# Has anyone ever gotten the runt of a litter?



## Blondi's Revenge (Jan 31, 2015)

more info please


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Fritz was the 'smallest' in his litter. He is healthy, strong, happy. His sister who was twice the size of him at birth is shorter and apx 10lbs less..but she is a female. Some say the 'smallest' ones come with problems..I never encountered any. Fritz caught up to the rest by 4-5 months.

That being said, everything on this planet is different in one way or another..someone has to be the 'smallest'!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

In Nikon's litter and Legend's litter, the runt had problems and did not live. There will always be one puppy that's the smallest, but that doesn't mean they are undersized or "runty" in any other way. Normally a true runt has something wrong and will not thrive. I would personally not choose a puppy that was significantly smaller than the others or delayed. I have however chosen my puppies to be on the smaller side because I don't like to work with oversize GSDs.


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## IronhorseRomo (Jul 20, 2015)

My Blue Heeler was the runt. That's the one my wife chose. She did have the most spunk out of the litter. She's prolly half the size of what a Heeler should be. Heeler's normally get up to 60# or so. She prolly weighs about 35# or so. It's never hindered her from being a great dog. 


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

IronhorseRomo said:


> My Blue Heeler was the runt. That's the one my wife chose. She did have the most spunk out of the litter. She's prolly half the size of what a Heeler should be. Heeler's normally get up to 60# or so. She prolly weighs about 35# or so. It's never hindered her from being a great dog.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


A SIXTY pound heeler?! That's bigger than my male GSD! I thought 35 pounds was higher end for a heeler.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

The runt in Delgado's litter only lived a day despite the breeder doing everything she could  I wouldn't discount a pup that's slightly smaller, but a true runt I would be very cautious of


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

The "runt" or smallest of the litter in Barker the Younger the First's was BTY. She was as big if not bigger than her litter mates when I got her at 8-9 weeks and 90# was slender for her as an adult.


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## IronhorseRomo (Jul 20, 2015)

Liesje said:


> A SIXTY pound heeler?! That's bigger than my male GSD! I thought 35 pounds was higher end for a heeler.



My Red Heeler that I had a while back was 50#. She was in good shape. Heeler's have a thick body. 








This was about the size of my Red Heeler. My neighbors across the street have a red one. He's fat and round. 50 - 60# is normal. My 14wk old GSD puppy is heavier than my Heeler. A little taller too. 


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## Augustine (Nov 22, 2014)

Butters was the runt of her litter. Aside from her food sensitives, she's a healthy, happy, confident pup. She's almost 10 1/2 months now and is exactly 24" at withers, and estimated to be roughly 65 pounds when fully grown. 

Her siblings were all much larger than her and her parents were pretty huge, so they're probably a bit oversized, whereas Butters' height/weight is still _just_ within the breed standard.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Nice picture! I guess I'm used to the sporty heelers I see in agility and flyball. 50+lbs would be like a tank! I've never met one with a frame that could support that size/weight, but often sport dogs and lines tend to be smaller.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Years ago, I adopted one that was dropped in rescue as a pup because his littermates wouldn't let him eat and were beating him up. The others were starving him, and the byb didn't expect him to live. He was scrawny and very skinny. Once I got him and put some groceries in him, he grew up to be a 90# hunky, bicolor male who almost made 13 before cancer got him. I think the starvation early followed by a fast growth spurt once he got nutrition contributed to pano, and possibly the mild dysplasia and arthritis he had late in life but he lived a long, happy, healthy life until the end. In his prime, he was big enough and imposing enough that people would cross the street to avoid him on the sidewalk -- definitely not a runty looking dog.


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