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Newbie: Puppy to Adult Weight ?

Hello everyone! I lost a 14 1/2 year old Blenheim CKCS, Chloe, on August 5. I thought it would take me at least a year to get another one but because of the encouragement of others, and the fact that my husband needed one, I got another one. Instead, he is a boy and a tricolor. He immediately stole my heart yet I still have sad times about Chloe, as she was like an extension of my own body. That’s the only way I could describe it to those who don’t have a CKCS - like an extension of me. I stay at home, so she was always by my side for all those years unless I ran an errand. She traveled with me, too.

Teddy is now 5 1/2 months old and he’s what every breeder should strive for in breeding! I cannot say one negative thing about him but with CKCS’s that is almost impossible, anyway - isn’t it! I have a question, which I may post separately since some may not see it in this posting. Teddy is already 15.5 pounds. His breeder estimates that his adult weight will be 18 to 20 pounds. She says that it is typical that the smaller Cavaliers continue to grow for about a year but the larger ones stop at around 6 or 7 months. What has your experience been? For whatever reason, I’m just curious to know what he might grow to be. He has had a big growth spurt over the past two weeks. The two weeks prior to that, he hardly grew at all. I just bought a scale because my breeder said that it is good to keep their weight monitored. I’m not concerned if he’s a bit chubby (he’s barely so) since chubby puppies, from what I understand, typically grow out of it. Thank you to all who give me a bit of insight! - Emily
 
I can only base what I tell you on my experience with 1 cavalier. Others may have more insight.

Bosco (male) my tri-color, age 2, weighs approx 21 lbs, and is not overweight. He was about 15 lbs at 6 months, so I think your breeder is correct, but I would guess he'd be closer to 20 lbs than 18.

At one point, Bosco was up to 24 lbs, and through gradual food reduction over several months and less treats and more exercise, he's maintaining the 21 lbs weight which his vet deems healthy. I never had a dog that loves to eat as much as Bosco, and it is very hard to resist those big brown eyes pleading with me.

I'm sorry to hear about Chloe. She will always have a special place in your heart, but hearts are big and Teddy sounds like he is already creating his special place too. Thinking of you and understanding your loss.

Joan
 
I'm so sorry for your loss.

I've never heard that about smaller and larger cavaliers myself. One longtime, very experienced breeder says this as a very general guide (the size of litter, parents and grandparents are all factors). According to her, it is not the eventual size of the adult, but the size of the litter than affects the speed at which puppies tend to grow:

Size: Healthy puppies, in normal weight, born in normal sized litters are usually half their mature weight at 3 months of age for girls (14 weeks or so) and 16 or 17 weeks of age for boys. If your puppy was born in a normal sized litter (3-5 puppies), was a normal size at birth, is not fat or thin right now, has always been healthy and is 7 lbs. at 15 weeks--he will likely mature out at about 15-16 lbs. If the litter size was less than 3 puppies he will grow faster at first and be larger at this stage than normal. If the litter size was more than 5 puppies he will probably grow a bit slower at first and be smaller at this stage than normal. I don't see him as being large at this point in time. Neutering before the growth plates close will almost certainly cause him to be at least an inch taller and a bit heavier at maturity.

Note: Parental size has less to do with puppy size than 'family size'. In other words if the parents were the smallest in their respective litters they are highly likely to produce puppies more the size of most of the members of their family--or larger than they themselves are. You really can't go by the size of the parents much for this reason.

If your fellow is 15.5 lbs at 5.5 months old, I would guess he will likely be at least around 20lbs as an adult, given that he was likely to have been perhaps around 10 lbs a few weeks ago, at 16-17 weeks (four months or just over). But as the breeder Laura Lang notes above, there are a lot of factors that could play into the size he is right now. He could be large for his age or even small for his age. (y)
 
I really think every dog like person is different. My Fletcher who will be 2 in Feb. weights 21 lbs. which is perfect for him. I have always know he was going to be a "good sized" cavalier because he was always a touch large for his age (says the vet- who has treated cavaliers for years) I have never had any info about his parents and size wise I really don't care.
I remember thinking Fletcher was too thin at times when he was a pup. It is VERY important not to allow a cavalier to be chubby, it is not good for heart health. In puppyhood tho that can be hard because they are always growing.
 
