Hi I have just been to puppy group with my 11wk old lab pup. There was a 12 wk old lab pup there that was 3 times the size of mine. I’m a bit confused.
Hi Mandy, Welcome to the forum! Try not to worry, puppies come in lots of different sizes even within the Labrador breed. However, if you are concerned there is no harm in having a chat with your vet. You might find this thread of interest - How Much Does Your Puppy Weigh? And there is an article on Labrador Puppy Growth here.
Hi Lucy thank you so much for the reply. I will have a read, he’s my first pup so want to make sure I get it right. Mandy
Hi Mandy, I read through the post on puppy weight and couldn’t believe the variations in weight. My pup was the biggest of the litter and was still much lighter than others on here. Also show breeds are larger than working stock, I think?
Mine was 1.9kg at 9 weeks. He was sooo small. Oh he was delicious. Then he got huge and he now weighs a healthy 25kg
Tha thank you that makes me feel better. Being my first pup I was quite shocked and don’t want to be doing anything wrong. Mandy
You can't feed a pup up to be more substantial than their genes dictate. You will just end up with a fat dog. So make sure your pup has enough food to grow but not so much food they get overweight.
Hi, Yes. Mine was pretty small up until 16 weeks, then blossomed into a tallish lab at 29 kilos fully grown, you obviously don't want an underweight pup but as long as they are putting on weight at a steady rate I'm sure everything will be fine. Also they sometimes have growth spurts when they look a bit leggy, then fill out a bit, I'd go much more by how they look rather than actaul weight.
Puppies vary a lot in size. Lucan was a very small puppy. I remember taking him to the vet for his first jab and there was a Lab x Springer pup of the same age, he was twice the size! It was quite worrying at the time but he grew into a nice sized Lab of 29kg.
It's hard not to compare pups..but each puppy is an individual and each litter is different. The best indication of whether your puppy is on track is to check that you can see a waist when looking down from above; that there is a nice tummy tuck (but not an exaggerated one) and that you can, with a slight bit of pressure, feel the ribs and spinal column. That visual check, along with a steady rate of recorded growth, is all the comparison that needs to be done. Another "rule of thumb" is that your puppy should weigh "on average" about two pounds per week of life. Some are under this "average" and some are over, but as long as they follow this weight gain (14 lbs at 8 weeks to 18 lbs at 10 or 2 lbs per week), then all is well. Ultimately, if left intact until 18 months to two years of age, every puppy should be similar to their parents.
