The world's smallest Newf? NOT!

So it turns out that I am not an abnormally small Newf; Rarf was just starving me. Seriously! She was so worried that I might become one of those fat Newfies that she wasn't feeding me enough. It took a visit to Birchbark Newfoundlands, where I was born, to make her see the light. Amy took one look at me and told Rarf to increase my food by 2 cups a day (thanks, Amy!) And Rarf wondered why I was eating rocks, sticks, anything I could get my paws on. I am now 120 pounds, 28 inches at the shoulder---and still pretty darned thin. Feed me more, Rarf!

27.5 inches???

Okay, maybe I'm not going to be the world's smallest Newf. A very strange thing has happened. Even though I've weighed about 98 lb for four months, I've gotten bigger. Rarf noticed that I seemed to be taller (she must have noticed the proximity of my mouth to the top of the kitchen counter) and so she pulled out a tape and measured me. At first she said, "Twenty-eight at the shoulder? That can't be! That's breed standard for an adult male." So she measured and remeasured, making me "Stay" and flattening the fur on my shoulders. Finally she declared, "Twenty-seven and a half unless I'm totally blind; no way around it. So much for our petite Newfie. It looks like there's some weight gain in your future, Ciara-Miara." (This explains a lot: I have never FELT like a small Newfie).

All growed up???

Alright; I've been 97 pounds for three months now. (Forget that 101 reading in November: that was obviously scale operator malfunction.) Does this mean that I'll never break 100? Does this mean that, at slightly over one year old, I've FINISHED GROWING? Does this mean that I'm the world's SMALLEST NEWF??? I may not have put on any weight since early October, but I swear I've grown taller. Hey you other Newf bloggers out there: can you tell me if I have some growing left to do? Perhaps a growth spurt at about a year and a half? Or is this IT??? Because right now I still FEEL a lot bigger than I am. (Although my extremely svelte, athletic, and attractive physique can certainly compensate for any size deficit---trust me on this.)

This gate gets smaller and smaller

There is a plywood gate at the entrance to the kitchen. (It used to be to keep me in, but lately it's being used to keep me out.) The gate seemed HUGE when I was a puppy. But now that I'm almost five months old, I'll be able to clear this in no time!