How long is that dog?

[Lynda Kamrath]

Groucho Too is a big boy.  Sometimes when he wants to treat himself, he will stretch out on his back on our king-sized bed and he stretches the entire length of the bed.  At other times, he will stretch out on the couch for me to do a "tick hunt" on his underside.

We met a man the other day who was biking with his little dog (Jack Russell and chihuahua mix) and when he saw Groucho Too he asked "How long IS that dog?"  Well, I measured using a cloth tape measure and he is 65 inches from his nose to the tip of his tail.  I measured him a couple of times just to be sure, so he is a long dog.  He is 30 inches tall, so I guess it is proportional for a dog to be twice as long as he is tall. Anybody else measure the length of their dog?

[Linda and Murphy]

Carol, thanks for the info.

 

[Lynda Kamrath]

We also remeasured Groucho using your standards.  He is a square.  He is 29 1/2 inches tall and 29 1/2 inches long.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Thanks.  I did not know how to measure the length.  How can you measure from the sternum to the hip?  What does it mean "without wrapping".  For the height, I place a book on their shoulders and measure to the floor from the bottom of the book.  I can see why you say a level and two people are best for measuring.

[Carol Brand]

Without wrapping.  Again you want a straight back measurement.  You could see that if your dog was hefty or if it had big coat that this might throw the measurement off.  The level is handy here too since you can get a straight plane out from the sternum.

[Carol Brand]

Note.... here I said pin bone and that is not correct.  The pin bone is the hip bone.  You should measure to the point of rump.

 

So did anyone measure?

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yep, we measured Harpo this morning.  My husband looked at the numbers and said you must have them reversed because dogs are longer than they are tall.  Maybe 10 height to 12 length.  Anyway, Harpo is 22 1/2 inches long and is 21 1/2 inches tall.  So, I guess he does not meet standards for an ALD.  But he is great for us!  We used a level and two paddles of wood held on each end and a metal yardstick.

[Carol Brand]

Thanks for measuring.  Your dog really isn't that long in comparison to his height.  Do you think it is his long tail that makes him look so long?  Conformationally, does he get a lot of his height in his body vs. his leg?

 

I know this isn't important to most people, but if you are a dog freak like me, it is interesting to see how dogs conform to a written standard. When I first read the standard on the Rutland Manor site,  I thought, "Well they got that backwards".  But, the standard clearly reads:  Overall balance and symmetry is more important than absolute size. Slightly taller than long, on a ratio as twelve is to ten.

 

I decided to look at other Labradoodle Organizations and this is what they had:

ALAA:  Height (to wither) as to length (from sternum to point of buttock) should appear square and compact.

 

ALCA:  Height (to wither) as to length (from sternum to point of buttock) should appear square and compact

 

It is interesting to note the differences.  Personally have never seen an ALD that is taller than it is long and very few that I would consider square. Most are just like yours, a little longer than tall.  

 

Anybody else measure their ALD?

 

 

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well great!  So Groucho is perfect (at least as far as being square).  But the "compact" part doesn't fit for him at all.  Of course, he is a goldendoodle instead of a labradoodle and labs tend to be a little more compact.  Hondo definitely did not have the legs that Groucho has.  And Harpo doesn't have the long legs yet either. He seems very well proportioned to us, however.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Wow that's a big dog!!!