What is the height and weight of a purebred adult male pit bull

by Renee
(Westchester, NY)

I have a purebred male rednose pit bull puppy and I would like to know how tall he will be when he is full grown and what his body structure will look like?

Gale's Reply:

Hi Renee:

The best way to know the expected adult size of a pit bull puppy is to look at his lineage. What size were his parents, grandparents and great grandparents?

There has been a lot of outcrossing done with the APBT over the last couple of decades. Mostly with idea of producing either larger dogs or stockier dogs. (I refuse to get into a debate over whether these are "real" American Pit Bull Terriers. I'm simply noting that this is what has happened.) Consequently, size and appearance aren't as standardized for pit bulls as they are for some other breeds.

The UKC (United Kennel Club)says the ideal adult male weighs between 35 - 65 lbs when full grown. But, dogs over that weight are not penalized in the show ring unless they are massively overweight or rangey. They say height is not as important as the ratio of weight to height--which just goes to show how loose the breed standard for appearance is even among people who show their dogs.

So, the bottom line is the best way to know what your puppy is going to look like when full grown is to know what his ancestors looked like.

By the way, the fact that he is a red nose will not influence his height or weight or overall appearance--only his nose color.