Thank you so much for your reply! Chloe was a ‘big girl’ due to weight. I was very fortunate that she lived 14 1/2 years, had minimal heart problems, yet was overweight - even more so that when Bosco was overweight.

It helps to hear about Bosco and his weight at 6 months. I am just so very curious about how Teddy will turn out physically, just as I was with Chloe. And, yes… Teddy’s already in that special place in my heart. Thank you, again.

Emily
 
Hello Karlin,

Thank you for your reply. That makes sense that there more than I was told to take into consideration. Teddy’s mother was 15 pounds and his father was 19 or 20 pounds. Oddly enough, just 2 weeks ago, he was 13.9 pounds. I am feeding him a ‘manufactured’ raw diet (where they have some method of killing bacteria other than heat) and when I called them to ask how much that I should be feeding him, then they told me to increase it. Now, Teddy looks a tiny bit thick but not what I’d call flat out chubby. He’s always had longer legs and a long neck. I’m not sure how many were in the litter but the breeder said he was a larger than average puppy when I got him at 12 weeks of age. Thank you, again for the quoted information! I’m going to print it out and put it in my book by Sheila Smith that is ages old because I’ll never be without a Cavalier for the rest of my life!

Emily
 
Hello Roger,

I feel that I was very blessed and/or lucky to have Chloe for 14 1/2 years, have her be overweight (I know it was irresponsible and now regret it) and for her to only have mild heart problems - a slight murmur. I am afraid that I will not be as fortunate this time around because I know that she was such a highly unusual case.

What do you think about a puppy being a tiny bit on the thick side - (not full blown chubby or fat)? I’m repeating myself from a previous reply but by nature, Teddy has long legs, a long neck (always has). Only recently, I was told to increase the amount of food I was feeding him when I called the manufacture because the puppy amount wasn’t listed not he back of their bag; although, it is also very good for puppies.

Thank you,
Emily

Thanks,
Emily
 
I think I was so focused on watching Bosco's ears grow when he was a puppy, that I failed to notice that he was packing on a few extra pounds! :p

I have to be very careful with his weight as his patellas are not good, and I don't want to put him through surgery. So far, he is doing well with supplements and exercise (we walk HILLS).

I still think he's a big boy and is definitely not as lean as other Cavs I have seen. He has a very full and thick coat, so I sometimes wonder if there's a thin Bosco under all that fur.

Sounds to me like you were blessed and a wonderful "mom" to Chloe. 14.5 years is a wonderful age to have attained, and I can only hope that my dogs (Bosco and two Japanese chins) do as well.

Joan
 
Dear Joan,

That is funny about Bosco’s ears because just this morning, I was thinking the same thing about Teddy’s ear hair! It seems like Chloe was at least a year or more before her ear hair was fully grown but I can’t recall - maybe it was earlier or even later… it’s been so long.

I’m bad about exercising myself, but we’ve been a little bit better with Teddy than we ever were with Chloe. Chloe hated to go for walks. She disliked it so much that one time she faked a limp, so I picked her up, then we quickly got back into the house and she tore around the house like a wild animal! She was pulling MY leg (pun) :eek:). So, that was the last time I took her for a walk - bad me as I should have been a bit more assertive.

Thank you for the replies. I hope your Bosco, and your two Japanese Chins, live long lives, too!

Best to you,
Emily
 
Emily-

It took a year for his ear to grow long. For a bit there I thought I would have the cav with short ears. Now they are long and wonderful. It is fun to watch them grow up. Take lots of pictures and you can note the progress!
Joan
 
Dear Joan,

Thank you for letting me know how long it took Bosco's ears to grow because I could not remember about Chloe! I need to remember to always date the photographs that I take of Teddy. Actually, I believe that if I take them with an actual camera and enter them into the computer,.. and then it notes the dates. But on our camera phones I don't think that it notes the date when transferred to the computer. Thank you for the reminder about the pictures because I do take so many on my iPhone that I now want to find out if it does capture the dates when it's entered into the computer. You have given me a project :eek:)!!!

Kindest regards,
Emily
 
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