Doodle Size

[Casey]

Our Stanley is still only 10 pounds at 3 months. His dad was 60 pounds, and his mom was 40.  I know about the general rule of doubling the weight at 4 months, give or take 10 pounds. But, I'm curious about your personal experiences. 

Does he have any hope of being as big as his dad? When does the 3-4 month growth spurt hit (my research suggests he is supposed to grow quite a bit this coming month).

Thanks for your thoughts ;)

Casey

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I'm curious- how much did he weigh when you got him? And, does he feel like he has a nice amount of "meat on his bones" for a puppy?

The reason why I'm asking is because I saw in another post that you have been feeding him just twice a day. Perhaps he hasn't been growing as much because of this? It's possible that he will hit more of a growth spurt now that you plan to feed him 3 times a day. Or, it could be that he is just going to be a little guy even though he had larger parents.

[Casey]

He weighed just over 5 pounds when we got him. He's doubled in weight in the past 4 weeks. I assume that's within a normal growth rate, but I'm obviously no expert. 

He is not chubby, but he definitely isn't skinny. When we bathe him, his ribs aren't highly visible/protruding.

We fed him the same amount of food when we were feeding him twice a day. Now, we just spread it out among the three feedings. It might make a difference, as I suspect he was not absorbing as much of the nutrients when the meals were too large for his little tummy. 

[Wendy and Myla]

I haven't looked at your page so I'm not sure what type of doodle you have.  Myla is an F-1 standard doodle - When we got her at 8 weeks, she weighed 12 pounds.  At 12 weeks old, she was 20 pounds. At 16 weeks, she weighed 30 pounds, at 21 weeks she was 40.2 pounds, and at one year she was 60.8 pounds.  At two years she was 63 pounds and has been that weight since - she is now four years old.  As you can see, the rule of 16 weeks, doubling their weight was right on for Myla but I think that equation only works for standard doodles, whether F1 or F1B.  Once you get into smaller breeds, it's not as accurate.   

[Casey]

Holy moly! Your Myla is far bigger than our Stanley! The breeder suggested that he would be approx. 35-40 pounds. We'll see if he puts on a few more pounds in the next couple of weeks. He seems to be healthy, active, and happy ... so I presume he is doing OK.

[Wendy and Myla]

If he's healthy, active and happy then that's the best he can be!!!  If your breeder has done that for a long time, I'm sure that her estimation is pretty accurate!  We wanted our doodle to be around 50 pounds and our breeder suggested that we go to her F1B doodles, to be a bit more accurate in weight estimation, but we really wanted a F1 standard.  We are really happy with Myla's weight (but honestly, she could have been over 100 pounds and we would still love her to death!) but I think that most reputable breeders really know what the weights will be.  Stanley looks awesome!  I love looking a puppy pictures!

[Sally M]

Penny was 11 lbs. at 3 months. She's an F1 Goldendoodle. She's 8 months old now and about 50 lbs.

[Casey]

OK! That sounds like Stanley.  Depending on the time of day, he's between 10 and 11 pounds, and he'll be exactly 3 months tomorrow.  Hopefully he makes it close to that 50 pound mark.  We'll love him big or small ... but I hope he's big :)

Casey

[Wendy and Myla]

So is Stanley an F1 standard or is the poodle half of him a mini?

[Casey]

He's an F2b, but mom was only 40 pounds.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Maybe this will help. My Charlotte weighed about 6.5 pounds when we got her at eight weeks. She'll be four years old in June and weighs 25 pounds. The equation for estimating weight based on the number at 16 weeks worked for her, though I can't remember exactly what her weight was at four months.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

When I first read this I thought wow, no way but after reading and looking at my AnnaBelle's numbers, I'd say somewhere between the two is about right.  Here are AnnaBelle's numbers.  She is an F1 GD.  She made a pretty big jump between 12 and 16 weeks.  

8 weeks -- 5 lbs 10 ozs.
11 weeks -- 10 lbs 12 ozs
12 weeks -- 13.5 lbs
13 weeks -- 16.5 lbs
14 weeks -- 18 lbs
16 weeks -- 22 lbs
18 weeks -- 25.5 lbs
19 weeks -- 28.0 lbs
20 weeks -- 30.5
21 weeks -- 31.5
22 weeks (5 months) -- 33 lbs
23 weeks -- 35 lbs
24 weeks -- 36.5 lbs
25 weeks -- 38.0
26 weeks -- 41.0
8 months -- 50.5
1 Year -- 53.5 lbs

3 Years -- various from 56-60 lbs.

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/profile/show?id=LucyandSophies...

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

My best advice is to continue with what you're doing and wait till 16 weeks and do the formula. You will see that it works very well within a few pounds for just about everyone. Except for really large or really small dogs, like mini's. 

My two, both standards, and both parents were about the same as Stanley's in weights, were 26-27 pds at 16 weeks and their ideal weights are 60 pds and always have been since the first year. They are now 7 yrs old and almost 6 yrs old.  

BTW: What does your breeder guesstimate? They usually have a pretty good idea, especially if she has had other litters from this couple.