Australian Labrdoodle Puppy won't gain weight

[Sean]

We got Lola about a year ago (so she's just over a year old).  Her parents were two 30-35lb Australian Labradoodles.  She's highly energetic and an amazingly fast runner.

The issue is she's only about 18 lbs and about 3/4 as tall as her parents.  We feed her as much as she wants and she will NOT gain weight.  We've tried cottage cheese and satin balls (hamburger meat) to try to fatten her up.  At her last vet visit she was actually 16 lbs.  Seems healthy except for being skinny.

Did we just get the runt of the litter?  I assume at 1 year she's probably not going to get much bigger.

Thanks,
Sean

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I agree completely with this and what others have said.  Don't worry too much!!!!!!!!!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

We just had a litter at my breeder's house that had seven 7 pound pups at 8 weeks and one teeny-tiny 3 pound pup--as cute as the Dickens! He just got all the small genes from his mini-poodle ancestor! He will most likely never be as big as his siblings. My dog's last litter is not 14 months old and they range from 42 pounds to 65 pounds and the mom was 50 and the dad was 38 pounds--so, you never know! The word runt usually means a sickly pup that is not thriving and ends up smaller than the others due to competition or poor health--you do not have a "runt"--you just have a mini!!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I hate the word 'runt', Lola is definitely a mini and not a sickly dog who is failing to thrive.

[Sean]

Gotcha.  No more using the word runt.  She is def not sickly.

Thanks to you all.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Thank you for listening!! It is a common term, but those who know what it really means are troubled by it. When one family came to pick up their pup from the litter I described above, he mentioned that the "runt" (the mini I was talking about) was being picked on by the others--that was not true--they were just all playing! But the smaller puppy being somehow a weak puppy is what people naturally see--I set him straight!

[Christine & Shelby]

I also have an ALD and while she may be the product of two mediums.... perhaps somewhere along the line, some mini genes showed up.  If the vet thinks she is at a healthy weight.... it looks like Lola is just sized more as a Mini than a Medium.   I agree at 1 year, she is probably about full size.   Regardless.... She is a cutie :)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

My SIL's doodle is about 15lbs and the breeder thought that he would be closer to 25lbs.  Her dogs is healthy and happy.  You just never know.  As long as your vet isn't worried and as long as your dog is active and healthy, then I wouldn't worry to much about the smaller size.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I have an Australian labradoodle, at 1 year she was around 45 -50-lbs (what we expected her to be based on her parents). At around a year and a half (maybe a little younger) she grew and got up to 60lbs. she was still skinny and we couldnt get weight on her. now at 3 1/2  she is about 70lbs and the vet is happy with her weight. When we fed kibble we fed orijen which is a great food. its only now shes on the raw meat diet that she has gained the weight the vet says she needed to gain.

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

My ALD is also an outlier! His parents were both 22lb ALDs, and the breeder estimated that the puppies would be 20-30lbs. At 8 months Oliver is already 33lbs! The joke around my house is that I've been supplementing his food with HGH. His growth does seem to be plateauing, however, I'm assuming his adult weight will be around 38lbs.

[Katie and Sophie]

As long as She is healthy and eats and drinks normally and has a good energy level don't worry about it! There are definitely variances from "normal" and its not a big deal. Sophie is pretty much spot on with what our breeder thought, but our Weimaraner Jade topped out at 43 pounds when breed standard for female weims is closer to 60 pounds. But thats okay! She's just as happy and healthy, just in a smaller package! It happens in every breed.