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BPO Growl & Howl Forum => Groans, Gripes, Brags & Boasts => : Newly Newfed November 05, 2007, 05:45:19 AM
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Some of you may remember a few months back, I was worried because Sierra's puppy kindergarten instructors said she was going to be tiny for a Newfoundland. At that time they said I'd be lucky if she grew another inch in height. ou all said they were crazy and well, you were right because she has grown six more inches since then and all was good.
Well, it's starting again. Lately I have been bumping into people who just keep commenting on how small she is. The manager at Petco said she thought it was a Newf when I walked in the store, but wasn't sure because she was so small. I went to an event for the Newfoundland Club in my rregion and I had about 5 people ask me what she was mixed with because she was so small. One person wouldn't leave me alone about and even asked if I saw her parents to make sure she was purebred.
One of the things that attracts me to Newfs is their size. I love big dogs - the bigger the better. Sierra has become everything to me. As I type this, she is sitting next to me with her head on my lap. I've never had a dog that was this important to me, so of course no matter what her size, I will always love her to death. But I'm starting to obsess! I am constantly meausuring her height, which is 25 inches. The breed standard states 26 in is average for females! And at the Newfoundland Club event, she was only slightly shorter than most of the other females there. And at 9 months she is almost 80 lbs. I feel she right on track but I'm getting annoyed at hearing how I have a small dog. I try to explain that she looks lean and possibly smaller because she has her skin issues and scratched off all of her fluff, and she's still young and not filled out yet.
And honestly I don't know why I let it get to me. Maybe because I was so happy to be getting a big dog, I am let down thinking she won't be big. Or could it be I am just getting annoyed because other people don't think my dog is as perfect as I think she is?
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People never cease to amaze me with how rude and annoying they can be! I don't know anything in particular about Newfs, but a dog that is 80 lbs at 9 months sounds huge to me. Also, she's one inch away in height from the breed standard for a female? At 9 months, she's nowhere near finished growing, right? Well, that is beside the point - she's your lap monster regardless, and you love her. You'll laugh that you wrote this when, in 6 months, she's like a zillion pounds. Think of some kind of witty response for the nosey know-it-alls. Or, just go for blunt honesty that makes them feel like jerks, like "Yes, she is purebred, and she is perfect just the way she is!". Or, "Thanks for being so concerned for Sierra, but it isn't necessary, I assure you." Or, "I'm happy that you're intrested in Sierra, but your questions are becoming nosey and offensive so I"ll be going now". Or, "Oh yes, she IS mixed with Chupacabra, and she will eat your face off if you don't get out of mine. Buh bye now."
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Don't let people get to you!!! There are plenty of lunatics out there ::)
Newf are not supposed to be tall. They should be heavy boned but not tall. And if she is not heavy boned then less orthopedic worries for you :-* :-* :-*
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Our Newfie, Joy was the same as yours, in the size department. Her last show was in the middle of October... she was 19 months old and she was a little high in the rear, which means she is still growing too! The last day she took winners female, beating dogs that were older and taller then her. I would much rather have a slow growing Newf then a young monster...Way less joint / hip problems when they are full grown.
Joy only weighed about 100 lbs at 1 year. Some blood lines just grow slower. Her mother came from England...not sure if that made a difference but our breeder says she took after her relatives from over there in the growing department.
Joy also went through the allergy thing. Once we figured out what was causing the problem (any egg product in her food) her coat came back great. We had a judge this summer from Denmark remark on her "massive" coat.
So, I would not worry at all. By the sounds of it she is a little bigger then Joy was at that age and things are working out great for us.
Brad
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So she's a late bloomer!!! I agree with everyone else, a slow grower will probably mean less problems in the future. I took Issy to a pet thing this past weekend and just about everyone asked me if she was a Belgian Mal, even a GSD breeder!!! Issy is a dark(ish) sable so she's not your typical black and tan. But I also got the "she's pretty small for a GSD". One person I told "well, she's 9mths old and unfortunately they don't immediately go from the cute and cuddly 3mth old, like that one over there (there was about 3 pups there), to the massive 110 pounder. So she's kind of in the awkward middle right now." Maybe you should try that one too!!!
