# Helping a small female grow bigger? (7 pounds at 11 wks?)



## buttoned_up (Jun 7, 2014)

I have an 11 week old GSD female, who currently weighs 7.1 lbs. From what I've read, it seems like she should be bigger than that at her age. She eats plenty and is in good shape proportionally, and the vet has pronounced her healthy, she was just the runt of a rather large litter (10 pups). I know that being the runt, or smaller than average doesn't necessarily indicate how big she will be as an adult, but I was wondering if there was anything I could add to her diet that would ensure that she grows up healthy, strong and to her full potential weight? 

This is my first time raising a German Shepherd pup, and I want to make sure I'm getting her everything she needs!


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

That is pretty small, are you sure of her age?

That aside, healthy is healthy. As long as she is getting the calories and nutrients that she needs, she will grow as she should.

Shadow is an average size female,62-65 lbs and at 12 weeks or so she weighed 17.5 lbs. But at 15-18 days she weighed just under a pound and at 6 weeks she only weighed 5 lbs. If your pup had a rough start she may take some time to catch up, or she may just be a little girl. Avoid overfeeding as this will not help, she is going to be exactly what she should.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Feedsentials has everything a GSD needs.
Feed-Sentials Nutritional Supplement


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Can you post pictures? Do you have her paperwork so KNOW her age? How many weeks have you owned her? Runts frequently grow up to be normal size but with normal food cause it's GENETICS that will affect this.

What are you feeding?


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## buttoned_up (Jun 7, 2014)

According to the breeder (and her AKC registration, and the contract I signed with him, and her puppy aptitude test, and her health records) she was born March 19th of this year. I got her about two weeks ago, over Memorial Day weekend. I saw the rest of the litter - they were bigger than her, but the size difference between them was not THAT drastic. Also the mother and father were about average size for GSD (somewhere in the 70 lbs ballpark). 

I'm currently feeding her Lamaderm puppy formula - I don't really think it is necessarily the best for her and I am thinking of changing it, but it came highly recommended by my family, so I thought I'd give it a shot. If you have any brand suggestions, I'd definitely welcome those - it can be difficult to weed through the various conflicting sources on which types of food are best for which breeds/ages etc. 

I'm attaching two photos, both taken today.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

She's adorable!!!!! Yeah small but give her some time. And as someone mentioned, don't overfeed. All that will accomplish is her getting fat which is bad for them. 

I'd say raw lol but I always say that. I love raw. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## ZoeD1217 (Feb 7, 2014)

She is so freaking adorable! ! 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

The one inside the crate !!! She looks like a fox heheh cute


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

She is adorable! 

She is small but give her some time. I don't know where you are but I feed First Mate and I love it. Canadian company, been around for a while, upfront about sources and most are local, no recalls ever. I've also heard good things about Fromm.


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## buttoned_up (Jun 7, 2014)

Thank you all so much! Your replies have been really helpful. At the end of the day, I chose her for her personality, not her size, so I'll love her no matter how big she gets. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing to be concerned about . 

I'm in New Orleans, so I might not be able to get the Canadian stuff, but I'll look in to Fromm. Also, I don't know much about raw feeding, but I'll do some research! 

Thanks again!


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Feedsentials is shipped to the US. Dogs Naturally website.


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## wolfie13 (Jun 14, 2014)

Have you checked her for worms? Is she completely vaccinated? Mine is about 1 pound more than yours but he's going through deworming which I have heard can be the cause of his weight. I've been doing all I can to get him to get rid of them completely and for him to eat more and stay hydrated.


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## buttoned_up (Jun 7, 2014)

She has been checked multiple times for parasites and was clear each time and she has now had 3 of her rounds of shots. She's now 14 weeks old and 11.3 lbs, which is still on the small side it seems. I forgot to mention that she is from Czech bloodlines, and I've heard that they mature more slowly. Does anyone have experience with that and does that seem like a reasonable assumption for why she's smaller than average?

My worry really stems from the fact that the vet I've been going to has been scaring me with the level of concern they show at her being so small (despite the fact that she shows no signs of being unhealthy at all). They also sort of treat me like an idiot, even though I've grown up with dogs and did quite a lot of research into the breed and breeders before I got Summer. I know I'm still a beginner when it comes to GSDs, but I do feel like they've been condescending (and possibly trying to use fear to manipulate me into paying for medical treatments on a healthy dog). I've heard other really negative comments about this particular office, so I won't be going there again. (Also the vet looked at me skeptically and didn't seem to know that there were differences between the GSD bloodlines :/).


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## lauren43 (Jun 14, 2014)

How is she body wise? Is she thin? Energy wise? Puppy wise? 

She may just be a smaller girl. If all else is normal I wouldn't worry about her weight and what she "should" be at this age. All dogs are different.

And if your vet is pressuring you, find a new one. You are paying them. You shouldn't be made to feel uncomfortable about how you raise YOUR dog.


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## tarheelgirlx3 (Sep 5, 2015)

Hi! I saw your post when you got your baby girl, and how tiny she was! I have been experiencing the same thing! She didn't come with papers, so of course there is no way to tell if she is pure bred or not. I saw pictures of the mom and dad, which appeared to be full blooded, but they were small. My baby girl was 3.8 pounds at 7 weeks, and is now around 6.9 pounds at 9 weeks! I doubted her being full blooded, but seeing your post has given me hope! How is your fur baby now in terms of weight and health? Did she catch up? I would love to see updated pictures!


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## SandyRehn (Jun 2, 2013)

Hello, my puppy was around that size then, maybe a little bit heavier and I too worried about her size. We battled giardia when I first got her and I was constantly concerned about her size/weight. At eleven weeks she was around nine pounds. 

My vet and her breeder both agreed that as long as she was growing and was acting normal, I shouldn't worry about her size. In fact my breeder was adamant that she stay on the skinny size due to their joints forming. She is a Czech WL german shepherd and will probably be on the smaller side but her personality is fantastic and I couldn't be happier with her. 

She is now seven months and is just around 50 pounds. Her breeder also mentioned that it takes about two years to really "fill out". Her sire was around eighty pounds and her dam was around sixty five. 

I would find another vet if that's how you felt going in. And if I can figure out, I will try to post a picture of my pup.  



buttoned_up said:


> She has been checked multiple times for parasites and was clear each time and she has now had 3 of her rounds of shots. She's now 14 weeks old and 11.3 lbs, which is still on the small side it seems. I forgot to mention that she is from Czech bloodlines, and I've heard that they mature more slowly. Does anyone have experience with that and does that seem like a reasonable assumption for why she's smaller than average?
> 
> My worry really stems from the fact that the vet I've been going to has been scaring me with the level of concern they show at her being so small (despite the fact that she shows no signs of being unhealthy at all). They also sort of treat me like an idiot, even though I've grown up with dogs and did quite a lot of research into the breed and breeders before I got Summer. I know I'm still a beginner when it comes to GSDs, but I do feel like they've been condescending (and possibly trying to use fear to manipulate me into paying for medical treatments on a healthy dog). I've heard other really negative comments about this particular office, so I won't be going there again. (Also the vet looked at me skeptically and didn't seem to know that there were differences between the GSD bloodlines :/).


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