Runty or Dwarf? - Page 2

I'd say it's too early to tell at this point. I would probably hold her back until she's a bit older and then place her.

I don't think she's necessarily a dwarf. I would feed her separately if you're not already doing so, watch how she eats, make sure it stays down, and see how she does for a couple weeks before taking drastic measures of any sort.

Did you weigh them all at birth? Was she normalish but smaller and then just didn't grow as fast? Like Joan said, there are tons of reason she could be smaller. Some pups get a large portion of a worm burden (I assume you've taken care of that if that had anything to do with it), some pups aren't as pushy at the milk bar and lag behind, you could have any number of internal issues, a minor cleft palate (not so much that she aspirates and can't eat at all, but enough to make it difficult so that she is a bit behind). Have you checked thoroughly for a cleft? Mega-e can be tricky to catch on occasion, too, especially in a group setting where the others will eat any regurg in the blink of an eye...or she'll re-eat it herself.

Pituitary dwarfs like Tig's Nemo have a foxy look to their faces. She looks normal to me. Has she been checked for a cleft palate? That can be another reason for slow growth.

I adopted a pup that was the smallest in her litter when born - 8.5 oz. while the largest male was a whopping 21 oz. (These were not GSDs, BTW>) By 8 weeks of age, she was the same size and weight as her 2 sisters. She caught up really fast once the pups were weaned. (And yes, the breeder did rotate the pups so they all got a good chance at nursing.)

I believe liver shut could be another cause or she may just be smaller. I know someone who had a dwarf that she took in to save. I will ask her if she was smaller at birth or same size and at what age did she look like a dwarf. She knew it when she took her from the breeder so that may help. I don't think they look different very young. She may not know how big at birth but I'll ask.

I do watch her when she eats. I was weighing before and after, even while nursing. She eats fine, never throws up. She was smaller at birth but not by much. Once I started kibble she picked weight up more quickly (3 to 5 oz a day vs 1 to 2 oz a day)

No cleft palate. No diarrhea. Activity is pretty normal. She's just tiny.

It is a litter of 10, and she usually got pushed away. Every time I walked by the welping box (was in my kitchen) I latched her on. Weighed before and after nursing.

And definitely dewormed.

The dwarf I mentioned was 9 lbs at age 6 and she didn't live past that age. That doesn't help you though.

Melissa I sent you a pic of a male dwarf pup at 5 weeks a friend posted for me to see on Facebook. I have not posted pics here and no time to figure out how to do it. Feel free to post him if you want.

3-5 oz/day = around 800 gms/week?

Pretty normal for a female pup. Based on that alone, i'd say more likely a runt, who is catching up.

JMO

I asked about weight at birth because a relatively normal pup who is just smaller won't always seem SUPER tiny at birth, but will stay proportionally behind and when the siblings gain rapidly, if they're smaller and get pushed aside, well...do the math. I don't think this pup necessarily has a problem and would do as suggested previously- watch for a few weeks, get a clean bill of health and place, or keep if you don't get a clean bill of health from vet. Good luck.

Real dwarfs tend to have "fox like" faces ( someone already mentioned it - was it Sun? ) and the coat feels different/thinner ( all of this without 100% guarantee ). I am with Jen, I´d keep her for a while, just to be sure what´s going on.