Hi, I wonder if any of you can tell me if it is ok to feed home cooked for a puppy. How much do I have to cook it if I am giving chicken or beef etc. Does it have to be cooked right through as I have read on here it loses some of its goodness. Just want to feed my wee fellow up as he is so skinny and a bit of a runt. Cavalier spaniel and he is nearly 11wks now but to me he looks like he is very small for his age. Also does anyone have any idea what he should weigh at this age.
Donna x

You can give it to him raw together with any bones even this young. but definitley no bones if you do cook. Or you could add some raw tripe  to his food which is good for putting on weight apparently.
Sorry I dont know anything about Cavalier weights I am afraid  

Hi,

There is a big difference between a dog that looks "small" and one that is truly underweight.  An 11 week old Cav puppy is supposed to be small, of course.   I strongly suggest that you ask you vet whether or not your puppy is underweight or appears not to be developing properly.  Or, have a word with your puppy's breeder.  Puppies go through all sorts of strange stages - you look at them one day and they seem fine - and the following week you look and you blink because they seem to have stretched out and become very lanky almost overnight. 

Can't help with the food question, but my Cav girl was 4kg (9lb) at 11 weeks, and her puppies were 3.6kg and 4kg (7lb 15oz and 8lb 13 oz) at 10 weeks. All are from early maturing lines, and are all a little big (though not huge!) for the breed. :-)

My goodness. When the vet nurse weighed him last week she said he was just a kilogram. So he is really small then. The vet did say he would be a small cav but didnt say anything about him being under weight for his size. Its just me thats worrying. I suppose I should not worry as he is eating and drinking well, and his body does seem in proportion to his size. Just he looks a wee thing.  Donna x

I am not sure what weight they should be but my cav is 6kg and he is on the slim side (he is 18 months old). Have you spoken to the breeder (sorry if I have missed this part of your post), most Cavaliers tend to be different weights depending on what build they are so what may be ok for one may be over/underweight for another. If you are concerned then perhaps give your vets a call to mention it and see what they thought when they saw him?

You should also remember that puppies have specific nutritional needs (eg. calcium for growing bones, phosphorus, etc. but not too much of it either) which it will be hard to meet if you are cooking the meals yourself.  It might be better to feed a complete dry food and supplement it with some titbits (eg. you could give him bits of chicken or liver as a reward when your're training him?).
My parents have a very compact cav who is now five - she's hardly short of energy or character!  I'm sure yours will be fine.

Donna,

The breed standard says that weight range for an adult is Weight: 5.4-8.2 kgs (12-18 lbs). And, "A small, well balanced dog well within these weights desirable." 

So at only 11 weeks and 1 kg your puppy sound just fine to me - and at least according to the standard, small is better. :-)     

Thanks for all the advice. He has the vet next friday for his second jag so I will ask her then. As I said before he is eating and drinking well and is very lively. If he was not doing these things I suppose it would be something to worry about then. I'm sure I will be boring everyone with his development lol.
Donna x

So long as he's lively he's probably ok. He should be nice and plump, you don't want them going like gangly teenagers for a while yet, but don't just stuff him in the hopes of him catching up (I'm sure you wouldn't!), check with the vet like you say. I've seen 2 year old Cavaliers that are as tiny as 6 month puppies, and as long as he is healthy in himself you shouldn't worry about having him perfectly in the middle of the breed standard or anything.

ps still waiting for photos when you get them off your camera! :-)