Havs are bait sized

[hankdog]

Bait-sized, haven't heard that for years!

[cali]

Lol we had a convo like this in Paisleys class the other night :p. First i classify by height, going by weight gives some wacky results, for example, if a 65lbs dog is large and a 46lbs dog is medium, what happens when the "medium" dog is several inches taller then the "large" dog? Lol(RL example). I think of Gem and Pais as "medium/large" they are 23 and 24" tall at the shoulder, i consider Happy and Gyp to be "medium" at 21" and Baby to be "medium/small" at 17". Rusty i consider to be a small dog, but im never sure where to draw the line with him cuz he is 15", there are dogs a whole lot smaller that i dont think of as "toy" lol. I find really differing opinions though lol, Gem is either small, medium or large depending on who you ask lol

[brintey]

I think of small as being chihuahua to kelpie/beagle/stafford size, medium at that size to say a lab, golden, GSD and big from that size to Irish Wolfhound. Or from 1-20kg small, 20-40kg medium, 40-100kg big. I had border collies growing up so they are pretty much my idea of medium, have Leos and Pyrs now so they are my definition of big.

[Parkeyre]

Small - staffies, Jack Russells, whippets,

Medium - border collie, blue heeler, kelpie

large - german shepherd, rottweiler, greyhound

Giant - saint bernard, newfoundland, great dane.

[Lhok]

People comment that Treble my Akita is big, however I think he is just the right size.

--Lhok

[LisaCC]

I see most labs as normal sized, mine was extra big so I saw him as large.

I get people commenting on how Nova is a big dog, I still see him as quite small at 23kgs and about the height of a border collie already.

[CaseyKay]

My ideal sort of dog is medium sized (say between 45-50cm) and anything bigger than that is a "big dog" despite how giant it actually is. So to me labs etc are "big dogs". "Small dogs" are toy breeds or smaller terrier type with very short legs.

[raineth]

My dogs feel normal sized to me. They are 50 kgs +

Dogs bigger than mine seem big; all the other dogs seem small.

Digby has a big head and by the time I'd had him for a week every other dog looked like they had a really small head to me :laugh:

But then we got Del and her head isn't big really so I don't get that feeling anymore.

When I first saw vizslas I found their orangeness quite surprising because its not broken up by any other colour, unlike a goldie for instance. But I always liked the look of them.

But generally I like tight eyes and black eye rims etc. but my own girl dog doesn't have this and I love her nonetheless :)

[LisaCC]

But generally I like tight eyes and black eye rims etc. but my own girl dog doesn't have this and I love her nonetheless :)

Yes, I've noticed a lot of yellow labs being dudleys lately, I wouldn't want one if I got another. Nice black eye rims and nose just stand out to me!!

[raineth]

But generally I like tight eyes and black eye rims etc. but my own girl dog doesn't have this and I love her nonetheless :)

Yes, I've noticed a lot of yellow labs being dudleys lately, I wouldn't want one if I got another. Nice black eye rims and nose just stand out to me!!

Yes I see a lot of interesting versions of labs around here!

Well bred labs are absolutely stunning, and I don't see enough of them where I live :)

[Guest donatella]

I grew up with Weims and always wanted a Pom but was never allowed one so as soon as I was an adult I bought one and the obsession began :D

[Blackdogs]

Small - staffies, Jack Russells, whippets,

Medium - border collie, blue heeler, kelpie

large - german shepherd, rottweiler, greyhound

Giant - saint bernard, newfoundland, great dane.

This is how I interpret things and it's reflected on most product packaging size charts.

However, I've always had small dogs (JRT size) before my Kelpie and so has my family, so he's always referred to as a 'big dog'.

As far as what is normal physically, I always gravitate towards dogs that have similar proportions to wolves. Dogs with short legs, long ears, long or curly coats, long or short noses, huge jowls and a lot of skin don't seem 'normal' to me, although I admire all breeds of dogs and fantasise about owning many of these 'abnormal' breeds. I have so far stuck with the 'normal' proportions: Kelpie, Schipperke, Terrier cross.

[Remarkabull]

I've gone from Dobes to Bulldogs so that's a pretty big change. I still think that a nice Dobe is one of the most stunning animals ever but I've really come to love the look of the Bulldog.

I definitely don't think all dogs are nice looking but I can appreciate a nice looking dog (of any breed) if that makes sense?

I don't mind so much about what size a dog is, I like breeds from tiny to huge! I've been thinking a lot lately about wanting an Irish Wolfhound, not that I think OH would allow it any time soon :)

[Guest Clover]

30 kilos is normal dog size for me. My Border Collies I class as medium (between 15 - 17kg atm). My JRT at about 9kg is small to me. Anything under about 5kg is tiny.