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Bruce ...size question !

Roxanne

Well-known member
OK .so I went back to see Colby again today ( he's soooooo freaking cute !! ) and I brought my digital scale . My breeder lost hers in the hurricane ( we live where Katrina hit :( ) .anyway , this is the first weights I have and they are 16 days old .

Colby weighs 1 lb 13 1/2 oz and his brother weighs 1 lb 12 1/2 oz ..so only a ounce difference Hehehe not much ! my guy looks a little fatter but his head and feet are a little smaller than his brothers . I am guessing Colby will be a little smaller than his brother ( not that it matters at all , but its fun to see what they will do ! )

My question is ...... how does this weight compare to your newest puppies at this age ? how much do your 8 wk olds weigh now ? is this is good/big/small weight for this age ? and anything else you can tell me ! I would love to know *ABOUT* how big he will be full grown ( there are only 2 in the litter ) if you can tell by this ? but probably not LOL Oh ....his mom is about 15-16 lbs and Dad is a little larger at about 19 lbs ??
 
I'll have to get back to you on that. Don't remember how long we went before we stopped weighing when they were little and have not weighed them recently. I do know we weighed them a couple times after we stopped recording weights in my journal.

May be a few days, as both Kris and I are very busy. But I WILL get back to you.
 
Well, we stopped recording weights at 11 days old because they had more than doubled their birth weight, which is a major milestone for us. At 11 days they weighed from 16.6 oz. to 23.6 oz. We did weigh them a few times after that for the first month, but never recorded it because they were doing so well.

Kris and I will get out our scale this weekend and weigh them; they will be 9 weeks this Sunday.
 
Roxanne, you can t tell much about their final size or even relative size to siblings at this age or even when they are 6 months old. Breeders tell plenty of stories about small puppies getting large and large puppies staying small adults and I see this all the time from working in general dog rescue. Breeders say size depends mostly on the pup's full family/genetic history -- meaning grandparents etc too, NOT just the parents. In other words, just like people. :)

In the Library there's a post about estimating the final size of a pup but this isn't very helpful til the pup is around 4 months old.
 
There are so many variables that affect final size IMHO. My first litter was very consistant in weight-- 5 pups all between 5.5-6.25 ounces. The two females I kept were the same basic weight until about 10 weeks. One girl finished growing at 14 pounds, she is more feminine and fine boned than her sister that is 16 pounds and has much more bone. Neither is overweight- so I think the biggest determination is genes.
But there is the type of food and when they are neutered <at least from what I've seen> play a part also.
 
So when is the "right" time to get males neutered ? and how does that affect growth again ??
 
Try searching the site on this topic -- there's a good in depth discussion or two somewhere with the various points of view.

Basically, behaviour wise most vets recommnend between 6-8 months. Some knowledgable folks however also feel it is best to wait til the dog stops growing, usually at about one 10-12 months, and is sexually mature.

My two were neutered at 8 months and 10.5 months.

If neutering affects size it is only believed to be by tiny amounts -- a half inch or inch in height perhaps. My two boys are 15.5 lbs and 16.5 lbs and quite lean so neutering hasn;t made them noticeable big or fat!! Or affected their coats.
 
Do they lift their legs ?

I was hoping to get Colby neutered at 6 months so that he will squat to pee ( I have heard this helps ??) Is this true ??

But I also dont want to neuter him to soon ???
 
Few males continue to squat and it doesn;t really depend much on neutering. Jaspar squats sometimes but then continues the walk lifting his leg regularly to mark along the way. Very few males would ever ONLY squat.

Maybe you should be considering a female if this is important? Males are males -- they lift their legs and wee a lot to mark territory, tend to wee more on their feathering than females. The chance is so tiny you would end up with a male that only squats as to be statistically insignificant. I've never even heard of one that only squats (though I have known of a few females who lift their legs like males!).

But both males and females can also go on their feathering when they squat as well (often they still hit their front leg featjhering in this position). Unless you keep the coat trimmed short, this can be an occasional issue with long-coated breeds and cavaliers tend to have pretty long coats.
 
Rory was huge when I got him at 11 weeks. 7lbs. He is now fully mature at 2 years and about 17.5lbs. I was sure he would be gigantic! but he is perfect. :)

Also - interesting thing I learned in reproduction class today. The size of the fetus is limited by the mother's ability to provide nutrients via blood flow, etc, which is in turn limited by the number of puppies. More puppies - less nutrients per pup. So larger litters could have smaller pups at birth. Also - if a great dane male impregnates a chihuahua, the fetus will be limited in its in utero growth by the chihuahua's ability to provide nutrients - so even though the genes will provide for a bigger dog, it will be born chihuahua puppy size and then do all its great dane size growing after birth.

Interesting stuff!
 
My 10 year old male almost always squats in the backyard, but lifts his leg on just about every vertical thing he can find on our walks. Never had a problem with him peeing on his fur, a little trimming on the "target" fur will take care of that.
 
Also - if a great dane male impregnates a chihuahua, the fetus will be limited in its in utero growth by the chihuahua's ability to provide nutrients - so even though the genes will provide for a bigger dog, it will be born chihuahua puppy size and then do all its great dane size growing after birth.

I've read this, and been told this by dog rescue people too -- though the puppies can of course really grow then" However would start so small that would be unlikely to end up a large size or even a big medium size -- but probably a lot larger than a chihuahua!! :lol: It's interesting stuff though, isn't it? Mother Nature is extremely accommodating.


VBTW that old 'large paw' thing in piuppies doesn't necessarily mean a big adult either. Friends with a pup that had huge paws and that the vet was sure would be a large dog is actually a quite small-medium dog now. 8)

a little trimming on the "target" fur will take care of that

With some dogs, yes, but not all. Jaspar is an extremely tidy dog and always has been, almost never gets any bit of himself, and very careful not to step on poops. Leo will walk on his poops if I don;t watch him, tends to wee on his belly fur and often also gets his front leg feathjering. I can trim back his belly but this often just gives him a straight shot at his legs. :roll:
 
Both of my boys squat to wee. I wash their tummy fur at least once a week and also keep it trimmed back too :roll: . I have never seen Charlie lift his leg but Maxx lifts his when we are out walkies - he obviously wants all the others neighbourhood doggies to think he's a real macho man :lol:
 
Just finished weighing the puppies today, here are the puppy number, birth weights first, then today's weight.

#1: 8.1oz birth; 5#11 oz now
#2: 6.5 oz birth; 4# 6 oz now
#3: 7.1 oz birth; 4# 15 oz now
#4: 7.9 oz birth; 5# 2 oz now
#5: 7.0 oz birth; 5# 9 oz now

Interesting that the smallest birth weight is still the smallest now and the biggest birth weight is the biggest now, but the in between ones have moved around a bit.

As far as estimating weight, it may work later as others have suggested, but we have had only so-so luck. When we breed, we tend to look more at the dam and sire and their parents as an idea of how big puppies will be as an adult. When we breed Anna, we look for a smaller sire because Anna's father is a big boy (19 to 20 pounds).

I do think I would look at the dam and sire and grandparents as a guide to how big your puppy MAY be.
 
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