Gaining Weigh Quickly

Ralphysmom · Mar 20, 2015

Happy Friday everyone

I am just wondering about weight gain in the frenchie pups. When we brought Ralphy home on Jan 31 he was 8 weeks old and weighed 4.6 lbs (he was the runt and his sisters were much bigger than him). He is on the Now Fresh for Small Breed Pups and seems to enjoy it. He will be 16 weeks on Monday and already weighs 12 lbs! He is eating 3/4 cup three times a day and up until this last week would eat his meals quickly. He seems to be satisfied more quickly without finishing all of his food. Was he just going through a growth spurt? He isnt lazy by any means he runs around like a wild man playing and hunting sticks lol. I am just concerned about how quickly he has tripled!! his weight. We do have a vet appt next Friday for his last set of puppy shots, but was wondering if this is normal

Thank you!

Jakeyjake · Mar 20, 2015

They do go through growth spurts early on and then tend to slow down. Your vet will be able to tell you also if his weight is good. Both of mine grew very quickly to the 6 or 7 mos. mark and then slowed down considerably. BTW he is adorable!!!!

anns4boys · Mar 20, 2015

I agree, they grow very quickly during the first few weeks/months and then they slow down. My puppy went from 3 pounds at 12 weeks ( 3 months) to 13 pounds by 6 months and then slowed down considerably. She will be a year old next Saturday and weighed in at 16.5 pounds last week. She hasn't really grown much at all in the last few months, is just "filling out". And Ralphy is adorable!!

Tgirl · Mar 20, 2015

I agree, they go through spurts. They do slow down considerable after about 6 months. He is too cute!

eeturk · Mar 20, 2015

My guy did the opposite -- 3 lbs at 12 weeks, 10 lbs at 6 months, and now he's 1.5 years and is pushing 30. These guys have all kinds of crazy growth patterns! I really think it depends on the individual dog. I wouldn't worry too much about "normal" as long as he's not emaciated or obese! They're all different.

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davidh · Mar 20, 2015

3/4 cups three times a day seems like too much food to me, but I am not familiar with the food you are feeding. Is his poop soft? We feed our adult females 1/2 twice a day and Henri 3/4 cup plus a couple spoonfuls of canned twice a day. Our 11 week old pups get about 1/3 cup three times a day, so I would say a 16 week old would eat about 1/2 cup three times a day, but we feed FROMM food.

bullmama · Mar 22, 2015

Agree with everyone, they do have spurts.

How I like to calculate up until they are 16 weeks old as a base line, they should double their weight by half their age. So at 16 weeks from 8 weeks, you are right on track!

After 16 weeks the gains are much slower so that is where I stop.

A 2 week pup should weigh twice as much at 4 weeks from 2 weeks, a 4 week should weigh twice as much at 8 weeks, ect.

Ralphysmom · Mar 23, 2015

Thanks everyone

I was just a little concerned as he already outgrew his puppy collar and was fast on his way to outgrow the new one we just bought! I thought that he was going to be monsterous in size

[MENTION=4]davidh[/MENTION] His poops are firm for the most part but he was going like 8 times a day! I think it was just a growth spurt - he seems to be satisfied before emptying his bowl; whereas, before he would chow the whole bowl in a second lol.

shortstuff · Mar 25, 2015

Bisou was the same. We expected her growth to continue at the same rate and bought all this XL stuff for her expecting her to be massive... then she just stopped! She was 12 lbs at 4 months, then grew a pound a week for six weeks. She slowed down once she hit 18 lbs and seems to have settled on 21.5 lbs at a year old. We're noticing her shoulders bulking out a lot more and she's looking girthier all the time, but she still hasn't gained much weight at all. Every Frenchie grows at different rates, which can be really frustrating when trying to figure out how big they're going to get. :no:

MickieBlue · Mar 26, 2015

Our boy put on 2-3 pounds every 2 weeks for the first 4 months. He is now 7 months and is hovering about 23 and has been for about a month. Wondering where he'll end up!