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I think that's so incredibly rude of people. Sierra's a perfect girl, just the way she is. It's not a matter of conformation. These big paws are our babies, no matter what!
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I am sooooo with you on this one!!! We hear poeple ALL the time tell us what to feed Titan, where to take him for obidence classes, how to handle him when he is bigger, what to do now, how long to leave him in the cage, what kind of food is best (RAW diet; get this a lot)....the list goes on and on. And frankly I am quite sick of it as well!! I have decided that no matter what happends...the y are part of our family...we love him... he love us..bottom line. If they are happy and healthy who cares what people say let them talk...I just know how much we love our little guy and that he has the best life he possibly ever could have! But I have to agree with you it makes you second guess your self sometimes.. I do it all the time one of my vices I am working on! :) You have a beautiful girl...size and all!!
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I hear ya! People that actually know what breed Miles is think he is small for his age. Like yesterday, I was taking him for a walk...and the lady said "Oh he's so cute! Is he about one month old?" I was like...are you NUTS!? He's 50 pounds! He's not friggin' ONE MONTH OLD. Ugh. It angers me. hahaha He may be a tiny bit underweight for his age but he CERTAINLY doesnt look one month old. Usually people guess about two months. I'm like...ok...se riously..you know nothing about big dogs. They don't just come out of the womb HUGE! hahaha
I think Sierra is perfect in size! She looks like she just about fits the standard. That's really good....especi ally for her age. She's still a pup! She will continue to grow and fill out alot I'm sure. Don't worry. She sounds just about perfect to me!!! :-* :-* :-*
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Ahhh, yes, I feel your pain. I have the world's smallest Bullmastiff who couldn't possibly be a purebred ::) We hear it all the time, especially as there are two full grown males in our dog park who dwarf him..."oh but the other one is sooo big". At 17mos Phelan is just reaching 100lbs, either he is going to have a growth spurt soon or he will remain on the smaller side of life. He will always be the happy go lucky, i love everyone, pup at the park. He certainly doesn't care if he's the biggest so why should anyone else? If ignorance trully is bliss their are a lot of happy people out there ;)
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People don't seem to 'get'that large and giant breeds take on average 3 years to fully grow. And no matter how many time you try and tell them they still think they are right. ::) Oh well what can you do? She is beautiful and that is all that matters.
Nina
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And no matter how many time you try and tell them they still think they are right. ::)
Nina
Yes, very true. Ignorant people don't know they are ignorant. I like Ali's idea of having a comeback - I'm sort of partial to "Yes, she is small, but offspring tend to take after their parents. Are YOUR children large boned, like yourself?" All said with a sweet smile on my face, of course. Yes I know it's rude, but I'm at the point I don't care. If they can dish it out, they can take it also. I've always been overly polite to people, especially strangers, because I think people in general are much too rude. I work in customer service for my electric company and I really can't get over what some people think is ok to say to another person. And most of the time rude people don't expect a comeback and when they get one, they are dumbfounded. So I'm going to go against my nature and try something new. :)
I agree with all of you and I guess I'm just venting about it. After reading all of your posts, I realized that I'm not really worried about her size and the comments about her size, I am just more annoyed at the people making the comments.
Oh and I forgot to add this - you guys will love this - when I was talking to the Petco manager, I asked if she ever had Newfs and she said "Oh no, I've had Jack Russells my whole life" Is she for real?
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Sierra is awesome and those people are stupid. My Bear gets wierd comments all the time too. He is 150 lbs. which is somewhat small but he's big boned,and he is sooooo long so next to me people think he is a giant. Even if he were smaller I'd love him just the same.
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Sierra is perfect and still so young. I can't see why people continue to harass you when they full well know she is still a pup! Argh, people get so in your face when they think they know more about your dog.
