Puppy Growth Rate

[sdmike26]

Wow my puppy is tiny...

 

10 pound (11 weeks)

16 pounds (16 weeks)

21 pounds (20 weeks)

23 pounds (23 weeks)

25 pounds (29 weeks, about 7 months)

[mum24dog]

Not as tiny as mine.

[sdmike26]

Wow you're right, I can't even imagine how small he must be.

[chene]

8 weeks: 9.5 lbs

 

10 weeks: 11.8 lbs

14 weeks: 16.0 lbs
19 weeks: 20.9 lbs

24 weeks: 26.0 lbs approx 18"

6 months: 30.0 lbs

Since I started feeding him more he's put on about two pounds a week, not in growth but just filling out. He's still a bit underweight but not bad.

[mum24dog]

Looking at friends' pups now it is clear that 8 week size is no guide as to eventual height.
The tiny collie pup at 8 months is now quite tall. That one was the same size as mine when tiny, has the same sire and dams are sisters.
The enormous collie pup at 7 months is on the smaller side of medium.
My tiny pup that is light as a feather is still only about 17 in at 6 months but not much different in height from the two Welsh Sheepdog pups that are a few days younger, just very different in build.
Some dogs you can tell how tall and they are because they stand still and straight. Mine doesn't do still and can look very short or verging on normal depending on the degree of crouch. He's always going to look deceptively small with his small head, short back and fine build, but boy is he fast and athletic and certainly not lacking in presence or determination.

[mum24dog]

Risk at 27 weeks is now about 17.5ins and 19.5lbs.

[mum24dog]

I need Risk to grow because I don't want to have to spend the next 15 years explaining to people that he isn't a pup.

 

He's just weird. He's always been proportioned more like an adult than a pup, but an adult in miniature. Looks perfectly normal when there are no points of reference.

 

Things that don't help to make him look even as tall as he is - the fact that our other collie is virtually identical in appearance but 6in taller and more than twice the weight, the fact that he spends so muck time with he head down ready for action, and the fact that he has a little head and short back ewith a short coat.

 

He's never really had a growth spurt, just grown slowly bit by bit, which is good, I suppose. My vet describes him as "well put together".

 

I know that each dog is a law unto itself but has anyone else had a slow grower like this and, if so, how long was it until it reached its eventual height?

[GentleLake]

I don't think there's much you can do about his genetics, Mum24dog.

 

I'd love to have a tiny collie like him. You can send him on over here to me if you'd like.

[mum24dog]

I know I can't do anything about it, just wondering whether he might still put on a couple of inches. That would do me.

 

To rub salt in the wound his breeder has just posted a picture of his sire on their FB page and others with dogs sired by him are posting pictures of his offspring. None look like midgets, although they aren't as young as him.

 

His dam and 2 of her sisters are bigger too, as are other related dogs.

 

The irony is that I've said that I would only have another Medium dog for agility if I could get one that was built like my mongrel with the same bounce and he isn't far off, although he's borderline for that category now.

[moosikins]

How do you measure the height? Is it toes to shoulders? I looked online but there are several contradicting sources. Anyone have a good diagram or instructions to share for someone who's never measured their own dog?

 

Callie is 40 lb now and according to the vet, likely at her full size (with some winter padding in need of exercise and fewer holiday treats). It would be nice to know her height as well for better comparison to your pure and mixed BCs. I kind of thought that because she's part lab, she'd be larger than the average BC and both my husband and I thought that Border Collies were larger in general...like, sheep-sized. Somehow I don't recall seeing BCs before and thinking they were a smaller breed.

[Root Beer]

Most people measure the height from the floor to the dog's withers.

 

When I measure on my own, I take something straight and bring the dog up next to a wall. Then I lay the straight edge across the dog's withers and hold it against the wall at that height. I release the dog and measure from the floor to the place where the object was on the wall. It's approximate, but it's good enough for getting a general idea of height.

 

I'm too lazy to make a wicket.

[chene]

I know I can't do anything about it, just wondering whether he might still put on a couple of inches. That would do me.

 

To rub salt in the wound his breeder has just posted a picture of his sire on their FB page and other with dogs sired by him are posting pictures of his offspring. None look like midgets, although they aren't as young as him.

 

His dam and 2 of her sisters are bigger too, as are other related dogs.

 

The irony is that I've said that I would only have another Medium dog for agility if I could get one that was built like my mongrel with the same bounce and he isn't far off, although he's borderline for that category now.

 

Absolutely he might. He's just over six months, correct? You've got plenty of time for him to add on a growth spurt, or even just to keep growing steadily. I thought I remembered him having started out with some health issues, especially regarding food? So there's reason to think he is just a bit behind on growth. Though Aed hasn't had this issue, Alchemist posted earlier in this thread about Ross saying he was about 23lbs at your pup's age and continued to grow in height when he was over a year old. So don't worry about it too much.

 

Also, moosikins, I have found the same thing. Aed looks tiny compared to what I normally think of border collies looking like. However, I have discovered that at least one part of that is that they look much bigger when their adult coat has grown in and they've properly filled out. IIRC Callie is only eight or nine months, so she'll change in appearance yet. She won't be fully done until at least a year, sometimes up to two.

[dmadrid]

I like root beers method for measuring height.... I've done something similar to measure my guys. It works reasonably well.

 

As far as the size of border collies in general....there is such a range! I've seen everything from 25-60 lbs.... And 16-24inches.... So depending on how big the BC is in your dogs background, that could make a big difference in final size.

[kingfisher7151]

Mum24dog, you may like to hear that Keeper is 10 lbs heavier from 27 weeks to 10 months old! But you probably won't like to hear that he's hardly any taller. An inch, maybe. I love the teeny tiny ones though, so I'll just be jealous of you!

