Puppy stopped growing at 5 months

[krazie2004]

i have a female rott which i got when she was 8 weeks, now she is 5 1/2 months old and she seems small for her age. we got her weghed and she weighed only 18Kg (approx 40lbs). is this normal??? will she be a small rott? how old till they stop growning?

thanks in advance..

btw could it be the food? because when she was a puupy she had a lot of diaharea (sp?) problems and we had to switch foods often.

right now she is on http://www.wellbeloved.co.uk/ (puppy performance/lamb & rice) is this food ok. + i live in the UK.

[Mako'sMom]

OMG....this is exactly what happened to my (now 2yr old) boy. I suddenly don't feel so alone on this issue! He was gaining wonderfully until I had him neutered at 6mths of age, and I swear to you...right then and there he stopped growing. He is to this day the exact same size as he was the day he was fixed. I'm perplexed by this. If anyone can answer this emigma for us, I'm sure the Members of this forum can. Please help us!!!

[BostonRott]

No, Rottweilers do not stop growing at 5 or 6mos of age. They usually gain in height until they are 10-14mos of age. 40lbs for a 5mos bitch is just fine. Bitches aren't supposed to be huge, remember, only 22-25" at maturity.

Neutering dogs usually makes them taller, leggy and weedy looking (if done early, such as 6mos). This is because testosterone regulates the closing of the growth plates. By neutering a male and removing the testosterone, there is less signal to the growth plates to close adn the dogs get that tall weedy appearance.

[Mako'sMom]

That is interesting....so you are telling me that 1) I had him fixed too early and 2) 55 lbs is a normal weight for a male who was fixed too young. So then my next questions are 1) What is the proper age to neuter, and 2) What is your opinion of breeders who insist on neutering puppies as young as 3month of age- before they are placed in homes?

[BostonRott]

I did not say you neutered too early. I said "neutered early." And 6mos is early. 2 yrs or 6yrs is "later."

I personally think that neutering puppies at 3mos of age is absolutely ridiculous and not in the best health interests of the dogs.

Age of neutering has been discussed 3000 times on this board, please use the search function to find the threads.

[Mako'sMom]

Thanks for the info. Had I known then what I know now I would have waited a bit longer before the big snip ( even though the vets are always so adamant that 6mths is the ideal time.) I will search this forum for more on this subject.

[hannahjoe]

Yes, I have to agree with Gretchen, altering dogs and bitches at young ages does effect how they grow and look. Hannah, my 3.5 year old rescue, we got her when she was just about 5 months old, she is very tall and leggy! She is 26 1/2 inches and 100 pounds. I would have never spayed her that young, she came to me like that, but we love her dearly!!