Hello all, Im looking for some advice i have a cocker spaniel puppy almost 5 months old and she doesnt seem to be growing, she is still tiny could ant one please give me some idea on what size and weight she should be thanks xxxx all comments are greatly received xx

They do vary quite a bit and grow at different rates.  Were the parents particularly small?  If they were a good size and you are worried I would have the vet check her over.

Thanks for your reply, parents werent really small, they were average size cockers the pup is kc reg and is still the same size as when i got her which was about 10 weeks ago she has put on a little weight but minimal ... thanks for comment i think i will take her to the vet... xx

Hello,

I agree with them growing into various sizes, my friend has one who's now 2 and she really is tiny and also her parents were average size...dont worry too much and keep us informed to what your vet says, its all in the gene pool..she may have had very small grandparents etc.

Annee x

A puppy no matter what it's eventual size though will grow relatively speaking and awful lot from 2 to 5 months of age, so a pup seeming not to grow at all would ring huge alarm bells to me.  Is dwarfism a cocker problem?

thanks for your post, i bumpped into a breader today and the kind lady has reasured me that my little cassie is doing fine and she herself has had small pups at some stage, she did say not quite as small but has put my mind some what at rest so thanks to that lady and thank you for all your posts xxxxxxx

When we got together with some others from Whistlers litter i discovered I had an elephant dog all the others were tiny!! A few months ago Whistler is still huge but the others have caught up they should be about 16 - 17" at the shoulder as a guide, Whistler is 18.5" so no showing here!!

When you say she doesn't seem to be growing, do you mean her weight isn't increasing at all, or she is just smaller than you expect? Was she particularly small as a babe, or was she an average sized pup who hasn't grown as time has passed?

As Brainless said, if her weight isn't increasing then it's certainly something I would mention to the vet even if only to put your mind at ease. Puppies do have to grow, even if they grow faster or slower than most. If she is otherwise healthy and happy, and is eating her food, then I think it is unlikely there is anything major to worry about, but you should probably get her looked at.

sorry i dont know where i should be measuring her from but as she stands from her bum to her kneck along her spine she is 12'' and from the floor up the side of  her front leg to her kneck she is 11'' her weight has increased since i have had her but she only weighs around 7lbs. as said before she is almost 5 months old xx thanks for all replys xxx

Are you sure it's 7 pounds and not 7 kilos? Our Cocker puppies tend to be around the 7 pound mark when they're 7-8 weeks old - that would be an incredibly low weight for a 5 month old pup. If it's 7 kilos and your bitch is 11" high, then yes she's on the small side but some Cockers are just naturally petite and she will probably still grow a little more before she reaches her full height.

A dog is measured from the ground to the shoulder.

The Cocker standard says:

Size
Height approximately: dogs: 39-41 cms (151/2-16 ins); bitches: 38-39 cms (15-151/2 ins). Weight approximately: 13-14.5 kgs (28-32 lbs).

So she sounds terribly small, as my own larger medium size breed by 12 weeks I would expect them to be almost half adult weight.

Thanks for all your help and i will deffo take her to the vets this week to get her looked at maybe im being an over protective mum lol but would hate for there to be a problem and i didnt do anything about it, and i will get her weighed corectly as i just did her on my scales and deffo said 7lb thanks again for all your advice xxxxx

Let's hope that your scales are wrong, I have never yet seen a 5 month Cocker weighing 71b's. As already stated that is usually the weight of a pup getting ready for it's new home at 7-8 weeks of age.

Is she terribly thin also, is she regularly wormed? Are you feeding her 3-4 times a day still? What are you feeding her?

I have seen a large difference in sizes of Cockers, but 71b's at 5 months *mouth wide open* definitely take her to the vet, even for a small Cocker that weight is quite unbelievable.

Let us know the outcome. :-)

she eats and eats and no sign of worms and is reguarly treated any how she is on burns puppy food and eats 3 times a day and yes does look thin for a cocker but not thin as if she is under fed does have a good cover on her she has a longer face than you would normaly see on a cocker and has thin bandy legs,,,, oh shame im making her out to sound terrible but she isnt she is the cutest little dot ever, i will deffo let you know how i get on on monday at the vets xxxx

I found Burns wasn't very good for growing pups, it just doesn't seem to give them good body weight, although it's good for the adults to keep them slim.  My boy Dylan (show type cocker) is 3 months old and weighs 14lbs, like Jane has said most of my pups are 8lbs+ when they leave me at 8 weeks old.

I've had smaller pups, that when they left me were around 6lbs, but once they got into their new homes the weight piled on and they soon caught up.