I think you have hit the nail on the head about what is bugging me. if you think she's small ok. but once I explain she's still a puppy, SHUT UP!
And people insisting they are right when I know dang well they are NOT, is one of my hot buttons. It's one of those things where I have to make a huge effort not to argue to prove to them that they wrong. iIm not happy to sit and smile and know they are an idiot. If they are being obnoxious, I feel an irresistable urge to prove it to them. LOL!
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It's rude. :) It'd be like me coming up to you and saying dang girl, what do you eat? or do you eat enough? LOL
LOL, isn't that the truth and don't you just wish sometimes that you could say that?! ::) ;D Sometimes people are just amazingly blunt and rude. People have said that my Golden/mix is too big & tall (ok...but for what? she's a mix for pete's sake! ??? ::)). A Pyr expert at a Pyr Club meet once said that Cara had dwarfism though she weighed 95# and was as tall as the males! Ummm, not even close since Pyrs that really do have dwarfism are more like 1/2 that size, sigh. You get the picture. I just *try* to "consider the source" as my mom always told me. It does get old though, so I sympatize. What ticks me off the most though is that I've had many, many people comment in front of my kids that our oldest & middle sons are the same size and look like twins. Even when I politely tell them "no, actually they're 2 yrs apart" people go on & on about it. The two boys are in their teens now, and our oldest is a little sensitive about that, so you'd think that people would be more considerate, but you just can't teach adults manners if they aren't inclined. :-\ It sounds like Sierra is already well on her way to being a big girl (when she's all grown up), so to heck with anyone who doesn't know that. In the meantime, enjoy her (big) puppy days. She sounds like a big, sweet, cuddle bug. :-*
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It doesn't sound like she is small to me. She sounds about just right for her age........... not that I know about newfs......lol . Even if she were to stay the same size, she is close enough to average to be completely normal :)
I've gotten comments on Gunther quite often. Most people think he's huge. I'm not sure why b/c he's barely average for a dane and much smaller when compared to most you see in shows where 38 inches is small (gunther is barely 36). But I have had "dane" people who've been quite rude and tell me "gosh he's small for a dane". Well, so what? What's it to you? Luckily these people are few and far between. I much prefer the people who don't see danes on a regular basis and are amazed by his good looks and charm and shocked that danes come in other colors besides fawn and harl. ::)
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You know, it's the same thing with pregnancy - people can't just say "Hey, you look great!" They have to say, "Oh my God, you poor thing, you're HUGE! Are you SURE it's not twins?" Or, "Wow, you're 8 months? You're so TINY!" I go out of my way to purposefully compliment a preggo lady and tell her how good she looks (even if she doesn't) because I totally know the feeling!! Never let them see that they have irritated you. Sometimes just shrugging your shoulders and saying "huh..." will do the trick. ;)
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She actually sounds like she's going to be a good sized newf. Kali is small she's usually between 100-105lbs. It's kind of funny when I tell people she IS a little small for her breed. Those who are knowledgeable about the breed do comment on it but so far none have been too haughty about it. Then there's always the question of how I can control her as she does weigh more than me usually which is when I explain I have unruly 1300lb 3 yr old draftX at home who makes Kali look like a shrimp :D.
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This is her first baby and before she got pregnant, she worked hard to keep trim and in shape. So many people felt the need to tell her how big she was. It must have been hard for her. I've never been pregnant, but I can only imagine that she felt like a blimp, so I just told her the part of the truth she should hear: That her sparkling eyes, glowing skin and perma-smile made her look absolutely fantastic and that impending motherhood suits her very well.
Good for you, that was the perfect thing to say! I think that all pregnant mom's wish that everyone was as diplomatic as you were. ;) ;D It sounds like you took the "high road" with the instructor tonight and since you want to be involved in their future events, that was wise. In time Sierra will show them...she'll get her big, fluffy coat in and she'll mature and then these folks will probably be more careful about such comments to other people in the future. I know that our dogs always look much, much bigger when they have their full, fuffy winter coats. My hubby just finished bathing Daisy and she looks pretty small right now, but when she's fully dry she'll look like she's gained 10#. lol ;) :D
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Her coat being thin probably has a lot to do with it. Here are some pics of her before she started scratching. The first two were only taken a month or so ago...
