Looking for advice on puppy weight - Page 1

I recently bought a puppy from friends of mine who are also breeders. I have met both the sire (115lbs) and the dam (105lbs). Both are healthy, beautiful dogs with great temperaments.

My concern is that the entire litter was very small in size (8lbs at 8 weeks). They were all happy, social, and alert with great coats. I do know that my friends believe that growth should be slowed down in the early puppy stages (I do not subscribe to this view), but given how healthy the puppies seem, despite their small size I’m a bit worried. The puppies were fed an all-natural puppy food for small breeds.

I have since switched my little guy (London) to Royal Canin Maxi for large breed puppies. My question is this; do you think his growth has been permanently stunted? And, given his low weight, should I modify his diet to help “bring him along” quicker and better? Other than his weight, he seems to possess all the great qualities of the breed.

Any and all advice welcomed. Thanks,

i would  have a chat with your vet. don't go changing his diet yet has he been wormed??

any pics??

Yes, he has been dewormed. You can see photos of him here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109681&l=aaba9&id=721595213

If you can't access them let me know and I can email them.

on the small breed puppy food issue,  that should not have stunted growth,  but accelerated it.  small breed puppy food is generally alot more nutritionally dense in smaller kibble.  generally has higher protein and fat levels.

I have experienced 1 litter with pups that small, it was a DDR sire and WG working dam.  they were fed, wormed, and vacc same as all my other litters before,  but around 4-5 weeks, seemed to quit growing. all had fecals and check ups by my vet, fecals were neg. for parasites(also neg. on coccidia and giardia).   they eventually picked back up and made avg. sized dogs.  for more info on the pedigree, email me privately.

Jennifer

cant get them

i hate computers!!!

Puppy's like children have growing spurts, they can stay the same then boom all of a sudden you can see the difference.

Feed consistantly, any change's should be gradual.   You dont really want them to be too big or over weight as puppy's anyway.    The sire and dam sound a bit large for GSD's.    I'm sure the puppy's will catch up.     Follow feeding directions and dont be changing brands every other week, pick a good one and stay with it.

Some lines grow slowly. I had a pair that I imported and they were small made and scrawny when i got them @ 2months. Now they are bigger than the local dogs. It takes along time and maybe upto 3 years to gain full size.

On the otherside 8lbs at 8 weeks is not so bad. What you should do is make a weight chart and mark his weight every week to see how he is putting on weight and then you can ask the vet if its normal or something is wrong.

Ignore the weight - how is the puppy looking and behaving?

Does it behave with lots of energy interspaced with lots of sleep - this is normal

Is puppy ribby? or is it pleasantly plump?  Your puppy should be the latter - but not overweight - a firm hand across the ribs should be able to feel them - they should not be sticking out or be hard to find. - This is the best guide - as told to me by my VET.

Dogs are just like people, my son as a baby could gain a pound a week and never failed to do so.  My friends son would gain about 1/4 - 1/2 pound a week and she worried like mad about him.  Today they are exactly the same height etc.

However I would never feed a GSD small dog food - it is NOT designed for them and Im very surprised he started off on that.  Royal canin is a good feed, and please do not supplement it as you can cause more harm than good with messing the nutritional balance.  Remember if you over feed your puppy will get loose stools and the feeding is counter productive - you might as well throw the extra in the bin.

hey hun thanks for the pics.

he does look on the small side.  i would still get a vet check done. as long as he is putting on a bit don't be over concerned

pups do grow at different rates. he should have a good covering of fat you shouldn't be able to feel  his ribs he should be plump and sleeping a lot with intermittent play pups are like kids and need their sleep so make sure he isn't being pestered buy kids etc.  

don't change his diet unless the vet says so 

it sounds like the breeder has fed the wrong type of food i would never feed my pups on small breed the pups should have been reared on large breed puppy but we all make mistakes

he dose look  thin  hence my concern    

London,

If your puppy is healthy, parasite-free, engergetic, and outgoing, I wouldn't get all jacked up just yet.  The puppy that I have now was large at birth, but by 8 weeks was lagging.  I have an Excel spreadsheet with GSD growth charts, both male and female, and I took weights every week or two and added them to the chart, which has growth curves for "small", "medium", and "large" males and females.  My puppy at 8 weeks was smaller than "small" and I hemmed and hawed, all for nothing.  His growth rate picked up again at 3 months age and now at 5 months he's more than 55 lbs. 

Now I wish his growth would slow down.  I really was hoping for a small-medium male instead of a large one.  My last GSD male was only 60 lbs at maturity and he was the fastest, most athletic and agile dog I've ever had. 

For your peace of mind, do you have another vet in your area that you could take your puppy to for examination?  Perhaps if you had independent confirmation that the puppy is healthy then it would be a good sign that all is well.

Yvette