Body Shape anomalies or normalilties??

[Jen and Annie]

OK, Annie is a very good girl and I love her to bits. I am wondering if these things I notice about her body are normal for a 6 month old pup. She is an F1 standard labradoodle. Father is a standard poodle and her mother is a yellow labrador.

Her front legs, where I imagine her 'knees' or 'elbows' would be look kind of knobby. I think that I read somewhere that this is where the growth plates are, and that they will smooth out when she is done growing taller. (She is 22.5" now, so I guess she will still have some height to gain?).

The other "anomaly" is that her hind end sits a little higher (a VERY little bit - like MAYBE 1/4 -1/2 an inch) than her shoulders. Like, it looks like she has a big butt, and I'm not sure if this might be a poodle trait? It looks like she has great, proud posture, but her butt just seems to stick up a little, like she is standing proud and tall if that makes sense?

She runs and walks fine, no limping or anything else its just that she looks different than any other dog i've had. My boxer has high shoulders and a low rear, so for comparison sake - it looks like Annie is the opposite - my boxers front legs are also smooth, rather than knobby. Just wanted to see if anyone else;s doodle seems to have a big high bootie?

[Ellie and Cooper]

Annie,

Hi, I have an FI Goldendoodle named Cooper, he had the knobby looking front legs when he was little.  I can't explain anything, but did you ever notice that Annies front legs would shake or tremble?  Coopers did when he was little but he now weighs around 70 lbs., or more.  I notice sometimes that they still shake a little, but it hasn't stopped his running or jumping.

 

Just curious.  Good luck and hope you get some answers.

 

[Jen and Annie]

I have not noticed her legs shaking or trembling lately at all, except when she is sleeping and then ALL her legs shake and tremble. When she was a tiny puppy, this happened every once in a while when she was sitting down - the front legs would look like jelly and sort of move uncontrollably.. But havent noticed that happening in months. She seems to have some very active dreams though, and goes for jogs in her sleep sometimes. She barks, whines and growls in her sleep sometimes too.

I will have to pay attention now to see if I notice any trembling of her legs anymore, but I'm pretty attentive so I think if she had - I would have noticed it lately.

[Bonnie and Kona]

As I recall, my pups went through growth spurts that had them looking a little ungainly for a bit until the rest of them caught up. It reminded me of my kids who would seem to grow up and then out and then up and then... you get it. Anyway, I would not be concerned at this point unless there were symptoms attached. Annie is an "adolescent" in dog life, and she will most likely end up with a good conformation. Your doodle will most likely have a more level back than your boxer but the rear end won't be higher than the front end. ;o)

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Declan grew more or less evenly. Lachlan, on the other hand ... oy vey! First I'd notice that he suddenly seemed to sprout this huuuuuuge tail, then his rear would shoot up so he looked like he was running downhill, then his head would grow to match his tail, and finally his front end would catch up and he'd look in proportion again - for about a week and then start all over again. This went on from, if memory serves, ~5 months through ~10 months. If I filmed it in stop-motion he would'a looked like a Slinky!  Now he has a nice square conformation, although I tease him about his "heeeuge retriever heid".

(In other words, at Annie's age being out of proportion is perfectly normal. And incidentally, she's gorgeous!)

[Jen and Annie]

Thank you for the compliment!  Her hair seems to be growing a centimeter a day about now - i thought she would never 'doodle out' when we first got her!  So it sounds like she will grow out of looking like a FREAK!  For awhile when she was around 3 months old, she had a HUGE body and a tiny head, and I was afraid she would look like a labrador with a toy poodles head.  Her head would catch up to her body, and then her body would grow again, making her head look small AGAIN.  This was a weekly occurrence for about 6 weeks. Now her head/body shape is more proportionate - that head is still a little small, but that butt... always sticking up like she's a sexy woman trying to walk like a catwalk model.

[Adina P]

We need pics! :-)
When we got Thule at 11 months, I wanted to call her JLo because she also looked like she had a big booty...but only from the back.  I think she grew into it though, because I don't remember it looking that big at the age of 4 when she passed.

[Jen and Annie]

Ohhh 4 years old, that is so young - I'm sorry...

I will see if I can sneak a picture of her standing profile so you can see that big old butt.  The problem is, if she is not RIGHT NEXT to me, she is running around like a blur, so its difficult to get her to sit still, much less get away from me so I can get a picture!  I think I can do it though... We'll see if I can sneak a picture of her side profile.  Stay tuned.. 

[Puppy Love]

Higher hind legs was one of the doodle traits i was hoping for. Looks more like Old English Sheepdog. I think it makes your doodle even more adorable.

[Jen and Annie]

I do think its cute, I just wanted to make sure it's 'normal' - well, as 'normal' as a cross bred dog can be!  Since she's still growing, she may grow out of it I guess, but it makes her look like she is trying to be sexy or something LOL

[Jen and Annie]

HERE is a picture, where you can see the slope up to her hips.  She's always moving so her face is blurry here, LOL.  The only way I can EVER get a good picture of her face is when I use 'burst' mode on my camera - then out of 10 shots, i might get one good shot!