Dog Community

Runt of the Litter?

Posted : 6/5/2006 5:14:26 PM

Russell is now about 14 months old and he hasn't grown much for many months. He gained one pound between December and May and that seemed to be from just filling out a little in the chest. We get a lot of comments on how small he is for a cocker - people sometimes tell us we must have a "mini cocker spaniel" (whatever that is). He's only 23 lbs, which by the way is one off from the adult weight the vet predicted for him at his very first checkup a year ago.

Russell's dam was small but he seems unusually little for a male cocker. I have to admit his breeder was pretty sketchy and we haven't heard from her in quite some time so that's probably not a source of info for us. Should we be worried at all about his health? I know that runts sometimes have health problems but I don't know how common that is or how often size correlates with poor health or premature death in dogs. So far he seems very healthy - the vet did say at his neuter appt that he had a very very minor heart murmur but she thought it was probably just stress-induced.

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Posted : 6/5/2006 5:30:15 PM

He sure dosn't look sickly or undernurished and that coat is GORGEOUS!!!
You say the vet gave him a clean bill of health? No worms or anything like that?
If a dog has poor health other things by this time would have started to waiver such as skin, coat, shedding, teeath, stuff like that. I also don't think he would necessarily have to be a miniature to be a small guy, just small for the breed just as peopel are! I was surprised by the insignifigant weight loss over those several months but he looks healthy, does he eat regurarly? Not so much a question of how much he eats but does he eat regularly on a shcedule and keep up with it?

jones

Posted : 6/5/2006 7:17:57 PM

Oh yeah, he eats heartily and would eat anything & everything all day long if given the chance, and he has a lot of energy. He seems to overheat really easily - black furry dog - and I get a little concerned about how he sounds when he pants really hard (like a vibration in his lungs), but maybe I'm just being a nervous nelly. He's always been fit-looking, not skinny nor fat, but he stopped growing around 9mo - which is when the above pic was taken - except for a little filling out as I mentioned. After a brief stint of SD, I started him on Chicken Soup as a little pup, then switched to Solid Gold Beef & Barley at about 6mo, and I just recently began switching him over to Innova because I felt the fat content might just be too low for him in SG (he always had dry skin).

rwbeagles

Posted : 6/5/2006 7:25:57 PM

The AKC puts 14 1/2-15" as ideal on your breed. Now...they are a solid breed...not lanky or sighthoundy so I will say they are likely equivalent to a 15" Beagle in mass for height....does that seem about right?

IF so..then a mature INTACT male Beagle at that height should weigh between 25-30lbs at maturity...that being 2-3 years of age. I would bet that given another 6-12 months he will fall right into that range for weight.

Most pet Cockers I see are WAY overheight and WAY overweight, just like most of the pet Beagles I see. The show Cockers are SMALL dogs...with a LOT of coat [] I'd put most of them at about 20-28lbs truly.

If you get a chance I'd definitely go to some shows and check out the show Cockers...I think you'd see a smaller dog that you're used to. Is he from show lines?

tiffy

Posted : 6/5/2006 7:36:39 PM

Erin, is that you?

jones

Posted : 6/5/2006 8:02:42 PM

Yes, this is Erin! [

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Gina, thanks for that helpful post. I don't know why I didn't think to look at the AKC standard... I just measured him (I think correctly) and Russell is about 14.5" at the shoulder. Crazy how seeing so many too-tall cockers has warped my idea of how big they should be! I wasn't sure how long most dogs continue to bulk up, but it's reassuring that he could still gain some muscle mass past 1 year. I used to wonder if he would ever have any coat, too, but it's start to come in like weeds lately.

He's definitely not from show lines though... more like a BYB unfortunately. But I guess in our ignorance we got lucky because he's been great! [

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fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 6/6/2006 12:09:43 PM

Welcome back, Erin! As soon as I saw those two names (Jones & Russell) I figured it had to be you. Glad you found your way into the new system - we've missed seeing pics of Russell. [

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Joyce & Max

jeano

Posted : 6/6/2006 1:53:11 PM

I think Russell is probably just fine. I rescued a runt cocker once time and she was just adorable, my little shadow. She was even smaller than Russell, and a very bad example of a cocker, but I loved her. She didn't have any medical problems other than a bit of old girl pee leakage, and any girl dog can get that.

Thanks for posting a picture of him, gosh I just want to ruffle all his fur and kiss his nosey!

AineCockers

Posted : 6/6/2006 3:39:37 PM

You are exactly right Gina. The Girl Show cockers weight in at able 20-24lbs and the boys weight in at 24-28lbs. He is on the smaller size but Cockers usually don't grow too much after 9 months. At 14.5 inches he is at perfect height. Weight wise he is alittle on the small side but right in there. I wouldn't worry. As long as you can just feel his ribs and not see them, he is at the right weight. Also, what do you feed? I Highly recommend Purina Pro-Plan Chicken and Rice for all my puppy buyers. The right food can make or break a dog, Quickly.

I love Black Cocker babies too... Here is Mine...