 

I also seem to picture border collies as being much bigger than they are. Even at 40 lbs at 10 months which is very average, Keeper still seems TINY. They must pack on the pounds somewhere! Surely they seem bigger with a thick coat, but they still aren't big dogs. Keeper plays with an Aussie who is only 9 lbs heavier and yet seems to be twice as big. But they sure are the perfect size! Big enough that you don't trip over them, small enough that you can still fling them over your shoulder.

[chene]

Man, I don't know, everyone's border collie seems huge compared to mine! Over Christmas I met a little wiggly thing named Molly, she looked just like Aed and if asked I probably would have put her at 35-40 lbs, but I could have sworn she had at least three or four inches on Aed! Which is pretty unlikely. It's like some sort of weird illusion.

[dmadrid]

My penny was 20.5" tall... But she was nothing but legs and only weighed 33.5 lbs. my little Wren is 25.5 lbs at 7 months.... Roughly 17" tall.... But we will see where she ends up.

[CptJack]

Man, I don't know, everyone's border collie seems huge compared to mine! Over Christmas I met a little wiggly thing named Molly, she looked just like Aed and if asked I probably would have put her at 35-40 lbs, but I could have sworn she had at least three or four inches on Aed! Which is pretty unlikely. It's like some sort of weird illusion.

 

My Molly is 31lbs (she's only gained < .5 a pound in the last almost 2 months - think she's about done), but she's seriously tall. Like bounce up on me and be chest/armpit high on my 5'4" self. Which isn't much shorter than my 100lb gsd mutt. Dog densities are strange.

 

And I need to get a real height measurement on her someday, because heck if I know.

 

Either way, she looks alternately enormous and tiny to me, even when she hasn't grown at all. Depends on who is around her as far as other dogs/people, I think, AND her demeanor and carriage.

[chene]

My Molly is 31lbs (she's only gained < .5 a pound in the last almost 2 months - think she's about done), but she's seriously tall. Like bounce up on me and be chest/armpit high on my 5'4" self. Which isn't much shorter than my 100lb gsd mutt. Dog densities are strange.

 

And I need to get a real height measurement on her someday, because heck if I know.

 

Either way, she looks alternately enormous and tiny to me, even when she hasn't grown at all. Depends on who is around her as far as other dogs/people, I think, AND her demeanor and carriage.

 

Wow. I just checked, and 30lb Aed wraps his arms around my waist when he jumps up (I'm 5'7"). Head is just above my bellybutton. So not even close to Molly, even with our height difference.

[CptJack]

It's *probably* not as extreme as it sounds depending on how we're built (short/long waisted, etc) and how the dogs are built (leg length, back length, amount of bone, etc) but there's obviously some big differences there. Just what they are, who knows.

But it's a really neat illustration of how different two dogs of very similar weight can be in practice.

[Maralynn]

Kolt now walks over to the scale and waits to be picked up when I pull it out :D

 

He is 9.5 m/o and holding steady at 40-41#. He's starting to broaden out a bit and get more of an "adult" look to him.

[GentleLake]

As far as the size of border collies in general....there is such a range! I've seen everything from 25-60 lbs.

 

I know of one who was 70 lbs as a one year old, and not at all overweight. I suspect he may have filled out a bit when he reached full maturity.

[mum24dog]

Absolutely he might. He's just over six months, correct? You've got plenty of time for him to add on a growth spurt, or even just to keep growing steadily. I thought I remembered him having started out with some health issues, especially regarding food? So there's reason to think he is just a bit behind on growth. Though Aed hasn't had this issue, Alchemist posted earlier in this thread about Ross saying he was about 23lbs at your pup's age and continued to grow in height when he was over a year old. So don't worry about it too much.

Also, moosikins, I have found the same thing. Aed looks tiny compared to what I normally think of border collies looking like. However, I have discovered that at least one part of that is that they look much bigger when their adult coat has grown in and they've properly filled out. IIRC Callie is only eight or nine months, so she'll change in appearance yet. She won't be fully done until at least a year, sometimes up to two.

 

I remembered that someone had posted that their dog went on growing for ages. I was hoping that more would be able to say the same.

 

Yes, he did have problems with his digestion for the a few weeks and I would say that he's more like a 4-5 month old of his type than his real age of 6.5 months. You could be right and his early problem could have delayed his growth.

 

I don't have any benchmark from my own experience to compare him with. The only reason I'm obsessing about it is that I'm getting tired of making excuses for his current size in the face of comments about his lack of stature. I'm normally more relaxed about things like this.

[Maralynn]

I remembered that someone had posted that their dog went on growing for ages. I was hoping that more would be able to say the same.

 

Yes, he did have problems with his digestion for the a few weeks and I would say that he's more like a 4-5 month old of his type than his real age of 6.5 months. You could be right and his early problem could have delayed his growth.

 

I don't have any benchmark from my own experience to compare him with. The only reason I'm obsessing about it is that I'm getting tired of making excuses for his current size in the face of comments about his lack of stature. I'm normally more relaxed about things like this.

 

Looking through vet records from the rescue, Kenzi weighed 23# at just over 6 m/o. She was scrawny as all get out (34ish #) until close to 2 y/o when she finally finished filling out a bit. She's a healthy 38-39# today.

[mum24dog]

So I guess that Kenzi must have grown after 6 months?

 

Risk's weight is just right at around 20lbs for his current height and build. He was skinny but isn't now.

[CptJack]

Even my tiny little fluff of a dog (11lb adult - and tiny dogs usually stop faster) grew after 6 months. I don't think there's much chance that he's actually finished at his age at all. Probably wouldn't double his weight, but I would not be shocked by another 10lbs and 2 inches.