Hi, all!

I posted a few months back regarding my puppy, Haku. A lot has happened since then and I'd like to share that we Embarked him. I'll include his results in the images in this post. Mostly Siberian Husky with some German Shepherd and suspected Malamute!

He's been through intermediate level training classes and we're working on getting our CGC in a few weeks! He could not be a better behaved dog.. Well, except that adolescence has his focus outside a bit iffy--but we're working on that.

He's exceedingly polite, people, dog, and small animal friendly. Doesn't chase, just watches, when small animals skitter around. He can hold a stay like nobody's business and his recall is excellent. SUPER proud of him! (If you couldn't tell.)

Alright, alright.. Now that the brag is done, I have a question that maybe y'all can help me with some personal experience or insights. Haku's estimated adult weight by the vet WAS 50-60lbs.. Then the next visit she updated it to 60lbs-ish. He's now just turned 7 months old and is at 48lbs. Is it likely that he's going to grow larger than 60lbs? I can't imagine he'll only gain 10lbs between 7 months and 24 months. Especially because he is intact and I intend to keep him that way.

Anyway, here's a few updated photos of my happy boy as well as his Embark results:

Dogs tend to grow up until around a year and then fill out the year after that. Each line is different. Some grow faster than others and some grown slower. He could go 60-65 pounds, especially if this particular line is a little slow to grow and fill out. GSD and Mals are larger breed dogs and tend to grow a bit slower so I wouldn't be surprised to see continued growth for a while even with as little amounts as test to be in him.

Neutering will only affect size if you were to neuter too early. Then your dog would lack the correct amount of hormones to close the growth plates on time and thus can lead to a dog growing larger than expected. If a dog is intact or neutered at the proper time then the growth will proceed as normal and end when it should.

What did your Embark say his predicted adult weight is? Sometimes they'll fill out more as they reach 1-2 years old too! My girl isn't a runt, but weighs 31 pounds(she'll be 2 on the 28th!) when her mom is 40-45 and dad is 55-60 when all her sisters(litter of 5 girls) are between 38-50 pounds. Sometimes they just turn out a bit smaller, but your boy still has room to grow! Keeping him intact will likely help keep him leaner also as long as you keep an eye on how much he's eating and exercising with how it effects his body condition. Even if he doesn't hit 60 pounds, he's still a beautiful boy and seems like he's extremely well behaved! Congrats on going through all the training with him and helping him to be such a great pup! Also good luck on his CGC testing!! I'm including two pics of my small bean just because I talked about her so might as well