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Puppy small for age

HowardtheSpanner

HowardtheSpanner

Active member
Howard was 6 months on the 7th March. He's gone in today for his neuter and the vet who was checking him mentioned that he seemed small for his age. She was shocked that he was 6 months. He's very healthy and has two lovely furry man-parts on him, so they were happy to neuter him (but told me I could wait if I wanted.)

He's quite a gangly little man, and until today I thought he was quite tall, if petite.

The vet who checked him isn't "my" vet (who will be neutering but wasn't in until later.) He's always owned Cavi's and as a vet has a great interest in the breed so I'll be talking to him later when Howard's ready to come home, about his size.

Could his size be indicative that there's something wrong with him internally?
 
Gosh, I'm so sorry that no one has responded to your post.

But I wanted to say that so many of our dogs our different sizes and shapes. My Claire was very tiny when we brought her home at 10 weeks. She was only about 2.5 lbs. And even today at just under 12 lbs, she is considered small. But she is very petite in bone structure, so her weight fits her. There are several here that have smaller or more petite dogs.

As long as the Vet isn't finding anything significantly wrong, I wouldn't concern myself.

Let us know how the neuter went.

How much does Howard weigh?
 
In the first few months we had her I also worried that our dog was also on the small side. People would always ask her age and then be shocked by her size (I've since come to think they've only seen overweight Cavaliers since there are so many around!). It took forever for Rigby to gain weight, but our vet said she could continue growing up until two years old and that there was a good chance she would reach regular weight later on. This turned out to be true and she is now 15 pounds at almost a year old. I agree with mommytoClaire - if the vet isn't concerned, don't worry!
 
It's hard to answer without knowing what his weight is (can you let us know? :) ) -- that's a better indicator than looking gangly, as all puppies go through gangly stages especially at your pup's age. :D Some dogs are smaller, some larger. Small size can sometimes indicate an underlying health problem, which is why the different vet might be a bit concerned, but this is unlikely. However the breed standard for adults is quite broad -- ranging in the UK from 12-18lbs with many dogs falling just outside either end -- more on the larger size. And puppies can grow at very different rates. many who start small make up that growth over their first year and end up the 'right size'. :)

On the other hand, I would say that many vets probably see far more cavaliers that are larger than breed standard and may therefore be mistaken in what they think is the 'right size'! I ran breed rescue in Ireland for about 7 years and in that time, over probably 200-250 dogs homed, I'd say 2/3rds to 3/4ths were a bit above breed standard (and often, overweight, the other issue owners need to work carefully to control as it has a direct link to heart health and this is a breed with endemic heart disease -- a fit dog will live longer and stay healthier :) ).

Hope his neuter goes well and he's back home soon!
 
I have the opposite issue with our 7 month old, where most comment how big he is for the breed, already larger than his parents.
At 7 months he is 23 pounds and has a very healthy diet, virtually fat free treats like duck and kangaroo and loves to run and run.
He's super healthy and the vet mentioned that when we took him in for his puppy shots when he was just a little tike, that
she estimated that he would be around 12kgs (26 pounds) as an adult.

I found that once jessie was desexed at 4 months, his growth exploded and is now growing into a lean athletic adult.
 
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