I'm curious to see if anyone else has dealt with pups this size at such a young age.
Pups were born weighing in at a "normal" 15-17 ounces; only three in litter. At one week, they were weighing in at 2.5-3 pounds and are now 4.5-5 pounds at 2 weeks!
I'm used to the usual "doubling" of birth weight in the first week, then gaining about a pound (or so) per week after that. Their eyes are just beginning to open and they ARE beginning to stand...they're always on a thick fleece for footing. Mom is very attentive to pups and feeds them often; I don't want to restrict her time with them yet as they're so young.
One of my girls had 3 lbs puppies (yes 3) at birth! In fact, in all her litters her smallest puppy was around 2+ lbs.
We did have trouble getting them on their feet although none of them were swimmers, they were just hunking big puppies so their bodies were heavy enough their legs crumped on them, often!
The bigger ones went home at around 18-19lbs, the smaller ones around 15-16lbs. So their weight gain wasn't all that remarkable over all.
They all grew up to be normal size dogs.
If my experience means anything, which it might not, I wouldn't worry too much but you might consider weaning a bit earlier than a bit later.
I had a similar litter of 5 (huge lunkers at birth) that went home at 19#'s and are now 8 months and have slowed down considerably and totally within normal weights and heights.
So I would relax.
HTH
A
Gosh those are huge puppies. It made me think about my friend who is diabetic. Her babies were 11+ pounds. She told me that often happened with diabetic mothers. Has your bitch ever been tested for diabetes?
Gosh those are huge puppies. It made me think about my friend who is diabetic. Her babies were 11+ pounds. She told me that often happened with diabetic mothers. Has your bitch ever been tested for diabetes?
That is a great question. 3 lb. pups are huge. I don't know anyone who has had pups much over 2 lbs.
I would get the bitch tested for diabetes and do a thyroid panel. Those are not normal weights.
I had never heard of such big puppies before either - when we first weighed them (delivered by c-section bya breeder vet) we couldn't believe their weights, and they looked like at least 2 week old pups for size.
We did test mom for all kinds of things, including diabetes, but she is completely normal and remains normal, so far - she is 6 now.
She just has big pups, small litters! Her daughter had normal sized pups at around a pound, bigger litter!
