My singleton is now 11 weeks, she was bigger than the 2 pups in the previous litter when born, but in the last few weeks has only been putting on 200g each week, and is now about 3 weeks behind the previous litter. Of course they were both boys, and on the large stocky size, and she is a girl, and hopefully going to be a fraction smaller than her mum. The breed when adult official weight is 12-18lb, but her Mum weighs 20lb, and many of the males in the breed are more like 22lb. At 11 weeks she is 6.8lb. She eats between 2 and 3 times a day depending on if she feels like it, is on a good quality puppy food, wees and poos lots (!) and it all looks normal, and she is bright and lively when awake (sleeps a fair bit of the day still). Doesn't look thin, but perhaps not quite as chunky as I thought a puppy should be, though again that might be my memory of the previous litter. Vet didn't say anything about size or weight problems when he gave her the 2nd jab last week. Am I worrying about nothing just because she isn't a big bruiser like the 2 boys? I'll be taking her to ringcraft on Wednesday where there are 2 breeders of her breed, so I'm hoping they aren't going to say she is abnormally small!

with her being of small breed i wouldnt worry ,but! maybe try giveing her 3 maybe 4 smaller meals aday? she might just start to eat alittle more? we have large breed dogs and i have a 14week old pup here that ive just but on 3meals aday instead of 4 i know she needs alot more food than a small breed ,in our breed we look for about 1kg every other week and will be 35 plus kg when fully grown so id say your girl is ok but if you think shes on the thin side try adding another meal and see how she goes...x

She gets offered food up to 4 times a day, but she doesn't eat it that often. Sounds like she's probably ok in comparison with your breed. She's not thin, just not as plump as the two boys were - not much 'puppy fat', just nicely covered. If she was an adult I'd say she had just the right amount of covering on her ribs, but I thought puppies should be plumper. I can't go back to chicken or steak like when I was weaning her or she'll refuse the dog food again, she's very manipulative! I'm probably just a worry wart, I just have visions of my friend telling me she's skinny on Wednesday! :-)

lol im just the same ;) i like them to have alittle more coverage when pups so if any illness they have some reserve ,but does sound like shes fine ,also i find when pups are due for worming the can seem to go thinner ? but if your anything like me its done and the date it should be lol ,good luck on wednessday im sure noone will say anything :) x

You can be sure my friend won't hold back if there is anything she wants to say, either good or bad - blunt to the point of rudeness, if not beyond it, that's her! :-D

For what it's worth Lucy, Monty is 8 ½ months and weighs in at just under 12 lbs! He is skinny and just doesn't put any weight on, but then he's never still either LOL.I reckon he's just going to stay smaller. Minimum weight is just 12 lbs after all. Both my Papillon bitches had pups that ended up smaller than themselves, both still within breed standard.  One a bit too small to safely breed from though  so for her mum's next litter we're using a different dog, different lines, to try to up the size a bit.

Well I was hoping for a bitch a little smaller than Ellie, but I guess I'm not used to the size difference if it's actually going to happen. :-)

If you go to Holland and Barratts, they have brewers yeast powder.  Its good for their appitite and they seem to like the taste.

My pups at this age would only just be about to drop to 3 meals from the four they had been on since the start of weaning.

Lucy,
on a normal,well balanced diet she will end up the size she's going to be. Some put it on quicker and some take a while - but they usually all reach their potential.
Remember you are after a small glamorous waggy bitch at full growth.

Well I have the small, waggy and bitch so far - glamorous has yet to be seen. :-p

She wasn't much into breakfast this morning either, sigh. She does like that food, I guess she will eat if she's hungry.

And she didn't eat lunch! She can't be teething already can she? I've tried soaking it but she won't touch it softened. She has to eat sometime - and I've just bought a new bag of food!

Try raw meat! Comes fully Monty recommended. :)

Oh yes, she loved being weaned onto chicken and casserole steak - but she can't eat that all her life, and hubby would never allow proper raw feeding, he won't even allow bones to chew on! I could try the puppy pouches again, but she didn't like those during weaning, and I've just got a new 3kg bag of the RC mini junior which she happily ate an entire bag of already!!

ps I agree with those who think she should have 4 meals a day, but I can't even get her to eat 3 reliably as you can see!

some dogs are just this way...they eat just enough to keep them alive lol maybe shes just one of them! try adding some cooked mince with her dry food only need a small amont at each meal and see if she will eat 4meals aday with that in ,its worth a try! good luck x

We went that route when weaning, and I did try some finely chopped chicken well mixed in last night. She just picked out the good stuff... ;-)

me too lol ...but i found, because the mince beef is greasy it sticks to the kibble ;) and they tend to eat that too x

Have you tried chicken livers mixed in.  mine find it very tasty.  I know what you're going through its worrying when they don't eat.

Have you tried chicken livers mixed in.  mine find it very tasty.  I know what you're going through its worrying when they don't eat.

i have a charlie (not cav) pup of 12weeks and thankfully shes a good eater (though way lighter than a cav pup),shes on royal canin mini junior,plus raw tripe,raw lamb mince and alternate lunch meal of either scrambled egg or sardines.ive just cut her down to 3 meals as she was picking at one of them,when she was on 4.ive also been giving timo,my 2 yr old a lunch of scrambled egg or sardines and it has helped get some needed weight on him,as was horrendously picky in the past.both love the egg or sardines.

I have a 9 week old pup who is on the slim side. I too have trouble getting 3 meals down her let alone 4! she will eat a variety of things in small portions, and will NOT eat out of a bowl but only if I put it on the floor (Need shakes head smiley) However I go on the fact that she is lively happy and pooing well so she must be getting what she needs, and to be honest in my large breed slimer is better for her bones. I would not worry too much as it passes down to pup and may make mealtimes a worry for her. Just offer the food give her some time to eat and pick up what is left till the next meal. Unless she refuses piont blank to eat anything I am sure she is getting what she needs. Just make sure whatever you give her has the best goodness in it so she is getting all the nutrients she needs.
Aileen

LOL ,this pup we have would only eat from the floor when we 1st got her and i had to give the kibbles to her afew at a time ,she is now 14weeks and eating from a dish "yay" lol and looks at me for more when shes done! :0 ,but i know how hard it is we have 5 large breed dogs and the baby is the only 1 that has enjoyed her at this age!x

She ate her lunch from a dish today...at last, and then swallowed three whole sprats down for pud!!!
It was like feeding a sealion :)

LOL ,its great when they eat isnt it and a dish is a big bonus ;)

Well my friend didn't say anything about her being skinny last night (just a lot of jealousy about how well she walks on a lead, yay!) so perhaps I'm just being over sensitive. The pups from the 1st litter really were big bruisers, though they aren't over size as adults. Hey ho, let's see if she wants any breakfast today! :-)

there you go ;) you can relax now :) x

Woo hoo, we had a clean bowl at breakfast! :-)

Mine had 3 trays of sprats (between five) with boiled potaoes for their tea.