Fingers crossed she's just a dinky little girl, have you checked with the breeder to see how the rest of the litter are getting on?

Can i ask what would you recomend i feed her on?? vets tommrrow so should know more then xxx

7 lbs!!!!  That's awful, if your scales are correct I'm actually shocked that your dog's still alive.  I've had Pomeranian's weigh that and they are still within the accepted weight range for the breed.  I don't know how heavy my Calida is who is 5 months but after only just being able to pick her up tonight she's definitely a lot more than 7 lbs.

I start my pups on Royal Canin Starter, then by the time they leave me are on Royal Canin Junior Medium breed, I have to say the food does smell nice, which is why they eat it so eagerly.

This may sound silly but have you checked the weight of the food you are feeding her?  Is she having enough?  I would look into feeding her a really good quality puppy food.. both of my litters have eukanuba chicken puppy food and that def. gets the weight on them.  They had a vet check at 7 weeks old (last week) and were all between 2.9 kg up to 3.4 kg (boys are usually a bit bigger).  My mummy of the litter is very small and her normal weight is just under 12kg, her daughter from her 1st litter is over 13kg and my boy is 16kg, so they do vary quite a bit.  7lb is definetly very, very small for a 5 mth old and please get her checked out.

Hello all, Just got back from the vets, they have said Cassie is very small she is 5 months old on thursday and she weighs 3.8kg (about 8lbs). I have been in contact with the breeder and she has said not to worry her adults are on the small size but 3.8 wow thats small. the vets have said to feed her hills puppy food, we also have to go back on thursday and evry two weeks after that, thank you all for your comments its nice to know people are concerned and interested and that im not alone as my partner works away so i ahev started to think it was something i was doing wrong. xxthanks again

Have you thought about home cooking her food?  I am assuming the vets recommended the Hills, as they normally do, seems standard procedure for vets these days.  Always keep your options open though.  Online sites such as zooplus and petplanet have reviews alongside their food and many are a better quality than Hills.  Have they ruled out an underactive thyroid?  I found it very difficult to get weight on one of my boys, and although he is fine now, his tummy was sensitive as a pup.  His mum was also runt of the litter and naturally small (although solid muscle).  Your girls seems to be the correct height, is she boney at all?  Jack was awfully boney as a pup.

just spoke to breeder again to find out parents weights they are 15/ 16 kg so not really that small but the gran is only 10 kg so maybe thats the size conection xx

no she isnt really boney you cant see ribs etc just very small all over xx

Well remember that the weights and heights given above are the maximums for a Breed Standard Cocker - and weight does not reflect body condition.  My mini poodles are oversized and pushing 16 inches, I'd have to say that they are both 11-12 kilos and that is them stocky.  Too many cockers I have seen are fat - as a working breed they are easy to make overweight (like springers and labs).  I've seen petite cockers circa 11 inches at the shoulder.  Perhaps you could post a picture of her on here so people can get a better idea?  I do think if you haven't already, get a complete blood work done by the vet.

My 3 month old Dylan, who is 3 months old and weighs 14lbs, his mum is only 9.9kgs, so is quite dinky, dad isn't huge either, as new borns they were smaller than we normally get, weighing between 6 - 10oz, but they are all around the 12-14lbs mark now.  I think I would be concerned if my 5 month old only weighed 8lbs, can you ask the vet to do full blood works on her?

Is she a working type or show type cocker?

Hi missmead,

My boy 4.5 months is on hills and he is thriving, already 24 kg (he's a big boy ) so I would give it a try,

Regards

D

been trying to add her pic but sorry i dont know how to do it would love for you all to see her xxx

Does she behave like a normal playful puppy and has she been OK to house train?

she is happy and in to every thing, just like puppys are, I havent said before as i started to feel as if it was falut but i was told by the vet today its not my falut at all but no she is not house trained i have trained pups before and have done every thing i can think of, but she is a knightmere for it, she wees none stop, every few mins and does around 5 poos a day, if she is in the garden she will do it there but if she is in the house then thats where she will go. last week we went on a nice long walk, got home went in front door i walked right through the house to take her out the back by the time i could open the back door she had weed on the floor, its a knightmere, she is in a cage at night and never used to wet or mess in there but this last week she has started to do it in there too, as well as on her blanket and just lays in it, she alos has a terrible habbit of trying to eat the other dogs poo. I just dont know what to do. sorry i havent given this info befor but like i said was feeling a failure xxxxxx

I just asked because there are sometimes reasons pups won't grow as well and they can also be harder to house train linked to them. Personally I would ask the vet to do a blood test for biochemistry and a bile acid stimulation test on her to make sure everything seems OK in that respect especially with what you've just said about the house training. :-) Don;t want to worry you but I would ask them to check it out.

ok thank you, its great to have so much feed back i would feel really lost without all the comments i have had, xxx is this a condition you know much about ??

got a pic on now just did one of her next to a4 sheet of paper so you can see her size will  put a cuter one on when you have all seen her sizexxx

Hi Hayley,

Picture looks pretty cute from where I am sitting LOL.

