Guide
American Bully Weight and Size Chart
What each size class actually measures, what an adult weighs, and roughly what a puppy should weigh on the way there.
The American Bully is measured at the withers, not by weight, and the class you’re buying is defined by height. An adult male runs from about 30 pounds at the pocket end to about 120 at the heaviest XL, but weight is a consequence of height and build rather than the thing that defines the class.
Height by class, which is what the classes actually mean
| Class | Male, at the withers | Female, at the withers |
|---|---|---|
| XL | 20 to 23 in | 19 to 22 in |
| Standard | 17 to 20 in | 16 to 19 in |
| Classic | 17 to 20 in | 16 to 19 in |
| 14 to 17 in | 13 to 16 in |
The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades, and you measure to it with the dog standing square on a level floor. It’s the only measurement that decides a class. Weight isn’t part of the definition at all, which is why two dogs of the same class can be twenty pounds apart and both be correct.
XXL isn’t on that table because it isn’t a class. It’s a marketing term for a large XL and I say so plainly on its own page, which is a page I’d rather have honest than convenient. The same applies to micro.
I don’t screen the parents for hip or elbow scores and don’t claim to, so nothing on this page should be read as a promise about a particular puppy’s adult frame. What I can tell you is what the classes actually measure and what mine are built like.
Typical adult weight
| Class | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 30 to 55 lb | 25 to 50 lb | |
| Standard | 50 to 80 lb | 40 to 70 lb |
| Classic | 45 to 75 lb | 35 to 65 lb |
| XL | 80 to 120 lb | 70 to 100 lb |
Those are ranges rather than targets and the top of each one isn’t something to aim for. A dog at the heavy end of XL is carrying a great deal of mass on joints that have to last twelve years, and there’s a real difference between a heavy dog that’s well built and a heavy dog that’s simply fat.
The test isn’t the scale, it’s your hand. Ribs should be findable under a thin layer of covering with flat fingers and light pressure. There should be a visible waist behind the ribs when you look down, and a tuck up from the ribs to the belly when you look from the side. A bully that fails all three is overweight no matter what the class table says, and weight is the single largest factor in how long the dog lives.
Roughly what a puppy weighs on the way up
| Age | Standard | XL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 weeks | 6 to 10 lb | 10 to 15 lb | 14 to 20 lb |
| 12 weeks | 11 to 17 lb | 18 to 26 lb | 24 to 34 lb |
| 4 months | 15 to 23 lb | 25 to 36 lb | 33 to 46 lb |
| 6 months | 22 to 34 lb | 36 to 52 lb | 48 to 68 lb |
| 9 months | 27 to 44 lb | 45 to 66 lb | 62 to 88 lb |
| 12 months | 30 to 50 lb | 50 to 74 lb | 72 to 102 lb |
| 18 months | Adult weight | Adult weight | Filling out, near adult |
These are indicative and a healthy puppy can sit outside them. Growth isn’t linear, it comes in bursts with flat periods between, and a puppy that seems to have stalled for three weeks is usually about to grow. What matters far more than hitting a number is the shape of the curve and the condition of the dog. If your vet is happy with the body condition score, the number on the scale isn’t the thing to worry about.
When does an American Bully stop growing?
Height is largely done between twelve and eighteen months. Width and mass keep filling in until somewhere around two to three years, which is why a fourteen-month-old bully often looks lanky and unfinished to an owner expecting the adult dog from the photographs. It fills out later.
The practical consequence is that the first eighteen months are the window where joint damage is easiest to cause and hardest to see. Growth plates are open, the skeleton is soft, and the dog is enthusiastic. No forced running alongside a bike, no repeated jumping down from height, and no long stair sessions until the plates close. Ask your vet when they’re comfortable that yours has finished.
My puppies leave at nine to twelve weeks, and their current ages are on the availability page. Ask me what the dam and sire weigh if you want the best available guide to where a particular puppy lands, because that’s a better predictor than any chart.
Ask what a particular puppy will grow into
I’ll tell you what the parents weigh and give you an honest estimate rather than the one that sells the dog.