Firstly may I say that although this is my first post I find the support, advice and subject matters on here hugely interesting.

I am a very small hobby breeder who ensures that all relevant health tests are completed and have two excellent mentors as I am still very much in the learning phase. However on this occasion my mentors have opposing views and I have never experienced this before, hence my seeking advice and thoughts from this forum.

I have just had a litter of pups and one is half the size of her litter mates. She has gained weight over the last two days and other than size is doing extremely well. At birth the colour of her placenta indicated it had started to fail as it was green, she was also the last born of an average size litter.

My questions are:
Will her size now affect her overall size as an adult?
Is she likely to suffer any developmental issues?
Do I need to show caution regarding worming treatments?

All of her brothers and sisters already have their potential parents waiting to meet them at four weeks old, yet I do not want to offer this little one to a family if the general feeling is that there may be hurdles for her ahead, or that she may be less than they may expect with regards to health or breed standard. I must admit I am quite smitten with her anyway and she will always have her forever home with me, come what may...

If you have ever had a "titch" in your litter how has he or she grown into adulthood? Your thoughts and advice will be welcomed.

I had a titch, and she's now my show bitch (qualified and doing well, too). She was half the size of her litter mates, only 3oz, when the others were 6oz. I had no qualms about her growing up to be strong and healthy as from birth she was a little fighter, she was no different to her siblings in any other respect, never stopped feeding and doubled her weight quickly, and never had any trouble with her siblings. However she was still the smallest and is still the smallest at 9 months old. Her lines are slow maturing so I knew she would take time to reach height, but she did, she's bang on. I groom her sister, who was double her birth weight, and she's about half an inch taller. So I would hold out and see; if she's strong and isn't showing signs of being 'runty' then I wouldn't worry too much.
Mine was second to last born, from a litter that had two stillborn.

I'm not an experienced breeder, that's just my experience with my first litter. xx

In my first litter in 1995, the first puppy weighed 6oz, the other three 12, 13 and 14oz (normal average weight 10 - 12oz, usual range I have had 9 - 18oz).

By 8 weeks the littlest was only a pound behind the next lightest, and when I saw her at 11 months she was as big as the sister I kept and i wished I had kept her.

She was re-homed at 11 months old and only died in 2010.

I have had normal weight puppies fail to thrive, but all my small ones have done well, though never had one that small again.

I think its failure to thrive pups that concern should be with. If she's gaining weight strong noisy and feeding then don't be too concerned. Often trying on those that are making little improvement and only gaining because of our efforts may have problems down the line. An ecamplr I can think of she died at 8 months and was always very small.

My only failure to thrive in the first two weeks pups, have been PTS.

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to share your advice, comments and stories. I think nerves just got the better of me as I have never dealt with such a tiny little baby before, and hearing from others who have had a titch that has grown up healthy and happy has settled my anxiety. She is feisty and suckling very well, has gained weight every day and really is the most beautiful little thing...

I have to confess that since my first post my family and I have now agreed that as we are all already madly in love with her she will be staying with us.

I had a titch who grew to be the biggest of the whole litter. He outpaced some strapping pups in the end. Just make sure she is not pushed off the teats by her bigger siblings and put her on the most productive teats, normally the back pair. As long as she is getting her food and putting on weight she will be fine I'm sure. Watch to see if shes twitching happily as she sleeps. Healthy pups when asleep are never still. Small twitches of an ear or huge ones that jerk the whole body. Love to watch it :)

I had a tiny one that was half the size of her litter mates. However, she didn't put on weight in the early days, though I did my best for her. I lost her on the 4th day. I have also had them small and thrive and very quickly catch up, so if a pup doesn't start to put on weight in the first few days I would say that they aren't really going to, and would go to the vet with them. As yours is thriving I would just keep a close eye on her but would fully expect her to catch up eventually.

Just a little Update and more questions...

Titch or LV as she is now called is going from strength to strength. Although still the tiniest by far her percentage weight gain is better than her siblings and she is quite determined when attached to the nipple.

My next question is this: I normally start to wean at 3-4 weeks of age but would she benefit from getting a little head start on her siblings and weaning her a little earlier, or will I be doing her more harm than good?

The only time I would wean early is the pups are not gaining or losing weight[ was told eyes opening early was a sign of pups not getting enough to eat, I haven't had enough litters to prove/disprove this theory], if her weight gain is on par with what you would expect then I would leave her to feed from Mum for now.

What does LV stand for " Liverpool Victoria "?

if she is keeping up with the other litter mates in every other way but that she is smaller , if feeding and gaining I would leave her, how much earlier are you thinking?
I have had a smaller pup in each litter by quite a few ounces and they have gained and near enough caught up by the time I was due to wean. Only differnce was I used to get one of the hungry pushy puppies going on a teat then remove them and put smaller pup on .
Then again I had to hand rear another litter from 1 wk and they gained weight faster ... think its your call.

My next question is this: I normally start to wean at 3-4 weeks of age but would she benefit from getting a little head start on her siblings and weaning her a little earlier, or will I be doing her more harm than good?

Having just hand reared a litter from birth and now comparing rate of growth to a previous natural fed litter (mothers milk) i can honestly say that weaning earlier is not really going to benefit the pup. Nothing is as nutritious and digestible as the milk from the dam and she will do a lot better on that than she would on weaning kibble, porridge, or whatever.
Do what has already been said. Put her on the most productive teats for some of her feeds and she will catch up to the rest, if she is supposed to, in her own time.

I'm no expert by the way, just someone sharing an opinion based on personal experiences.

I found that the pup that was half the weight of teh next smallest in my first litter was only abotu a poind behind the next smallest at 8 weeks, and was the same size as the others next time I saw her at 11 months.

If they are healthy they will make the size their genes dictate, maybe later but they will get there.

Her name is derived from "Little Voice" and was chosen because she gave her first tiny yap yesterday and my daughter smiled and said " she may have a little voice, but she has the biggest heart..." and suddenly LV was her name. In honesty quite relieved as names are normally debated for weeks in our family.

The thought behind eyes opening is very interesting as like yourself I have not had multiple litters but do recall the chunkiest being nearly always the last to open their eyes.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to offer their own experiences, I will wean her in line with her littermates.

Thanks for explaining the LV, I was thinking of the insurance advert.

Great film and what a fantastic name for your little fighter.