Hello, im new here. My wife and i just purchased a dog from a petsmart in Houston today thru a program called BARC. The discription on the paper on the kennel said mix chow /german sheperd. The dog is about 3 months old. I asked 2 peolple with Barc at petsmart if they had an idea of how large the dog will get as an adult. I live in a townhome so i was interested in a medium size dog at best. they thought it would'nt get as large as the other german shepherd was they had which was alittle older. So i adopted the dog for 55$ which includes the neuter, all shots, and a microchip. After my wife signed the paperwork and paid for the dog, i noticed the chow was stratched off the discription on paper given to us and it now said german sheperd/golden retriever. Apparently my wife had a discussion with 1 of the people with Barc and thought diff. about the dog discription. The dog looks aliitle like a golden retriever with a similar bild and coulor. The nose is shorter thou and dark. The ears are dark and alittle fusy.
How big will the dog get, in ur opinion? What breed or mix of breeds does this dog look like. Will this dog get as big as a goldon retriever, or be alittle smaller. When on all fours the dogs belly is already about 6'' from the ground. I would like 2 upload a few pics but it will only upload very small pics. not sure what 2 do

PetSmart does not sell pets but they do make space available to non-profit's meaning shelters & rescues, so that would be who you adopted from.

is the tongue black? if so good chance it's a chow mix altho others do have some black ( or blue ) sometimes.

there is no way anyone can tell you with any accuracy how large this dog will get. depends on the genes of both parents & if you don't have any idea what breeds it even is - even if you could - there is no way to know.

most places have a weight limit but whatever the case, an adult dog would have been a much better choice IMO so you would know how big it will be.

what will you do now if it gets to big?

Thanks for the reply. My wife and i, like others made a spontanious desicion. Now that i brought it home i relized that this pup is tall. That being said this dog may be easy to train, i hope. It's used to being in a crate or cage. It sleeped all night without a noise. Of course it did pee in crate because it's not potty trained. This dog was part of a program called Barc. They were justed housed at petsmart for display for adoption. Thanks for any help.
Yea this dog does not have a black tongue. I heard chows may have black tongue.
I have 2 kids, 7 and 11. I figured with a young dog i new it would be good with the kids with the right disipline for the dog. Ofcourse every dog is diff.

...calm down, it won't be a huge dog either way.
My 15 wk. Weimaraner's belly is 10"+ from ground.
Good choice of either mix too. Very good in fact. Nice breeds of parents, and ALL mixed combo's end up with better personas than purebreds of either parents.
You should be pleased and the puppy will bond much better with your children than any adult dog would
Shedding may be a factor, but... and some of the best decisions are made on impulse, or gut feelin' !
ENJOY, and "Bless you, for the effort !
vonWeimar

just as important as discipline for the dog is some serious discipline for the children.

what is your idea of discipline for the dog?

at 3 mos he needs to go out every hour during the day & should go at least once during the nite. you are starting out behind schedule as the dog was kept in a crate where it had no choice but to go in there.

at this age the puppy should have had 2 series of shots & be due another set at 4 months. are you sure ALL shots are incuded? rabies also?

if you start him on heartworm preventative now ( which you should ) he won't have to be tested first. you will also want to get him started on a flea preventative

Thanks for the responces guys. My wife and i will do are best to raise the dog in a good evironment with love. We will teach the kids what they can and can not do with the dog. We intend on keeping him a inside dog. Yes he will be in good size crate during the day when we are at work. Best case cenerio when it's and adult, and trained well, we may keep it out of crate during the day when at work. I have friends that do the same with sucess. The dog will be walked first thing in morning, after we come home from work a couple of times, and before bedtime. We do have a small patio at our townhome that may help us cut down on a few walks.
For now we are still in the potty training stage. This dog is already wining some when it need to go outside to potty. And it does. all in just 3 days of training. Of course it will be hard at first on the dogand us, as it will mess some in the crate.
Thanks.
From the responces i'm getting from people, i've been told this dog could be a lab/sheperd mix, but who knows.

[reeskujo]

The idea of crate training is to teach the dog how to hold it over not...As a general rule they will not go to the bathroom where they sleep...if your dog has room to do that then the crate is most likely to big...They should have only enough to stand up,lay down and turn around....They won't go in the crate if they have to sleep in it.

of course rees is right however since this puppy is so young it can only hold it for a couple hours at a time, so it will have no choice but to go in its crate.

can either of you come home for lunch? perhaps hire a dog walker. its really a shame for a puppy to be stuck in a crate for 8 hours, especially during the formative months where it needs mental stimulation too.

Yea, i will do my best to come home during lunch. The dog is still better of than being stuck in a cage just big enough for it, at petsmart, were the BARC program kept this one and a few other dogs last weekend. These were probably some of the lucky dogs with shots, spayed/netured, and a microchip. Maybe the BARC shelter keeps them in larger cage area. The rep. from the program sees dogs in this shelter coming in all diff. conditions.

I find it disturbing that keeping a dog in a crate for so long is OK with some people. If you don't have the time or the enviroment don't get a dog. Get a cat. Dogs are social animals. A doggie daycare would be what you need. Minn

I'am kinda with you Minn on the crate training, my dogs are and always have been part of the family and crate training seems to me not the way. having said that i do know its becoming more popular her in the UK as well and apparentley some dogs prefer the safety and comfort of the crate to feel secure. I don't know enough about it to be honest but i would say that if your dog is insecure for some reason you should try to address the reason rather that tuck the dog away. I have an 8 month old spaniel (sprocker) and she is very energetic and active and needs engagement and not to be bored and yet she manages to be at home all day alone without being destructive and i wouldn't dream of using a crate, her dog bed serves just fine, i like that she can jump up and have a cuddle when i come in