Our puppy's weight

[WilliaK]

My Bella is 14 weeks old & weighs in at 30 Ibs.
Is this a good size for her age?

Just Curious,
Thanks WIll

[gparcels]

That sounds about right for a female of that age, what does your vet say..?

[joquendo]

Sounds about right, I have a 8 week old who weights 14lbs - so it does sound average.

[BarryMcD]

Continue to keep the pup as slim as you can. Many people overfeed Rotties and think a "fat" dog looks good. They should be sleek and muscular, with a sharply slanted bottom line.

The general wisdom is GROW SLOW for Rotties and most large breeds. Keeping the dog on the light side as it grows will have no affect on its final size, but it will create a healthier dog with much less chance of hip dysplasia and other bone diseases since weight on an underdeveloped skelatal frame is the main cause of Rottie bone and spinal problems. KEEP THE DOG LIGHT!

If you use a nutritionally dense kibble, you may want to switch to a good quality super premium that is less dense (less kcals/cup). Otherwise, to keep a growing large dog on the slim side, you have to practically starve it if you are using a very high calorie food. MORE ROTTS DEVELOP HEALTH PROBLEMS FROM OVERNUTRITION THAN UNDERNUTRITION!

Finally, Rottie pups should get about 1% calium in their daily diet. Some dog foods contain as much as 2.5% which is pure poison for a Rottie,. Check the bag! And do not supplement the diet with calcium, cheese, yogurt, or any food high in calcium. Find a quality kibble with as close to 1% calcium as possible, and with a relatively low kcals/cup, also called ME (Metabolic Energy). An appropriate ME for a pup would be in the 300's. Anything over 400 is going to be too high.

And DO NOT USE A PUPPY FORMULA! Use an adult formula, a large breed adult maintenance formula may be OK depending uponm the brand and contents.
Do not be impressed by the inclusion of chondroitin and glucoseamine since it is doubtful that either does anything useful. These are fad nutrients that have not been scientifically proved to help bone development in people or dogs!

The best food is a super premium brand with an ME between 300-399 kcals.cup, low calcium near 1%, no puppy forumulas, and the inclusion of bacterial supplemts and digestive enzymes. Some commonly usued brands include Canidae and Canidae Gold (you can mix these two in any proportion to adjust the ME), Wellness, Bil Jac Lite (although it lacks the supplemental enzymes and cultures of the others), and Eagle Pack makes a large array of kibbles that you can check out. I personally use a mixture of the two Canidae formulas.

GROW A ROTTIE SLOW!

[WilliaK]

Well, I just got a new bag of Bil-Jac puppy food, this is acually better quailty kibble than I was feeding her. So, I'm going to see how see does on it but I'll probably be buying her Canidae when this bag is finished.