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?

[Taylor & Huff]

I have measured Huff but I don't remember what his measurement was. I will measure him again and post what he measures. Wow! Groucho Too is pretty long!:)

[Melissa & Porter]

That is a long dog.  My sloppy measuring, though I did stop at the end of his tail, not his tail hair, is 60 in.  Porter is much shorter at 21 inches tall I think.  This confirms my thought that Porter is part dachshund ;-)

[Lynda Kamrath]

Groucho Too would be five inches longer if I measured the hair on his tail.  I went just to the tip of the bone on his tail.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I just measured Gracie Doodle and she is 64" from nose to end of tail bone!!!  She has a very long torso for a Doodle and is also very tall (28-29").  Most Doodles I see are more boxy and even though they may be big or tall, the distance between the front legs and back legs is not that long.  This is where Gracie gets her length.  Also, at almost 4 years old she is 73.3 lbs and very lean and muscular.  She is an authentic F1 GoldenDoodle though!!  She seems to be about an inch smaller than Groucho Too!  I guess she has grown since you met her because I remember Groucho Too being huge!!  ha ha

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think Gracie is built like Groucho.  Since she is a goldendoodle, she gets the long body from the golden retriever side, as does Groucho.  The boxy doodles are probably labradoodles which tend to be stockier and shorter.  Hondo was a labradoodle and he was wider and heavier than Groucho.  Groucho was thinner and taller, but he has been putting on weight since we got the new dog.  I think he is eating more and is probably about 90 pounds now.  I have to wait until we go to the vet because I can't weigh him on anything at our house.

Be sure to let us know when you are up here again with Gracie.  We have a doodle romp in a couple of weeks, but it is a long way for you.  I'll see you when you are up this way.

[Linda and Murphy]

Okay, I just measured Murphy. He is 29" tall and 101 lbs.    He is 67 inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of the tail (not the hair). He also is an F1 Goldendoodle

[Lynda Kamrath]

I think the long body is more typical of goldendoodles.  He is very close to Groucho's measurements.  Groucho has been putting on some weight and their measurements for tallness and length are about the same.  Aren't our big boys the greatest?

[Linda and Murphy]

Absolutely!

If I measure Murphy from the breastbone to point of rump, it is roughly 31". From the withers to the tip of the tail is 27.5 inches and he is 29 inches at the withers (measured at an agility trial.)

[Carol Brand]

Dogs are typically measured from the point of sternum (without "wrapping) to the pin bone which is the point of the hip under the tail.  For height, measure from the highest point of the withers (shoulder blades) to the ground.  This is best done with a level and two people.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Ummmm, the point of the hip under the tail????  And how might we find that without hooking the tape measure to their poop shoot??  lol

[Carol Brand]

A dog has a croup.  This is roof of the pelvis.  It reaches from the hip bone (sometimes called pin bones)  to the point of the rump.  You can see the point of the rump on page 5 of  the Illustrated Poodle Standard 

http://www.poodleclubofamerica.org/illstand.htm

 

In AKC, Poodles, Goldens and Cockers, are measured from the breastbone (sternum) to the point of the rump.  In Labs you measure from the point of the front shoulder to the point of the rump which is not really that different.  In AKC, a Poodle is supposed to measure square: as tall as it is long.  Goldens, Labs and Cockers are all supposed to be just slightly longer than they are tall to ensure good movement (a slightly longer dog has just a little more room to freely move its legs under its body).

 

An interesting side note.  I read on the Rutland Manor site that ALDs are supposed to be taller than they are long with a ratio of 12:10.  I'm not exactly sure how you are supposed to measure an ALD.  The Australian Kennel Club measures an American Cocker as the AKC dogs above.  The English Cocker and the Wheaten are measured from the top of the whithers to the base of the tail.  There are no instructions for measuring a Lab or Poodle.  

 

Anyway,  the ratio in the ALD standard means that a 20" ALD could only be 16" long.  (Did I do that math right?)   I don't see how this would even be possible unless you were measuring from the whithers back.  Otherwise you would have a dog that was not much more than head, tail and legs.  I'm curious to have some ALD owners measure their dogs and see what sort of numbers you get.  Most of the ALDs I've seen look longer than they are tall.

 

 

[Lynda Kamrath]

Your math is pretty close, but on a ratio of 12:10, a 20 inch ALD would measure 16.6 inches.  I have a 9-mo-old ALD so I will try measuring him.  Of course, his tail curls up over his back so he looks shorter in length.  I'll let you know what I come up with.  He definitely isn't a long dog like Groucho.