[ErinL]

Hi guys,
Just wanted an opinion on this.
When Stella was born she was the second largest pup in the litter, weighing in at 3.6 oz. Her mother is 5.5lbs, and dad is a little over 4 lbs. one of the reasons we chose her, aside from her personality, was that we were looking for a larger chi. We have a golden retriever as well an did not want a tiny fragile dog. When we picked her up at 9 wks, she weighed 1.9 lbs. Today she is 17 wks and weighs 2.3 lbs. Aside from looking a little older, she doesn't appear any bigger. I haven't even adjusted her collar yet. The vet says he's fine, just going to be tiny. Stella has been raw fed since the day we brought her home. She was eating 4 oz 4 times a day, now she's only eating 1 oz 3x per day. She also gets nupro 3x per week, vitamin E 2x per week, and we alternate fish, krill, and algae oil. She has been eating venison, quail, lamb, rabbit, and bison. We use rabbit and quail for her rmbs, and venison organs. Does it sound like she's just going to be tiny? Or should I be concerned?
I talked to her breeder and her sister that the breeder kept weighs 4.5 lbs!
Thanks,
Erin

 

[Brodysmom]

It sounds like she's going to be on the smaller side.

Raw fed dogs grow at a slow rate compared to their kibble fed siblings. They don't go through that awkward stage where their topline is uneven and they may be higher in the front or rear. They also don't typically have that pudgy roly poly look that kibble fed puppies have.

However, a raw fed dog WILL end up being the size she is genetically programmed to be. Just takes longer to get there as their growth is slow and steady, which is obviously much much better for them.

Sounds like she has a great diet with lots of variety. If she's healthy and happy, I wouldn't worry about her size. Sounds like she is going to be on the smaller side!

 

[ErinL]

Thanks so much! I know pups fed raw grow slower, but this seems a bit ridiculous. I just talked with Stella's breeder again, apparently a pup from the moms last litter did the same thing. At 1 1/2 years old, this pup is a whopping 3 lbs. jeez. Anyone have any advice on keeping an abnormally small chi with a 80lb dog? Kira is super gentle with her, but I'm scared she is going to step on Stella and break her.

 

[svdreamer]

I have a 2 pound 14 oz mostly three legged dog and a 60 pound lab/pit mix. Twiggy knows how to get out of Bouncer's way. She is also great at getting out of the way of all the other dogs and people in the house. And they are much tougher than you think. Twiggy was run over by a car and, other than a bad leg, she is doing great.

 

[Chihuahuasloveme]

Beau is 3 lbs and lives with 2 huge labs one is built like a Rottweiler he just gets out of the way lol they also have them separated big dogs upstairs little ones down stairs

 

[ErinL]

Thanks for the reassurance guys. I really appreciate it. So far Stella has been pretty good about getting out of the way, I'm just nervous I guess.

 

[AussieLass]

Have her wear a collar with a bell, that way everyone in the house always knows where she is. I used to have nightmares of falling over mine with a pot of boiling water or something equally as nasty until I got the bells. You don't really even notice them until you have to pay attention to them.

 

[KittyD]

I second the bell idea, I've always had one on Bijou because he's a dinky dot and if he's under something I have no idea where he can be :lol:
I also wanted to point out birth weight means nothing, nor does the weight of a newly aquired puppy, often they have been nursing quite a bit and can be quite fat! I had an 8 week old who weighed just under 3 pounds, that dog matured at 4.5 pounds.

 

[ErinL]

Yeah she has a bell, which helps a ton. I'm just scared this big klutz is going to fall on her. I have visions of Stella turning into a pancake like in looney toons.

 

[OzChi]

This sounds a lot like my Chloe. She was the biggest puppy in a litter of 6 and was already almost 1kg (2.2 lb) when I brought her home at 8 weeks old. This suited us fine because she was joining a very hyper older puppy and we wanted her to be able to keep up with him so we didn't want a tiny fragile puppy. Now Chloe is 8 months old and is only 1.8kg (3.9lb) but runs around like a loony with her big brother Axle who is about 2.2kg or 4 1/2 lb. Chloe has been raw fed (with ZP for one meal) since we got her whereas Axle was fed on kibble until he was 4 months old. He has barely grown in frame since then and has only filled out. It feels like it has taken Chloe forever to put on her 800g and I definitely attribute the raw feeding to Chloe's long slow growing process. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up over 4lb, she's just taking her time to get there and your little one will get to her perfect size in her own time too. Your feeding plan sounds great so just give her time.

 

[Mel's chi's]

I was nervous when I got my last and smallest Chi, Ziggy. He is now 1 &1/2 year old, always raw fed and a whopping 4 lbs max! He has 3 other Chi's & 1 old Border Collie as roomies. All the Chi's get out of her way and she is pretty careful at keeping a lookout for them now that they have been here awhile. when we first brought the Chi's home we all had to do the shuffle to not step on them
Enjoy your petite little one

 

[AussieLass]

I was just thinking, my 3 x Chi's are all raw fed. Two of them strike me as being absolutely huge, and one remains pathetically small and frail. So feeding raw hasn't slowed the growth of my 2 big 'uns one iota (unfortunately) and I wonder how tiny the tiny would've been if he'd had a crap diet.

Gasping for air because one's bottom is leaking gaseous substance right under my nose, eeeewwww - their poops may not smell, but their farts stink to high heaven!

 

[bayoumah]

hi im sure her brother will be careful around her and shell learn to move quickley she sounds so cute send pics when you can thank you

 

[Barneys_Mom99]

My chi does fine with 2 dobermans. He is fast on his feet and knows when to yield and when to zoom. Figure that the pup has to figure out where our human feet are all the time too ! Everyone learns to adapt and before long it seems normal to have the little fella around.