At what age do puppies start looking like adult dogs and losing their puppy fat etc?

[StrongArm]

I have honestly forgotten all of this. We have a 13 month old working cocker pup. We moved house in August to a house with a bigger garden - it was all concrete slabs so we took a week to take them up so the garden is now a giant pit of mud. The dog could not be happier if he tried. He literally wakes up every single day completely overexcited to get out into his garden and roll around in the mud, dig, chase, charge about like a lunatic.

this is a big change from old house (which only had a yard) - we have to actually force him to come inside to have a nap mid afternoon or he'd just charge about all day and then collapse given half the chance.

because of this, he's burning off a load more energy and both dp and I suddenly looked at him this weekend and realised he's looking a lot more like an adult now and less like a puppy (he's a large cocker so has always looked a little bit daft!)

is this about the right age for that? I've totally forgotten what it's like having a youngster. He's at the vet next month for his boosters so we'll get them to do a once over but he's definitely a lean machine now rather than his younger roly poly self!

TBH puppies should not really ever have puppy fat. They may for the first few weeks when not very mobile but even after this you should be able to feel their ribs and see a waist.

At 13 months your dog should have a clear waist and clearly feel their ribs.

They lose their puppy fat quite quickly. Our 12 month old lost his puppy fat within a few weeks of being with us (after he couldn’t scoff his siblings share of food). I’d say by about 6 months, you should see them starting becoming a young adult dog. By 12 months, everything should have evened out a bit so they should have grown into their ears or paws but might just have a bit of height left or a bit of filling out.

thanks both - yes he's definitely got a waist and you can feel his ribs. I think he's probably just got a bit taller which is what made him suddenly look older. He always had huge paws which made him look a lot more puppy like than he was I think and it's like his legs suddenly lengthened and he grew into his paws and he looks much more like an adult!

Mine came home at 12 weeks and didn't have any puppy fat - tbh they shouldn't ever really have it beyond being very small.

As long as you can feel his ribs and see his waist, he should be fine!

I agree about the paws. Suddenly they seem to fit the dog and then they do seem more "grown up" and the puppy lolluppy run goes

Usually by about 6/7 months they pretty much stop looking puppyish tbh, I mean, they don’t completely, you can tell they’re still young, but enough that people stop going OMG, a puppy, when you’re out and about.

Mine grew a nose suddenly - he had a little cute puppy snout and then one day he had a long dog muzzle and it took a while for the rest of his face to catch up! I think that was after 6 months and before 9 months. He was a little roly bundle when he arrived to about 4 or 5 months and then became a skinny teenage dog. About a year he started to get quite muscly and to look more adult rather than teenage.

Yes I had the same experience as @MaryLennoxsScowl except mine is a floofy thing so you cant see her muscles easily. She was a super chonky type until about 6 to 9 months then got gangly anf then filled out to have a deep chest and slim waist. She's a pain to buy coats for tho because shes very long and thin.