# Dwarf?



## Lulus Mom (Nov 3, 2016)

Hi. I have a beautiful new baby named Stella. She weighed 3.6 oz at birth. She is now 9 weeks old, and weighs 1lb 5 oz. She charts at about 3.5lbs. The breeder said when she's had puppies that look like Stella they have ended up weighing around 2lbs. I trust hey judgement very much, she's is a wonderful person. But why the discrepancy in weight? I have noticed that Stella's legs are shaped a little funny, like she is adwarf. Is there a such thing as a dwarf Chihuahua? I wish I could post pics got you to see. She is super tiny (compared to my two previous chis I've had that ended up around 4.5lbs), she has a vEry round apple head, and large, bug eyes. She is longer than she is tall. Thanks!


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

Hi I actually haven't heard of a dwarf Chihuahua or dog for that matter. Maybe she just naturally smaller than the rest and her legs might look a bit funny. Maybe she'll grow them out or maybe that's just the way she'll be, not sure. 
I know a dog who I thought was "bow legged" and his legs were funny and he walked funny as well. He never went to the vet as a puppy (he was a street dog) so I don't know for sure if it's possible or not. But now (he has a home) and he doesn't walk funny anymore and his legs don't look funny. But like I said I'll never truly know as he didn't go to a vet during that time/age.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

One of my chi's weighed 1#1oz at 8.5 weeks. She grew to 5#s. You may have a 'stocky' built chi, rather than a slim one! Have the vet check her and make sure that she is not a 'hydrocephalus' puppy. (bug eyes SOMETIMES can be attributed to that)


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

There can be dwarfism in Chihuahuas, we worried with my first tiny girl ( 8 oz at 5 months old when we got her) had dwarfism but it ended up being a liver shunt. My new girl we got almost 2 weeks ago is 11 oz at almost 3.5 months, her conformation does not look correct at all, not much of a neck and very short back. We are watching her grow to see if dwarfism could be an issue. The bad thing about dwarfism is with a tiny body there can be smaller more compacted organs or other things that did not develop quite right which could lessen their life. 

With your baby only being 9 weeks old things can change a lot as she will grow a lot. Gidget as said above was 5 months old and 8 oz, she is now 2 lbs 3 oz (following the charts she would have been around 1 to 1.5 lbs as an adult). My long coat boy I just lost at 11 yrs old was 1 lb 4 oz when we got him at 4 months old and ended up 3.5 lbs but towards the end was around 4 lbs. Runts can outgrow littermates, and vice versa. A lot plays in to what a Chihuahua will be when grown, parents size, grand parents size, etc... I find that a lot of chihuahuas follow the charts up until around 4 to 6 months and then can have major growth spurts and shock you. And no matter how trusted a breeder is, they can not guarantee size. They can give you their best guess. I am eager to see how my new girl grows and praying it is not dwarfism or any other major defect causing her size but there is something usually underlying when they are this small :-(


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

I had a dwarf Chihuahua. It's a lot more than small size. Miss Pearl had weird dentation (teeth), had twisted legs, and was stone deaf. And still was a fantastic little dog. She didn't live very long, died when she was about 11, but was a cheery soul.


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