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puppy growth rate


daisyandme
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Daisy is 5 months old now and people keep commenting that she has not grown very much. The vet has not really said anything other than telling us to continue to try to get more weight on her. For her second visit about two weeks later she was at 16 lbs. She then reached almost 20 lbs at her third visit a month later when she got her rabies shot. I just took her for a weight check, a month after her rabies shot and she is now at 23 lbs and between 17-18 inches tall.

 

She has not had really any noticeable growth spurts, rather she seems to be a slow and steady grower. She is on a better food than what we have given any puppy we have had over the years, but I can remember seeing very obvious growth changes with those dogs.

 

I know with border collies there is such a wide variation in size, but does her growth seem normal?

 

Maybe she is just going to end up on the small side. Her coat looks healthy, seem like her fur continues to grow longer by the day. She has plenty of energy, is very alert and loves learning and playing. Maybe I am just paranoid since my last best dogie friend became so horribly ill before he passed away :rolleyes: I find myself constantly checking her over for lumps, bumps and any other thing that does not seem normal.

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If she appears healthy in all other aspects I wouldn't worry about her size. I have a tiny border collie who didn't reach her top weight (30 lbs) until she was 3.5 years old. And although I have a couple who aren't much bigger than her, she always just looks much smaller (and she stayed in the upper middle 20 lb weight range for a long, long time). But she's active, healthy, and a good worker, so I quit worrying about her size long ago (she was also a very picky eater, but even that seemed to stabilize after she turned 3). Frankly, I would prefer slow, steady growth over growing in fits and spurts.

 

For comparison, my 5-month-old puppy just outgrew her by a partial pound (i.e., he also weighs 30 pounds now), and I'm afraid he's going to be a big boy when he finishes growing (I prefer a smaller dog). His was a small litter, so all the pups were well nourished and large.

 

Anyway, I say stop stressing about her unless she gives you an obvious reason to do so. She'll probably just end up on the small side.

 

J.

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I remember Glynnis was slow to grow. She also took a long time to reach her full growth and weight of 32 lbs. She was the smallest dog I've ever had. On the other hand Jin reached what is typically full size for a BC at about 11 months then kept on growing. He's now over 55lbs. I think I'll take him in tomorrow and get him weighed.

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Yes, that is at the highest or top point of her shoulders. I just measured again and I got 18 1/4 and then a second time got 17 3/4+...She is hard to measure because she is afraid of the tape measure. :rolleyes:

 

17-18" tall at 5 months isn't really that small. Is that measurement at her shoulder? All my females are 18-18.5" as adults and around 30 pounds.
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Don't stress yourself and her out about it. If she is acting fine, looks good and eats well, be happy! She'll grow and mature as she can, be thankful she is taking the slow easy route! She may be a little bit of a pup, some BC bitches don't get much past 30 pounds at all. It's no big deal, relax and have fun with her. As for her being afraid of the tape measure - put some peanut butter on it and turn it from a negative to a positive in her world.

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Guest echoica

i guess it is all a matter of perspective. my female bc puppy was also 14lbs at 3 months. and she only gained 1lb this past month! but i thought she was looking a little chubby :rolleyes:

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Our Layla is 16 months and 27 pounds and VERY petite and small boned. She's very lean, fast and eats well. She was 28 pushing 29 pounds. Then we got Gus the rescue and she's much more active with him around and lost a few. I was told by our vet that their bone structure is complete usually at 10 months to a year. Then they fill out.

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I agree with the others, if she seems healthy and happy don't worry. :D I am a bit of a worrier myself at times, so I understand how you feel. :rolleyes:

 

Daisy is 19" tall and weighs about 35#s and she is 1.75 years old. Devon is 17" tall and weighs about 20#s (guessing since I haven't had him weighed in few weeks) and he is 5.5 months old. There is such a wide ranges of shapes and sizes for border collies that it is tough to predict. I am hoping that Devon will take after his mom who is a lovely little bitch - teeny tiny and 28 #s but a great working dog but he's a boy so he'll probably be a bit bigger.

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  • 1 month later...

And I have the opposite worry - I took Bandit in today and she's 27# at 16 weeks. Seems WAY too big to me. She put on 7#s since her last shots 3 weeks ago and she's very lean - no visible body fat. My older male is only 50#. I'm just feeding her regular puppy food, but the vet tech suggested large puppy food since she's growing so fast. I'm worried she's going to have development issues because she's growing so fast

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Why not just switch her to an all-life-stages food/adult food? Puppy foods are generally higher in protein and calcium and perhaps she'd do better on lower levels found in adult foods. The very reason I start a pup on adult food (never use puppy food) is to help ensure slow and steady growth and no overweight.

 

FWIW, the pup I talked about in my earlier post wouldn't have been 5 months old till the end of December and he was already 30 lbs then. I weighed him a week or so ago, a few days before he was six months old, and he was 36 lbs. He's not huge though, and I don't think he's going to get much bigger sizewise, though I'm sure he'll fill out. He's certainly not huge.

 

J.

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Daisy just reached the six month mark and is weighing in at 28.6lbs (that was at her vet visit two weeks ago). I am betting she has reached the 30lbs mark though or is very close to it. She is a little taller than 20inches. Everyone who sees her asks me: Is she a border collie? and then always followed by she is so small (almost to ask if she is a mini BC). For some reason based on the reactions I get, people seem to think these are supposed to be BIG dogs. I wonder where that comes from?????

 

I don't know how big Daisy is going to get. My guess would be one or two more inches in height. I don't think she is going to end up on the very low end of the spectrum in size, but definitely somewhere in the middle low end, maybe.

 

Found these measurements doing a google search, but I don't know how accurate they are:

Height: Dogs 19-22 inches (48-56 cm.) Bitches 18-21 inches (46-53 cm.)

Weight: Dogs 30-45 pounds (14-20 kg.) Bitches 27-42 pounds (12-19 kg.)

 

Based on above Daisy seems to be developing into average size. The rescue told me she would reach about 40lbs, but I don't think she is going to make that.

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Guest echoica

she does not sound small to me! my bc pup is just over 5 months now and 21 lbs...a couple of lbs less than what yours was at that age. my brother's bc (female) is full grown and only 32 lbs!...

 

40lbs sounds like a reasonable estimate for daisy at this point. honestly, i hope my latest addition does not hit 40 because i already have a 50lber and that's enough dog - let alone 2 - for one single petite female to coordinate :rolleyes:

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I've been wondering the opposite. My BC/Lab (we think) mix will be 6 months in 2 weeks. I just weighed her tonight, she's 33 lbs, haven't measured her height. My other almost 2 year old was 35 lbs when I rescued her a year ago. Within a few months she was up to 46, since then we've brought her back down to closer to 43lbs.

 

Neither of them seem appear to be as heavy as they are, compared to what other people at the dog park claim their dogs to weigh. They both have very strong hind quarters that are probably quite dense.

 

I just hope my puppy doesn't get to be to big.

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I don't think Daisy sounds small, either. Actually quite average, and just about right, IMO.

 

My boys get comments on how small they are, too, but for males, I guess they are. Alex is about 19 1/4" tall and weighs 31-32 lbs. Will is a teeny bit taller, but weighs the same. (I love the wee ones, even if Will wasn't supposed to stay here.) Jack, my BC mix is a big boy, but he's obviously mixed with a bigger breed.

 

mkogan, if she's really a bc/lab mix, she might end up on the bigger side. But at 33 lbs at 6 months, she shouldn't gain a significant amount of weight from here on. As recommended above, I'd have her on an adult food, not puppy.

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  • 1 month later...

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