This is my favorite picture of her!
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff261/NewlyNewfed/DSCN3468.jpg)
A little out of focus...sorry!
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff261/NewlyNewfed/prettygirl.jpg)
Compared with this picture I took just this morning...
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff261/NewlyNewfed/DSCN3542.jpg)
Wow. I didn't realize how thin she looks without all of that fluff. I still don't think small is a good word for her though. I actually think the shorter fur make her look a little tall and lanky... Maybe I'm just being stubborn. I'm usually good for that. :)
I WANT HER BIG THICK COAT BACK!!!!
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It sounds like you took the "high road" with the instructor tonight and since you want to be involved in their future events, that was wise.
Yeah, I don't want to burn any bridges. And like I said, I'm sure he didn't mean it to be rude or ignorant. Granted I don't know him all that well, but he doesn't strike me as that kind of person. And right after he said that, he did say "What a beautiful dog though". So that helped me hold my tongue. HAHA! :D
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THis happens to me all the time with Binky, so I know how you feel. Granted, Binky is actually small for a Pyr- only 60 lbs, and she has a more narrow face than most. However, I am so tired of people- even vets- saying "oh, she must have Border Collie in her" or "I've never seen one SOOOOO SMALL!" Umm, she is a purebred and yes I researched her breeder and met her parents...
But the worst part about these comments are that they make me feel a little guilty. As you said, you wanted a big dog, so you got a Newfie- same for me but we went w/the Pyr. I love Binky sooo much and would never want to "replace" her but when someone mentions her size, I feel almost disappointed as I really was expecting to have a giant dog. :( Still Sierra is gorgeous and so is Binky so there ! :)
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I can see how much that would bother you. We actually call Gracie our "mini mastiff" as she's a year and a half and she's pushing a whopping 95 lbs at about 26 inches. The standard states that females should be about 27 1/2 inches and about 120 to 170 pounds. You know I don't really know what will help you not be so annoyed with the silly comments. Now I too am extremely sensitive to comments about my pets and sometimes I think I may SNAP at the next dork who asks me if Gracie is a boxer. Another way I can sort of relate is I'm totally over the "where is that horse's saddle" comments we get for Tonka, our Great Dane. But we manage. We've turned it into a game and just keep a continuing running tally of the comments. 54 since we got him about 2 months ago. ;) Also it makes me laugh when people ask what breed Rosco is. We oblige and state he's our Toy German Shettwieller. So, just keep a fun attitude and shake'em off. I personally think that maybe I'm a bit jaded on size as if you really stop to consider the height and weight of our dogs, even if they are on the smaller side of the scale, they are still rather BIG. And Sierra to me is no exception. I think SIERRA IS PERFECT AND ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. As you stated, you are very lucky and so is she to have one another and if her size never grows beyond where she is now, to me that would make her that much more special and unique. Your dainty gorgeous princess Sierra. By the way, her pictures are all beautiful. I sort of like the short do.. She wears it very well. But I am extremely excited to see all her beautiful locks grow back in. Hang in there. You may have a small Newf but she totally outweighs her size in personality and beauty.
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Yes, I do feel very lucky to have her. Since we got her, I've been Newfie this and Newfie that...EVERYTH ING is in my life is Newfie related. She easily fits in my little Plymouth Neon right now, but I am looking for a new car and here are my priorities for car shopping: 1 - Is it cute? and 2 - will my dog fit in it if she grows to the size of her parents? Her mom was 27.5 inches and 165 lbs, her father was 30 inches and 187 lbs. I guess that's why I'm surprised she's not bigger even at this age. I expected her to be huge. Anyway, I'm probably going with a Dodge CAliber, and Jeff thinkls I'm settling on a car I may not really want because of the dog. It's not true, but it kind of shows you how everyone knows my dog is my life.
