Dog size chart

Enter your dog's adult weight or pick a breed to see whether it counts as toy, small, medium, large or giant, how other size schemes label it, and which breeds are a similar size.

Tim de JongUpdated October 2, 20265 min read

Your dog

Find the size by

Adult weight

Your dog's weight, or the expected adult weight of a puppy

Size category

Medium

20 to 50 lb on the scale used across our tools.

Other size labels for 35 lb

Puppy growth-chart band: 15 to 30 kg
Small / medium / large: Medium
AAFCO large size (70+ lb): No

Breeds of similar weight

Brittany · 35 lb
Kerry Blue Terrier · 35 lb
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier · 35 lb
Boykin Spaniel · 33 lb
Whippet · 33 lb
Xoloitzcuintli · 33 lb

Dog size chart by weight

Size categories go by adult weight. This is the scale built into our breed data and used across our tools:

Breed counts and life expectancy from our breed database (breed standard midpoints).
Size	Adult weight	Breeds in our data	Typical life expectancy
Toy	12 lb or less (5.4 kg or less)	23	14 years
Small	12 to 20 lb (5.4 to 9 kg)	27	14 years
Medium	20 to 50 lb (9 to 23 kg)	38	13 years
Large	50 to 90 lb (23 to 41 kg)	53	12.5 years
Giant	over 90 lb (over 41 kg)	21	9.5 years

The life-expectancy column is the median of each breed's published life expectancy in that size class. It shows the familiar pattern that bigger dogs tend to have shorter lives, though individual breeds vary a lot. Our dog years calculator uses size for the same reason.

Dog breeds by size

Every breed in our database, grouped by the size of its breed standard (average of males and females).

Size	Breeds
Toy 12 lb or less	Affenpinscher, Biewer Terrier, Brussels Griffon, Chihuahua, Chinese Crested, Coton de Tulear, Havanese, Italian Greyhound, Japanese Chin, Maltese, Miniature Dachshund, Miniature Pinscher, Norfolk Terrier, Norwich Terrier, Papillon, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Russell Terrier, Silky Terrier, Tibetan Spaniel, Toy Fox Terrier, Toy Poodle, Yorkshire Terrier
Small 12 to 20 lb	Alaskan Klee Kai, American Hairless Terrier, Bedlington Terrier, Bichon Frise, Border Terrier, Boston Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Cavapoo, Jack Russell Terrier, Lhasa Apso, Maltipoo, Manchester Terrier, Miniature Poodle, Miniature Schnauzer, Parson Russell Terrier, Pug, Rat Terrier, Schipperke, Scottish Terrier, Shetland Sheepdog, Shiba Inu, Shih Tzu, Shih-poo, Welsh Terrier, West Highland White Terrier, Wire Fox Terrier
Medium 20 to 50 lb	American Eskimo Dog, American Pit Bull Terrier, Australian Cattle Dog, Barbet, Basenji, Beagle, Bearded Collie, Border Collie, Boykin Spaniel, Brittany, Bulldog, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Cockapoo, Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, English Cocker Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, Finnish Lapphund, French Bulldog, Keeshond, Kerry Blue Terrier, Lagotto Romagnolo, Miniature American Shepherd, Miniature Bull Terrier, Mudi, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Pomsky, Portuguese Water Dog, Puggle, Samoyed, Siberian Husky, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Standard Schnauzer, Tibetan Terrier, Whippet, Xoloitzcuintli
Large 50 to 90 lb	Afghan Hound, Airedale Terrier, Alaskan Malamute, American Bulldog, American Staffordshire Terrier, Australian Shepherd, Basset Hound, Beauceron, Belgian Malinois, Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Tervuren, Bernedoodle, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bluetick Coonhound, Borzoi, Bouvier des Flandres, Boxer, Bull Terrier, Catahoula Leopard Dog, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Chinese Shar-Pei, Chow Chow, Collie, Dalmatian, Doberman Pinscher, Dogo Argentino, Dutch Shepherd, English Setter, Flat-Coated Retriever, German Shepherd Dog, German Shorthaired Pointer, German Wirehaired Pointer, Giant Schnauzer, Golden Retriever, Goldendoodle, Gordon Setter, Greyhound, Irish Setter, Irish Water Spaniel, Labradoodle, Labrador Retriever, Norwegian Elkhound, Old English Sheepdog, Pointer, Redbone Coonhound, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Spinone Italiano, Standard Poodle, Treeing Walker Coonhound, Vizsla, Weimaraner, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Vizsla
Giant over 90 lb	Akita, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Bloodhound, Boerboel, Bullmastiff, Cane Corso, Caucasian Shepherd Dog, Dogue de Bordeaux, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Irish Wolfhound, Kangal Shepherd Dog, Leonberger, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Newfoundland, Presa Canario, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Tibetan Mastiff

