I just got my Beautiful chocolate lab yesturday "Roxy" she is 7 weeks and the runt in the litter. I've read that runts get turn out to be the size of an average labrodor. Is this true? She is 8 pounds right now at 7 weeks. How big do you all think she'll be?
I had the smallest one in the litter with Shadow. He turned out normal size. Your best bet for knowing how big she'll be is to look at the size of the parents (assuming they're not over- or under-weight).
I got the ‘runt’ of the litter, he was 15 pounds at 8 weeks and he is now 100 pounds at 2 years old. The vet was convinced he would be full grown at 65 pounds as he wasn’t growing too quickly between his last shots. Then he just grew and grew and grew and grew. Axel’s Mom was 65 pounds and Dad was 115 ish. I would go by what the parents are for a good idea.
Hi and welcome the forum from the Beanwood Pack The birth weight of a pup is supposed to be a more accurate gauge of adult weight in relation to the average weight of the pups in the litter. (Forgive me, don't take this statement as red as I have no idea where the reference is) So if your pup had a heavier weight at birth, it would follow logically this should follow a similar growth trajectory in ideal circumstances. Now if the dam had a large litter, then competition for milk will be high I guess depending on the breeder's involvement. This why when pups leave for their new homes, the smallest pups tend to catch up quickly with their siblings. Did the breeder give you any information regarding why the pup was classed as the runt? Just interested really.
So was Monty.we did struggle in his first few weeks, he was very poorly and being a bit underweight made this difficult, but he's a healthy tall dog now at 27 to 28 kilos. We saw his mom, dad and grandfather, all were good sizes.
Hmm, I'm unsure about this, as it's possible to have puppies with different conception dates in the same litter; they've been brewed for different times, so will be different sizes at birth. I doubt very much that has any bearing on the adult weight. Although maybe this is taken into consideration in the article you're recalling
I had the runt of the litter, she was so little the breeder named her Minnie and the largest one they named Bear, Minnie eventually became larger than Bear when we met again later.
I had the largest bitch in the litter and she is now a smaller type Lab. I think it is the luck of the draw really.
I had one breeder tell me that she could predict the size of the puppy by the thickness of their necks and tails. No idea if that's true! I think full-grown size is more down to size of sire and dam and the luck of the draw. I've had two of my own puppies demonstrate that puppy size is not that great a predictor of adult size: Duncan was 8 pounds at 8 weeks and grew to be 125 pounds while Brogan was 15 pounds at 8 weeks and grew to only 72 pounds. I guess you can count for sure on the fact that your girl will get as big as she's meant to get.
I have no clue whether or not Teller was the runt because he's a rescue and was picked up alone after someone dumped him at 12 weeks but I wouldn't worry about your pup being small as long as she is healthy, she should catch up eventually. If your vet isn't concerned or dwarfism isn't an issue in her lineage I wouldn't be either. Like most larger dog breeds labs can take a while to 'fill out', per se. It's totally normal for labs to go through an awkward adolescent phase where they are horribly lanky. I wouldn't worry too much about her weight either, obviously as long as your vet is fine with it. At 1-year-old Teller only weighed 45 lbs but had reached his full adult height of 24" at the withers, he had a huge head, huge paws, and a supermodel waist. Seriously, he looked more deer than dog. I was worried he would look like that forever (he's my first big dog) but the vet and trainer assured me he would grow into his body. A year later he had put on 30 lbs of substance! He finally stopped physically developing at 2 1/2 years and is now a little over 3 and weighs 80 lbs. If anyone told me my greyhound-looking lab pup would turn into a solid chap, I'd have looked at them like they had 2 heads. She should be of a similar size to her parents and any previous litters they had (if any). Is she from show or working lines? Working lines tend to produce more athletic-looking leaner dogs than show lines and those bred as plain ol' pets can go either way. I've seen some lab bitches out of field champions that are only 50 lbs or so and others that are closer to 70 lbs. However big she ends up being, I'm sure she will be a great girl! That's my boy at 1 year. God, he was so awkward lol. That's him at 2. And at 3. Again, as a pup... And, now.
Hello and welcome Ideally puppies should be with their Mum till 8 weeks old, so unsure what they should weigh. Luna was 5.3kg 11.5lb when we collected her at just over 8 weeks. She is steadily gaining weight now. It would be interesting to know, as Beanwood mentioned, why they were classed as the rung of the pack. All the very best and most of all enjoy. X
I don't know for sure that Cooper was the runt, because we did not see the whole litter, but she was very small. At 7 weeks, she weighed 5.5 lbs, while at the same age Tilly weighed 7.5 lbs. and she was an average pup in her litter. Now Cooper weighs 80lbs and stands 24". Tilly is 65 lbs and stands 21" Birth size does not seem to be much of an indicator of final size. I think the parents size is a better place to start.
I understand that the runt is often small due to less blood supply from being in the center of the group of pups. Lab litters are often large so it makes some sense that there would often be a runt. As I mentioned in the previous post, I don't know if Cooper was a runt, but the one sister we did see was probably a lb. heavier
Sometimes the smallest puppy in the litter is called a runt but is only marginally the smallest. I believe a true runt is markedly smaller, maybe half the weight of the others at birth and as it grows. These can have serious health concerns. There was one in Oban's litter and he was taken by the breeder's Vet's wife to feed and nurture. When the bitch began standing up to nurse he couldn't reach. He needed special care and the breeder was overwhelmed at the time by illness and death in her human family. Her Vet's wife was very kind. One health concern is heart issues but this puppy is fine, last I heard, though still small, not sure how small.
Well I can't find the reference, the more I looked the more it appears that birth weight is NOT a predictor of final adult weight, however, the parent's genetic make up are
Cassie was the smallest in her litter of six, but not so markedly as to call her a runt. Even so she weighed 6.95 kg at 8 weeks. Her breeders, my friends, kept the biggest ( by quite some margin) bitch, Sherry, Cassie is now bigger than her, and weighs 27.8 kg at 20 months. Cass slept more and was the last puppy to toddle out at meal time, I guess she didn't get as much to eat as her litter mates.
The pup who ended up being comfortably the smallest of Fern's litter of 5 at 8 weeks was the second heaviest at 4 weeks when chosen by his new owner, who wanted a big dog if possible. I was grateful that all the others had gone (bar Ivy who I kept), as I had discovered that he was also to be called 'Bear'. I suppose though that you cannot beat genetics and they will all end up a decent size.
I have a year nd half old labrador pup named Jordan. We bought him through some one and was given as told to be the heaviest pup when he was 55 days old. He grew very thin less weight. We fed him the best and he is now 19 inches in height and 28 kg in weight. Is he a runt of litter. Everyone just makes us realise that we are not feeding him enough and he seems weak and small.
