# ? about puppy growth....



## Bella~n~Wiley's mom (May 14, 2009)

The pups are a week old and I have a copy of the weight chart my mentor gave me for each of them. She told me to expect the pups to be right arond Mom (4.5lbs) and Dad's (4lbs) size as I got them both from her (two different lines though) and genetically their size has been consistant back through the lines at 4-4.5lbs. THe pups are charting out to be right on track with that too. I am wondering how accurate this method is? And also they don't all seem to gain consistantly from day to day but over time it averages out to about an ounce every 2 days right now. Is that right and how long should they gain that fast? Or easier put, when does the growth slow down?

Here is their weight gain... Does it look normal?

Pup birth day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7

Mercedes 2.3oz 3.2oz 4.0oz 5.0oz 5.2oz 5.8oz 6.5oz 6.9oz
Sophia 1.9oz 3.0oz 4.1oz 5.3oz 5.4oz 6.0oz 6.5oz 6.9oz
Lexi 1.3oz 2.8oz 4.3oz 5.6oz 5.8oz 5.6oz 6.5oz 7.0oz
Tux 1.8oz 2.5oz 3.9oz 4.5oz 4.8oz 5.3oz 5.9oz 6.2oz


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## zaek1 (May 2, 2009)

pm me your email addy and I'll send you a copy of the weights of my pups for the first few weeks.


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## N*T*M*4U (Nov 10, 2008)

For us the weight chart is not accurate.....


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Chi pups normally double their birth weight at 7/10 days old. Then from there they will gain 2/3 ounces a week. If they are going to be on the small side (3/3.5 lbs.) as an adult, their gain will follow more along 2 ounces a week, or for the medium/large (of the Chi standard) 3 ounces a week. It can even be more if you end up with a pup that is going to be beyond standard size (6 lbs.). Their daily/weekly gain will somewhat depend on their adult weight. You may not see an increase every day, but it will average out over the week, as you mentioned the pattern you are seeing. Their weight should be consistent until they reach about 24 weeks old. You may not get the exact same gain each week, but it will be close. The pups that don’t gain is the ones you have to worry about. Even the teeny ones will show an increase weekly. The charts rarely work for anyone. I have a friend that has been show breeding for years, and to get an adult weight on her pups she doubles the 12 week old weight, and adds 1 lb. She said it is accurate in most all of her litters. Or you can just add 1 lb. to their 6 month old weight. If they are going to be under 3 lbs. as an adult, they may only gain about 8 ounces from 6 months to adulthood. You can’t really get an accurate estimated adult weight on them at this point. I would wait until they are weaned to even try. Once they are off of Mom you can start tracking their weekly gain, and more than likely that will be the pattern they stay at until they are at 24 weeks old. I would continue to track their gain now just for health reference. 

A Chi’s growth plates close somewhere around 9 months old. So after that you won’t see much of a size difference in their height and length, but they will continue to fill out and gain weight until they reach 18/24 months old.

You also can’t be sure that all of the pups will be Mom & Dad’s size. That is a myth. Pups can pick up size genetics from way back. This is how average sized parents may have 4 pups, and 2 may be average, one be small, and one larger. Or a different combo of these sizes. From looking at their gain now, they are doing wonderful. I would say you have 4 very healthy pups coming along.


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## zaek1 (May 2, 2009)

Oh yeah I forgot to add that too. The weight chart is/was WAY OFF for us. Different lines grow at different rates. Some lines mature earlier, grow faster, grow slower for longer....ect.


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## jesshan (Sep 15, 2005)

I agree they should have doubled their birth weight at about 7 days but yours seem to be WAY quicker than that, especially the tiny one - that one has just amazed me!!!!! Are you sure you got their birth weights right? 

They are steamrolling ahead LOL. The most accurate one I find is the 12 week old one -double their weight at that age and that should be their adult weight - obvioulsy not always 100% but more often than not.


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## Bella~n~Wiley's mom (May 14, 2009)

Thanks all. I just reweighed them with a better scale...

I have been useing my old food scale with a swing arm and just remembered that I have a nicer digital scale for weighing my gems that could weigh in gr, oz or ct weight to 0.000oz. The one with the arm I have to rezero each time because it could be off as much as half an ounce or more after putting a wiggly pup on it so I am not 100% sure of their birth weight. I feel bad that I forgot about it but I haven't gotten any new gems (I collect loose precious gems) so I forgot it was in the den closet!

Their new, more accurate weight today at 1 week is:

Mercedes - 6.725oz

Sophia - 6.640oz

Lexi - 6.645oz

Tux - 5.955oz

so it weighs them a bit lighter aparently then the other scale but the night they were born I was a bit frazzled and am not sure if I was as accurate as that imprecise scale could even be because of my lack of sleep and everything that was going on! UUGH!


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## Sahara (Dec 27, 2012)

zaek1 said:


> pm me your email addy and I'll send you a copy of the weights of my pups for the first few weeks.


Would you mind sending me your puppy growth charts for the first few weeks? My chihuahua puppies seem to be gaining weight very rapidly! As far as i know they are a lot bigger than 'average' 

Can you take a look and tell me what you think please?


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## michele (Jan 12, 2009)

This is a very old thread from 2009 don't think she is here anymore,maybe put a new thread up and somebody will help


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