Hi, we have welcome a female lab puppy since about 10 days. She is healthy, active and nice but she is also extremely small compared to average for the age. She is supposedly almost 10 weeks old but weights only 2.4 kg (around 5.3 lb). She is not underfed, eats regularly: she is just very small. Is this weight somehow in the low normal range or she is indeed small and we should then take specific measures to address the issue? We have also thought that she could be younger than the declared age, maybe a couple of weeks. In which case she would have left the mother at around 6 weeks of age, which is definitely short. If this were the case, are there any suggestions from more experienced owners about something we should or should not do? Thanks a lot for any comment, help or suggestion you may have. Take care, Leo
Is she registered with KC? If so you should have papers that show her date of birth. 2.4kg does sound quite small for a 10 week old puppy but our wee girl just grew so quickly gaining a kg a week from 8 weeks. She was 3.1kg when we got her.
Have you been to the vets for a check up and vaccinations?They should be able to give you an indication of age and whether she is healthy. If you have bought from a reputable breeder it is possible she isn’t a full labrador and may be crossed with a smaller breed.
Quick update: we had her checked by a vet, who confirmed that she is indeed a very small lab, healthy and probably a bit younger than we were told. Nothing to be concerned about though. She is picking up weight very fast, more than 100 grams per day. Take care, LB
2nd update: at 11 weeks nominal (around 9-10 weeks actual) she is 3.2 kg, still a small puppy but closer to normal range.