Regards

D

Can you post some pictures onto Photobucket or another site like that so we can see a full view of her?  Looking at that picture she's about the size mine are when they leave me at 8 weeks, very cute though!

Hello, Im learning new things every day ha ha just got myself a photo bucket account and have posted pics on there not sure how that site works but album is called cassie and my name on there is missmeaddavies hope you can see them if not let me know thanks xxxxxxxxx

Here it is..

http://s394.photobucket.com/albums/pp21/missmeaddavies/

She's very sweet,I love her colouring :)

She's certainly a beautiful girl. :-)

Did the vet say anything about her size/weight?

yeah they are concerned have changed her diet and im back up there tommrrow i have been adviced by other posts to ask for full bloods which i will do vet weighed her she is only 3.8kg and 5 months old tommrrow.xxx

Glad people are likeing the pics she is so lovely just hope she is ok xxxx

thanks charlie 22 for posting the link xxx

As I said I don't want to worry you - because she might just be small and perfectly healthy. :-) But I would ask your vet to check and rule out the things in the links below - especially in the first link. :-) What does the breeder say - are the other puppies all normal size or are they small too?

http://www.vet.utk.edu/clinical/sacs/shunt/faq.php

http://www.dogstuff.info/dwarfism_part_three_lanting.html

http://www.dogstuff.info/cocker_spaniel_english_familial_nephropathy.html

Extemley interesting links Terry, thankyou

Regards

D :)

You are welcome. :-)

The pics are very cute.

Is she KC reg?  Did you see Mum/Dad?

Wow she is tiny! Like you say she isn't skinny, just small all over. Hope the bloods come back ok and she's just a little 'un, keep us posted!

Good evening all,
Thanks again for all messages.
I think some information is getting lost in all the post so im just going to bring all up to date so new readers dont have to go through all the posts,,
Cassie is my kc reg cocker spaniel pup who is 5 months old on thursday, her parents a kc reg, mum is weighing 15lbs and dad weighs 16lbs. Her nan is lighter and only weighs 10lbs. I have been in contact with the breeder and all other puppys are growing up fine.
I have taken cassie to the vets and they say she is very small she is only weighing 3.8kg about 8lbs.
They have changed her food and put her on Hills i also have to go back on thursday to see a differant vet, to see if there is a medical problem, i will ask them to do full bloods as i have been adviced by other champdog users (thank you).
One of my other concerns is that cassie is not house trained i have tried all i can think of i have also had professionals in to help but no joy, this week she has started to wet and mess in her cage as well as on her blanket etc. hope this brings every one up to speed.

Thanks for the links very interesting and things i will bring up with th vetxxx

Hello Hayley, you said in your e-mail that mum and dad were 15kgs and 16kgs, not pounds and gran is around 10kgs, which to be honest isn't too bad, so should that be pounds or kilograms??

sorry parents are 15 and 16 kgs gran is 10 kg xxx

Your puppy looks very sweet and pretty :) however, could I ask if you're certain that she is in fact a pure bred Cocker Spaniel?  It may be the angles at which the photos have been taken coupled with her rather unusual colour and markings, but she appears to my (non-expert eye) to be of a mixed breed ....  If so this could go some way towards explaining the difference in her overall proportions, weight and substance to those usually associated with a CS of 5 months

Are there other small breeds kept by the same breeder?

I wondered that too Teri, re: the colouring, but found this site.. http://www.zimfamilycockers.com/cockers.html   and I am amazed at the spectrum of colours in Cockers ... and the colour of this pup is not that unusual. I cant find anything on weight or size differences.. no dwarfism etc..

Those are American Cockers Kay :-) but you are right this is a colouring found in the English Cocker and so are lavish top knots in the untrimmed Cocker :-)
It is very hard to say but I feel this is a pure bred cocker just not a very well boned one and consequently the head is not quite as you would expect but then we know this puppy is very undersized and possibly suffers from something genetic or metabolic.  Very sweet but I hope the cause of its stuntedness is found to determine and perhaps secure her long term health.