a bit short...

[apollotheridge]

anyone else have a short ridge?  i never thought my Apollo was anything but decent size.  but i was looking at the standards on this site, and decided to measure him.  i havent weighed him either, but he is actually 24 inches tall.  now, i didnt have him as a puppy, got him when he was about 10 months old.  could i just have a shortie?  or is there anything that could have stunted his growth.  ive always made sure to monitor his ribs and chest to make sure he isnt too skinny or too fat..

Ryan

[Joego84]

I picked my RR out of his litter. He was born with a half ridge. I knew I wasn't going to show so I didn't care. I don't think it's real common but does happen...just like RR being born with no ridge. I don't think anything stunted his growth but i'm not an expert. There's some other guy's on here that will be able to tell you more.

[CA in TO]

Just checking Ryan, you aren't talking about a short ridge are you? I believe you are asking about small stature.

[caro]

24" is a bit small for a male, but just within the standard for a bitch.  The breed is in fact getting too big and you will hear a lot of judges complaining about the oversized dogs that they see.  It's not unusual for a 29" dog to be in the Specials ring.  However, it is very unusual to see a 24" bitch and they do have to be extremely good structurally to win against the bigger bitches.  Having had a 27" male always be the smallest dog in the ring, it can be demoralizing to always lose to the bigger dogs.  27" is the top of the standard!

Short ridges are more common that most breeders would like.  The ridge should run from the shoulders to the hip bones, but very often it stops an inch or so before it reaches the hip bones.  There was a very successful stud dog in recent years that had a short ridge and it is appearing in his descendents.

Caroline

[Joego84]

hahaha, yep, I should have read that topic twice. Sorry 

[apollotheridge]

i definitely dont love him any different for being not up to standard, just wondering.  his ridge doesnt start at his shoulder blades, maybe an inch or two lower, and it stops maybe 3 inches from his hips.  he seems like a big dog, i couldnt imagine him bigger!!

hopefully you can tell in this picture.  its the best one of his ridge.  he sure does look like he has rolls! hehe

[caro]

It's a nicely shaped ridge, but you are right it is a bit short.  However, I've seen similar being shown.
Caroline

[apollotheridge]

its very nice and uniform.  and i thought it was fairly long, untill i really started looking online!  thank you all for the responses!