Hello to everyone and I would like to say I have been lurking for a month or two and this site is full of useful information.  I have one question about rat terrier size.  The only one I have seen in person was a 10 lb rat and chihuahua mix.  I am thinking about adopting a 1 year old type A rat.  It weighs 17 lbs now.  Is this the final size of the dog or will it get any larger?  Does anyone have a picture of this size rat with something in the picture as a reference to size?I see the average size is listed up to 25 lbs.  How common are rats of this size?  Also does anyone have a picture of 25ish lb rat with something in the picture as a reference to size?

Well 1st, welcome to the site.  I'm glad you decided to join. 

2nd, how wonderful of you to consider adopting a dog.   

3rd, even better that you are looking into a Rat Terrier!

My Rat Terrier is a Type A and she is 1 year 7months and weighs around 18 lbs.  I don't think it's very common for a RT to get up to 25lbs although it is very possible.  If the dog you are looking at adopting is 1 year old, he/she is probably very close to the size that it will stay...may just grow a tad more but not much I wouldn't think.

I don't really have any good pictures of her that show her size compared to something else in a photo.  The best I can do is this picture of her sitting next to my boyfriend.

Please let us know what happens....if you adopt, we would love to see pictures! 

Welcome to the site! Ditto on what Morgan said. Dogs don't do much growing after 1 year, though their bones can grow on up to 18 mos. I have two mini ratties: Button, 3yo, is 10 lbs. Zipper, a 1½ yo rescue, is 9 lbs. They both stopped growing in stature at 1 year.

Hi!  My male rat terrier, Mikey, is 5yrs old and weighs 20 lbs.  My other one weighed around 17 lbs.  The picture is Mikey but you can't really tell his size from the picture.  My little girl, Alice, will probably get up to 12-14 lbs.  I really think for an A-type that 15 to 18 lbs. is normal.  Of course, Mikey is probably a "little" overyweight! 

Hi and welcome. I think it's so wonderful that you're are considering adopting a rat terrier. I personally think it would one of the best decisions you could ever make; they are FANTASTIC dogs, however, I'm not exactly impartial

My Daisy was fully grown by one year of age. She is now almost 2 years old (at the end of January) and weighs between 14-16 lbs. depending on activity/food intake. She is a Type A also. For size comparison, the only picture I have that might help is this one. I have the worst time telling how big a dog really is from photos though!

I had a foster who was 27 pounds.  I have a picture of him at 27 pounds and Sasha at 16-17 pounds, but not sure how to post him on here. I loved this dog.  He was HUGE but his temperment was the same as the small ones.  He'd plop down on top of you like a lapdog.  Bubba was a great foster and is now with a great family!!

Sue in NY

Rowdy is a type "A" larger rattie- he was 27 lbs last time I had him weighed and he's appx 18" tall to his shoulders.  He's fully grown and seems to be holding his weight pretty steady.  I know there are several other ratties on here about the same size as he is.  Michelle's Sonic and Jan's (Sassy'sMama) both seem to be about the same size as Rowdy.  Shiloh and Amos are two of the ratties on here that are larger than that- perhaps more of the decker strain.

Personally, I love having a bigger rattie!  He makes a great running and hiking companion, and I can never go too far for him.  He also has the same big personality and absolutely loves to cuddle.  I just have to allow a bit more room on the bed for him.  He loves playing with smaller dogs, but holds his own quite well against our Shephard mix.

Here's a couple pics to try to see a size comparison...

The first may not be the best, but the two other dogs are our lab mix (about 45-50 lbs- built like a dalmation) and our Shephard mix (65lbs- built like a smallish shephard)

Here he is at the dog park wrestling with a cocker spaniel.  They were similar in size.  Similar height, but Rowdy is built a little slenderer.

And with my boyfriend...

Oh!  I just found this one!  I'm 5'3"....  and that's Sam the lab right behind me, with Schatzi the shephard behind her.  (And look away from me!  Not my finest shot!)

Check out alysky's "How big/small is your pup? in the "chat" forum.  It's from about a week ago, I think, but she's got a lot of replies on there.  I had a similar forum several months ago too.

(Hope that helped a bit...)  And congrats on thinking about adopting!  Rowdy was a shelter dog and I wouldn't trade him in for the world!!!  (Actually, all three of ours were adoptees.)

Smokey is 14" and 17 pounds. My advice - adopt a Rattie - you will never find a better dog. A side benefit to owning one is belonging to this site - everyone here is awesome!

Prince is 7 months and weighs maybe around 7 1/2 to 8lbs. Hes real small. Maybe about the size of a chihuahua. I don't except him to very much bigger. Hes going to the vet this afternoon and I;m going to ask him if the dog will get any bigger. I really would like for him to stay the size he is.

Your right. The vet said that Prince would not get any bigger than he is. And at the most will weigh around no more than 10 maybe 12lbs  He also has a little cough. So she put him on some antibiotics to clear that up. Other  than that hes doing real good