I am in the process of purchasing a white lab puppy from a reputable breeder. I have fallen in love with he runt of one litter, 4 weeks old, male. There is also a litter of the same age from the same breeder that I can choose a puppy from. I need advice, pros and cons of purchasing the runt. male pups.
Hi Jeanie, Welcome to the forum! I trust the pups are 4 weeks old at the moment, but won't be going to their new homes until 8 weeks old? There are some potential problems with bringing home the runt of the litter. We've got an article that looks at whether it's a good idea to bring home a tiny puppy and what extra care they might need here. Let us know what you decide!
My Willow was 2.9 kg at 8 weeks old when we got her. She is a drakes head working type her mum was very thin. Willow is now 15 weeks and weighs 8.4 kg at last weigh in last week. She is still small and thin but is healthy if your on fb and go to villager Jims group it's a labrador page you will my Willow on video I took today on my phone. Read all you can about small pups before you make your mind up and get the vet to check him over im sure the breeder wouldn't object.
Runts don't necessarily grow up to be small dogs. It has to do with their place in the food chain, before they are born. Cooper weighed 6.5 lbs at 7 weeks. She was quite a bit smaller than the other pup we saw from the litter, but she grew up to be 24" and 75-80 lbs. She is a little bigger than either of her parents. Tilly was average size in her litter and weighed a couple of lbs more than Cooper, but ended up about 10-15lbs lighter and about 4" shorter. She is more of a bench shaped dog than Cooper, even though both of them have hunting and field titles in their pedigree.
My labrador Avalon was the runt. she is not fully grown but shes on track for her size. i think most runts grown up to be a good size. also, unless the runt is weak, i dont see a problem.
Sometimes runts are just small dogs. And sometimes they are runts because they have an underlying health issue which has affected their growth or access to nutrients. These health issues can in some cases be serious and lead to shortened life spans. It's pretty impossible to tell, so it's a bit of a risk to home a runt. Second, labs come in yellow, chocolate and black - not white! Since you said the breeder was reputable, I'm thinking you are talking about a very pale yellow...
The breeder said Willow was nesrly white when we went to look at her she was a pale yellow she has still got almost white sides but her back is a darker yellow.
