Makin' the cut - Bernie and JemJem

REVISED - Sunday:

It's always the sweetest and most outgoing that end up in pet companion homes - lucky yous!!!

Before I even knew what a dog was, there had been years of experience, research, documented charts / records and calculations that have gone into creating a growth guideline for this breed.  The consortium of breeders have come up with a guideline/chart that other breeders can refer to, in order to help evaluate their dogs and to see if the pups are within the safe zone towards the standard height - this is my bible page being a new breeder and of course a few friends holding my hand along the way helps tremendously.

Combined with the height chart, there is also a weight chart that tells me that at 6wks of age the pup should be anywhere between 3 - 4.25 lbs - a good indication of potentially staying within the "safe height zone", there are always some exceptions, but... a this is a good first step.

I had been told anywhere between 3 and 4lbs is what you look at for an "amber flag" . There are some breeders that just wait for the "over" 5 lbs at 7wk mark when making decisions.

I look at the Pow line height charts below (use in conjuction with weight chart below) The blue and green lines give separate values for male and female pups.  

I guess I should also add, one must factor in what the dog physically looks like as well.- size of head, knuckles, "bone" and past family history records are also very valuable.
Having all this and doing an evaluation / weighing / measuring on Bernie and JemJem - these boys look as if they are headed in "not so safe zone"... they are 4lbs2.1oz... and 4lbs 1.6 oz at 5 1/2 wks.

They average (according to my records) 5 - 8 oz every three days - They are also 7.5" and 7 3/8 " tall.  The "family" record I have, indicate a good chance of going over the standard when I do comparisons of their aunts and uncles at the same age/timeframe. (Yes I measure 2x a week (Wednesdays and Sundays) after 2wks of age - before that, it was 2x a day) 

Unfortunately for me, these boys will be looking for their forever homes in the next couple of weeks. (February 17th).

Below are the charts. These were taken from The Sheltie Bloodlines website.  If you are interested in more information on these charts, you can find it on this particular page.  click here

Taken from Sheltie Talk :  Here are Guidelines from Some longtime breeders :
 
BARWOOD: 6wks - 8" risky
SEPTEMBER: 6 wks -  7"-71/2" max 7 3/4
SEA ISLE: 6wks - 7 3/4"
MACDAGA and RORRALORE 10" @ 10wks

Nobel Chart (above)

POW charts (weight and height below)