Want the exact numbers? The dog weight chart by breed lists the standard weight and height of each breed for males and females.

Is there an official dog size standard?

No. Kennel clubs group breeds by type (sporting, herding, toy and so on) rather than by weight bands, and every company or study that needs size classes draws its own lines. The three you are most likely to meet:

Puppy growth-chart bands. The WALTHAM growth charts, built on the 2017 PLOS ONE study by Salt and colleagues, use seven adult-weight bands: under 6.5 kg, 6.5 to 9 kg, 9 to 15 kg, 15 to 30 kg, 30 to 40 kg, 40 to 47.5 kg, over 47.5 kg.
Small, medium, large by 10 and 25 kg. A three-way split (small up to 10 kg or 22 lb, medium 10 to 25 kg, large above 25 kg or 55 lb) taken from a Royal Canin nutrition guide and used in the 2008 canine BMI study.
AAFCO's large-size line. On pet food labels, "large size dogs" means dogs expected to weigh 70 lb (32 kg) or more as adults. It decides which growth foods are suitable for a puppy.

Here is how a few weights fare under each scheme:

Adult weight	Our scale	Growth-chart band	10 / 25 kg split	AAFCO large size
10 lb (5 kg)	Toy	under 6.5 kg	small	no
25 lb (11 kg)	Medium	9 to 15 kg	medium	no
50 lb (23 kg)	Medium	15 to 30 kg	medium	no
75 lb (34 kg)	Large	30 to 40 kg	large	yes
100 lb (45 kg)	Giant	40 to 47.5 kg	large	yes

Why your dog's size category matters

Growth. Small dogs grow up fast and large ones slowly: the growth-chart study found very small dogs mature at 8 to 12 months, while larger breeds can take up to 24 months to reach adult weight. Our puppy weight calculator uses a separate growth curve for each band.

Food. VCA explains that puppies expected to reach 70 lb or more need a growth food labelled as suitable for large-size dogs and should be kept lean while they grow; AAHA's guidelines add that giant-breed puppies should not get excess calcium.

Gear and space. Crates, beds and harnesses are sold by size, but those labels vary by brand, so measure rather than trusting "large". Weight also isn't everything: a tall, slim sighthound and a short, stocky breed can weigh the same yet need very different crates. Our crate size calculator works from measurements for that reason.

Frequently asked questions

What size is a 50 lb dog?

On our scale a 50 lb (23 kg) dog is at the top of medium. Other schemes agree it is mid-sized: it falls in the 15 to 30 kg band of the puppy growth charts and counts as medium on the 10 and 25 kg split. It is under AAFCO's 70 lb line for large-size growth foods.

Is a 70 lb dog a large breed?

Yes, by every scheme here. It is also the line AAFCO uses on pet food labels: a food for growth "including growth of large size dogs" is meant for puppies expected to weigh 70 lb (32 kg) or more as adults.

What counts as a small dog?

There is no official cutoff. On our scale small means up to 20 lb (9 kg), with toy dogs at 12 lb (5.4 kg) or less. The three-way split used in some veterinary research puts the line at 10 kg (22 lb), and the puppy growth charts split small dogs into under 6.5 kg and 6.5 to 9 kg.

Is a Labrador Retriever medium or large?

Large. The breed standard puts a Labrador Retriever at 55 to 80 lb, which is large on our scale, and the male range reaches past AAFCO's 70 lb large-size line.

Does my dog's size category matter for its food?

For puppies, yes. A puppy expected to weigh 70 lb or more as an adult should eat a growth food whose label says it is suitable "including growth of large size dogs". For adults, feed for your dog's weight, activity and body condition.

Sources

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