Anyway, I'll be honest. Do I want my dog to be big? Heck yeah! Will I be disappointed if she's not? A little. Will it make a difference how I feel about her? No way. She's an amazing dog and I feel so lucky she's mine!!
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If she turns out not to be as huge as you thought, you can love her to piece AND get another ;). I like the T-shirt idea. I like the "piss off" part the best, but I can be snotty like that! I'd say "Yes, she's a Newf, and your opinion is not of interest to me...!". Seriously, though, if you are paying your instructor good money, which I imagine you are, I'd consider taking him aside and letting him know that his labeling of your dog as "the small Newf" feels a bit offensive, and you KNOW he CERTAINLY doesn't mean it that way, but you'd really prefer that he'd use her name. It's like if you go to some kind of NA group, they's say, "Oh, Bob's here", not "Oh, the crack head's here". She has a name - use it please!
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Or, here's a t-shirt design...
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I'm actually in the process of making a T-shirt saying this:
Yes, she is a Newfoundland. No, she is not a black St. Bernard or a long haired Black Lab. Yes, I know she's small - She's still a puppy! She won't be done growing until she is 2 or 3 yrs old. She is actually quite tall, already the average height for an adult female. Please don't voice comments on the size of my "small" Newf - I have heard it all before and I don't agree. Happy Drooling!
I have those sheets that you can print your own design on through your computer printer and then iron on to fabric. I'm going to make it tonight. Thanks for the inspiration Ali! LOL!
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I actually put the petco manager in her place the other day. She came over and started saying how she had to come over and see the small little newf that comes in and she knew it was her because she was so tiny, blah, blah, blah. I said that I was thinking about what she said about Sierra being small, so I measured her and said she's over 25 inches at the shoulder and 80 lbs, so she not small. She just appears small because she doesn't have all of her weight yet and her hair is thin. She said she doesn't look that tall and a customer actually jumped in and said yes she does because his dog was that tall and they are the same size. The manager just said "well, maybe I'm used to seeing the huge males that come in". I said "yeah, maybe" with a sweet smile and she just walked away.
Am I wrong for getting such satisfaction out of that? LOL!
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Totally justified!! Just like the guy who had to tell me how small Phelan was (even after explaining he's not full grown) because his friend (they always have friends) has a female who is 140lbs. So I felt the need to tell him top of breed standard for females is 120 ;D
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It can be annoying when people make comments about your dog - whatever the comments are - because strangers feel the need to be critical of things that are none of the freaking buisness. Of course you should brush it off. But my advice to you in this particular case is to tell them (or don't tell them and just know for yourself) that it's actually better that she is small. Yes, we all love big dogs, and let's be honest - even a small newf is a big dog. But she is still a puppy and the fact of the matter is that it's really in the best interest of big dog's to grow slowly. Since it's so common for big paws to have hip dysplacia and since growing slowly is one of the best things you can do to help prevent/alleviate HD, feel proud that she is still "small". My saint is a teeny-tine for a saint (only 110 full grown) and I am proud of that because she has hip dysplacia and her small(er) size helps reduce the effects of it. So be proud to be a 'small' big paw owner
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I feel your pain! Sky is an Australian Shepherd and only weighs 32 pounds. It isn't that small for a stock-dog lines Aussie, but all the Conformations dogs we hang around are closer to 65 pounds, and Sky is dwarfed by them! It stinks, but we love 'em anyway!
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Our Anna Banana was a small landseer as well. Note the word WAS ... hehehe. I think I can relate to how you're feeling. Our Barkley was so big that when we got Anna and I saw that she wasn't the same size, I felt disappointed.
Well...let me tell you...she's small no more! She will be 2 on Dec 3 and she has hit a growth spurt in the last three or four months! Filled out - got taller - and I might be wrong, but I think even her head has gotten bigger!
It wouldn't matter though - like you, she's huge in my eyes and my heart, and we love them exactly the way they are. But I'd buy one of your t-shirts...hehe