Michelle12 (09-29-2016), Tanya (09-30-2016)
Unfortunately, due to their popularity, Labradors are the most overbred breed of dog. This has led to many people producing Labs of all shapes and sizes. If your vet has given you a clean bill of health, and your dog is parasite-free, there are tons of scenarios that could be in play still which make it hard to predict future size -- is this dog younger than you were led to believe? Is this a mixed breed? Are the parents unusually small for the breed?
There is no miraculous way to make a small dog grow larger, if its genetic makeup doesn't allow for greater size. You can simply feed the puppy properly and hopefully it turns out. Hindsight is 20/20, and maybe this is a good learning experience that when looking for a service dog, you go to a breeder with a history of placing/training dogs for the type of assistance needed, who has verifiable proof of all health clearances recommended for the breed, and who can provide references (preferably to other owners of their pedigrees who are currently working as service dogs).
Michelle12 (09-29-2016), Tanya (09-30-2016)
Thanks for all the replies! I have the AKC papers that she is a purebred and vaccinations and checkups from the vet her breeder took her do. I took her to my own vet about 10 days ago with a stool sample and she had Giardia, but I was given meds for her and that cleared up. Now the vet says she's healthy. She said the skin patches are from scratching. She has dry skin but was tested and doesn't have any diseases, so I was just given an anti-itch spray for her twice a day. The vet said before 4 months of age, some puppies skin glands aren't fully developed yet, leading to dry skin. I think I'm going to go back to the vet again for another checkup and to ask her questions. I also called the breeder and he invited me back to meet her parents and discuss her size/any issues, which seems good. He says she was part of a large litter and is small but has some catching up to do. He still thinks she will reach at least 60 lbs fully grown. Regardless, she is very happy, active and playful. She's also gaining more weight in my care than she was before I got her.
Jeff (09-29-2016)
She's a cute little thing. Welcome to the board, both of you!
Giarida can be tough to clear up, sometimes requiring multiple doses of med. We've had two dogs with it, one as a puppy direct from the breeder with it, and both dogs were reevaluated about 6 weeks or so after the meds were used up (to make sure it was gone). Both dogs cleared up after the single dose, but some don't.
It sounds like Lily feels good, so that's definitely in her favor.
Michelle12 (09-29-2016)
My youngest (yellow) is a small lab and weighed 12 pounds at 10 weeks. She has topped out at 55 pounds at 1 years old and I don't expect her get much bigger.
At 15 weeks and only 9 pounds I wouldn't expect her to reach 60 pounds unless she has some massive, uncommon growth spurt. Most lab puppies gain between 2 to 3 pounds a week and that will slow down a great deal after 7 months old or so, so the timeframe when most weight gain occurs isn't a huge window. I personally don't think she will even reach 50 pounds, I could certainly be wrong.
Regardless, focus on her health and clearing up those patches of missing fur where she is scratching.You cant change her size, she is what she is
Yeah puppies are itchy, that soft puppy fur is growing out. Those thin spots then should grow in. I do believe you in that she is doing much better with you than with the breeder. The point you came here to ask shows very much you care. Runts of the litter sometimes grow to be the big ones. My sisters lab was the runt of the litter, tiny 9 lbs at 8 weeks for a male pup, he grew to be 115 of solid muscle. The biggest of the whole littler.
Either way, you need to go to the puppy pictures section and just post a whole lot of pictures for us to see and enjoy because no matter what she is cute and we want to see her grow too as much as you do.
Oh and keep an eye on the poop for a while, Giardia can come back, it can go dormant for a while then come back in a month. We had it too, it can be a real pain.
I talked to my vet and she said there's no need to come in for another check up. She answered all of my questions over the phone, which was really nice of her. She said that since Lily was born really small and was part of a large litter, she will probably be smaller than average, but due to those circumstances I can't refer to average growth charts saying my dog should weigh X pounds at X months. It will take longer than average for her to reach certain growth milestones. She even said she's seen some dogs smaller than Lily at this age end up being the biggest dog of their litter! That gives me some hope that Lily won't be too small when she's fully grown. Either way, I love her to pieces. ❤️
Also, Lily has been doing amazingly well in her training! She learns new commands very quickly and is always so eager to please. That means she will probably be a great service dog regardless of her size. I'm so proud of her.
My Daisy at 16 weeks (last week) was 24.9 lbs and this week is 26.8lbs. Your girl seems tiny, but I am sure she is very lovely! She may have a huge personality!
Hidden Content Katy & Polly
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Duchess Jan. 31, 2000 - Dec. 18, 2011, Always in our hearts
She looks like a pure lab. Maybe the sickness made her look a bit sick. She I think will be a size as expected.
Gigi is 11 months and from a backyard breed .She not even pure .The female was yellow lab shepard mix and the male chocolate lab.
Even then the lady told us 70 lbs and she hit it on the nail. She is 65 at 11 months.
Her sisters who were smaller are the same. The brother ofcourse close the 100lb father.
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Are you still around, Michelle12?
How's Lily doing?
I think her dog is big now....Old resurrection ..Hahaha
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