Size, weight and growth

when i got zack at almost 4 months, he weighed 9 pounds, i think, maybe 8.5. He grew steadily for a couple of months and reached 14+ pounds by the time he was 6 months. He has been right about that weight ever since. I weighed him about a month and a half ago and he was 14.4 and i weighed him yesterday and he was 14.6. He'll be a year old on Saturday. So he hasn't grown in at least 6 months.

I didn't expect this. I thought he would keep growing until he was at least a year old. Is this normal and OK? I haven't worried about it because he looks healthy, he's not too thin, he's energetic and happy, his coat looks great, vets have said he's healthy when he's seen them during that period. He's progressing developmentally, socially and emotionally. It just seems odd that he would finish growing so early--before he was neutered.

Might he still grow some more, or could he be finished growing? Does this mean anything in particular, is it associated with any conditions or tendencies?

Holly was like this- she didn't really start to look like an adult in terms of not being puppy-weedy (as opposed to thin) until she was about two. Maybe you just have a petite little man- not a bad thing. They're so portable If the vet's happy, and you're satisfied he's healthy and happy and eating etc, I wouldn't worry too much. He's still not completely mature.

Merlin was the same - seemed to stop growing and then in the last 4 months he seems to have filled out - he weighs no different just "looks" bigger!

Males often will transform until around age two -- continue to fill out and so on.

At the same time I would want to talk to a vet if a dog hardly changed at all between 6 months and a year -- most dogs do a fair amount of growing in those ages. Mine both added about a fourth to a third of their adult size/weight in that time and they are both from a slow-growing slow-developing line. As I've noted before they are still developing their fuller coats and are now three!! Both have very tight coats on their bodies (with lots of feathering on legs and tail) which is why I never understood the shedding issue with cavaliers until I met Lily and my mom's cavalier in particular, who sheds LOTS and has a very full coat. So some is genetics but I'd probably want to talk to a vet just to check. He is well within the breed standard though. he may well add some more weight now and end up in the 16lb range or so.

merlinsmum said:

Merlin was the same - seemed to stop growing and then in the last 4 months he seems to have filled out - he weighs no different just "looks" bigger!

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That's how i would describe Zack in the last couple of months, it seems like he is filling out and his body is less like a puppy and more like an adult. I thought for sure there'd be some weight gain when i weighed him yesterday, but there virtually wasn't. So i explained this "filling out" to myself by thinking of it as his coat growing back. but i think it's what you are calling filling out.

I've wondered if his lack of growth might be caused by underfeeding because i don't feed him as much as he would eat. Yet his shape seems just right, he's neither thin nor fat, he's in between. If i fed him more and he put on more weight, i think his waist might disappear and he'd become overweight. I feed him about a cup a day of kibble, plus a small amount of treats.

Karlin said:

Males often will transform until around age two -- continue to fill out and so on.

At the same time I would want to talk to a vet if a dog hardly changed at all between 6 months and a year -- most dogs do a fair amount of growing in those ages..... some is genetics but I'd probably want to talk to a vet just to check. He is well within the breed standard though. he may well add some more weight now and end up in the 16lb range or so.

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OK, yes, that's what i thought, that this was normally a growth age. Yet he is really well proportioned, so it doesn't seem right for him to gain weight. His size is, as you say, within the normal range for the breed. When he was about 5 months, Belle, who is about 3 months older, was a bit larger than zack, noticeably. When we got them together when zack was about 9 months, he had grown bigger than her, she seems to have stopped growing. When she first visited and they played (play fighting), she was mostly on top. When he outstripped her growth, he was always on top.

I'm thinking maybe when he was weighed at 6 and 7 months, maybe the weight was read or recorded incorrectly. Maybe he was really smaller than what they said.

He's due for his first vaccination boosters in another month and a half, so that will probably be the next time i'll see the vet. Or, i might take him for his first rabies this month. I'm going to take him to Jean Dodds by the way.