Whether or not you want to see your cute little puppy grow up, it is an inevitability. As such, you may be curious about when exactly your dog stops becoming a pup and transforms into a fully-grown dog. Knowing when the puppy stops growing can be useful in determining things like diet, exercise, and more. Determining life stages of your dog is difficult as different breeds grow at different rates. The size of the dog will also affect the dog’s life stage timeline.

Dog Breeds

Now that you know that different sizes of dogs grow at different rates, you should also know that smaller dogs finish growing faster than larger ones. In addition, smaller dogs reach maturity faster in all ways. If you feed your small dog properly, then you should expect that little guy to finish the growth process at the age of between eight and twelve months.

Just like small breeds, medium-sized dogs also take between eight and twelve months to finish growing. Just like with small dogs, you need to maintain a healthy diet and make sure the health of the dog is closely monitored. If you really want to be sure, then your vet is the best shot of having a more accurate answer because the clinic knows the health of your dog. As such, they will factor all that into the calculation.

For the big dogs, you will have to wait until their age is between 10 and 16 months. This is not surprising considering that these beasts pack up to 100 pounds in weight. For some breeds, they will keep growing beyond the 16 months. Giant breeds like the Great Dane, which can get to as much as 200 pounds when they stop growing, can take up to 18 months or beyond. Some have reported that their giant dogs took as long as three years.

These are not strict rules. Think of them as guidelines. As stated before, get in touch with the vet or any other professional for a more accurate answer.