Weight

[Sara]

Otis will be 9 weeks old on Sunday. I just weighed him and he weighs 14 pounds. I looked online for "standard" weights in Goldendoodles but couldn't find anything reliable ( I guess since the breed differs so much?).

Any thoughts on his weight? I think he's chubby. Everyone who meets him says. "Whoa--he's big!" and now I'm wondering if he really is big or if he's just average? I worry about weight since I'm a believer in the "trim dog, longer life" idea. The breeder was letting the litter eat on demand and I wonder if that's why he's big? For us, he's getting 1/2 cup of Orijen puppy twice a day.

He's a standard F1b.

Thanks for any insight! His first vet appointment is the 24th so I will be sure to discuss it with the vet then, but you good people tend to be more knowledgable anyway so I'm starting here! Lol. ;)

[Wendy and Myla]

Otis is so adorable!  My Myla weighed 16 pounds when she was 10 weeks old and she is a standard F1 goldendoodle.  The best guide to figure out the final weight of your standard doodle is to double the weight when they are 16 weeks old (with a five pound variance).  Myla is now 2 1/2 years old and weights 63 pounds and has weighed this since she was one year old!   

[Sara]

Ohhhhh! Good to know! THANKS!!!!!

And Myla is too cute as well! What a pretty girl!

[Adina P]

BIG and Chubby are very different.  Are you unable to feel any ribs on him?   My Rosco (labradoodle) is 85-90 lbs trim or 95-105 not-so-trim was 19 lbs at his 9 week check, I think.  He wasn't fat.  He was just HUGE.

[Kaitee and Orwell]

Adina is right. My guy is going to top out at 70+ lbs when he is full grown, which is rather big for a labradoodle evidently. He was "supposed" to top out at 55 lbs max. He's 50+ lbs and 23.5 inches at the shoulder right now and just turned 6 months. If you look at a general standard labradoodle "standard" on the web, it'll say that they only get to 60 lbs max and 24 inches at the shoulder.

I must emphasize that Orwell IS NOT FAT. In fact, he's a little too ribby for my liking, but I'm still feeding him a slight amount more than the recommended amount and he gets training treats all the time. He's also a F2b labradoodle, so he has more of a poodle body-- he's tall and thin. 

I hope you are okay with your puppy's size because while he's slightly smaller than Orwell was at that age, he's not going to be a small dog. Also, healthy golden retrievers carry more weight than a healthy lab. Goldendoodles tend to weigh more than labradoodles for this reason.  

I personally love big dogs. The bigger, the better for me so I was pleasantly surprised with Orwell. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

He's just a real young puppy...so difficult to decide if he is "overweight" at this point IMO.  My Vet always told me to forget about the charts and just be sure I could always feel their ribs (like Adina mentioned).  They should not feel "boney"...there needs to be some meat over them, but you should be able to clearly feel them.  A few times my Guinness's ribs started to "disappear" and then I cut back his calories or increased his exercise and he got back to where he should be.

[Shoney & Ruby]

Otis looks like a sweetie. What does your vet say? That's what I would trust.

Ruby was 7 pounds when we brought her home at 8 weeks, now at 12 weeks she is 10.6 pounds--she looks chubby to us too, but she's mostly fur and the vet said she's right on track.

[Sara]

See?! That's why I love DK--you've all brought up excellent points that I hadn't been considering! I can feel his ribs, and I think it is a case of "big versus fat". He's big. Well, bigger than what most people expect for a puppy. So I think he's getting unfairly accused of being a chubbster (by me!, bad mommy!).

And I DO prefer big dogs (I'm six foot tall and am crazy enough to think a big dog makes me look petite, LOL!), so I'm excited to see him get big. I just want to avoid big and chubby!

Thank you everyone!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I think all puppies to some extent look a little "chubby." They have got little rolly-polly bellies that pooch out after they eat, short little snouts, etc. They look like toddlers! Our breeder lets her puppies eat on demand, too. I think a lot do because a growing puppy that is recently weaned will rarely eat itself into being overweight.

It sounds like you have him on a good feeding schedule. My guess is that he is just going to be a big boy. More love to give!  :-) The "rib check" is the best route to go to determine if he is a healthy weight.

 

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I've been calculating at puppychart.com. I just use Labrador and then look at poodle weights. I think my Gracie will be at least 70lbs.

[Ron Carnes]

Zack was 20.4 pounds at 13 weeks. He is now 94 pounds and 29 inches at the withers.

[Kaitee and Orwell]

Geeze! Orwell was 24 lbs at 13 weeks... am I underestimating him? I originally thought he was going to top out at 27.5 inches and about 73 lbs. 

By the way, he is 23.5 inches right now and 50+ lbs (haven't weighed him in a couple weeks because of neutering, am going to today) at 6 months.

[Ron Carnes]

Zacks parents were goldendoodles. Mom was white and 40# and dad was orange and 45#. Grandad was a large black poodle.