When Are Puppies No Longer Puppies?

[banana]

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As Ripples was One yesterday, we were wondering..

A cat is deemed an adult at 9 months but I was wondering about dogs...

 

[eingana]

I think that it depends on the breed, although most people say that a pup becomes a dog at age 1. Shepherds are often regarded as pups until they reach 3 years old and some of the giant breeds are considered big babies until 4.

I find it ironic actually, that the breeds that seem to live longer also tend to mature earlier and that some of the giant breeds that live for less than 10 years can be regarded as babies for half of their life span.

 

[murphyrules]

My baby Beagle is 2 now and still very much a puppy, Im sure my older beagle was around 2.5 - 3 before I'd class him as a grown up. Im counting the days until the youngster hits that age!! :sweating:

 

[Strix]

And then there's the KC boundaries for show classes...

 

[chelynnah]

If you're talking 'KC' definitions then puppies are to 12 months, Juniors to 18 months and yearling to 24 months.

I think with whippets I wouldn't call them proper adults till around 2, and some not till 3. Not that they're still totally puppies (ie they are housetrained and chew trained - mostly - by a year), but they're still hooligans until about 2 or so when they settle in and become lovely little members of society.