Boerboel Pup only 1/3rd of size she should be

[Bertorubble]

Hi Guys,

We bought a new boerboel pup female the days ago, we thought they were tiny little things and couldn't remember ours being so small.
After it playing on my mind for a while i managed to find the weight of our other female boerboel who at 10 weeks old was 14Kg, this new pup weighed 4.4kg!!
I did some further investigation of weights on the internet and time and time again i was finding DDB and EM as well as BB being significantly heavier at the age of the pup.
The age itself is strange as the breeders say she's 12 weeks old but the vet document says born 19/11/14 making her 10 weeks old tomorrow, the document also says a mans name on from another address which the woman got very fluttered over and passed me onto her partner, they said it was their son in law who took them with the woman.
We saw mom and dad, mom clearly had pups recently and the pups cried for her when they let her in, we considered whether she was crossed with something else but part of me feels that even if so, she should still weigh more at 10 weeks.
We relayed our concerns to the breeder who says see how her weight goes and was clueless beyond that, he fed pasta with a sprinkle of kibble so not very high in protein.

We're at a bit of a loss here, we can see a clear boerboel resemblence in the pup, she is fluffy however which we read is a recessive gene in mastiffs, the other 2 sisters were not fluffy and looked like young boerboels.

I'm sttruggling to understand how a full boerboel for this age can be this weight - for me, one of these factors has to be incorrect?

Anyone got any thoughts on what it could be? i know the easy answer is to say not full boerboel, but think about it, even a labrador would weigh more at this age, how can she be so light? Could the age be wrong? but the vet would spot that on the first phase of vaccination surely?

Also you may notice she's fluffy, we read this is a recessive gene within mastiffs.

We're at a loss here...

 

[musicdeb]

The pup could be small and that could be normal for that pup, every pup is different. If you're concerned with the pup, have you talked to breeder about getting another pup?

He's very young and I would not be concerned with his weight at this time. You've only had him a few days, he needs time.

Be more concerned with body condition rather than body weight. Mastiffs continue to grow until 2-3 years of age.

Re: full bred Boerbel. I'm not sure. We have a couple of Boerbel owners who will chime in.

 

[TWW]

DMike could answer better than me but it would depend on the lines. Some BB lines are much smaller and some Much larger.

Fluffy is not a recessive gene in mastiffs, piebald is though, I'm pretty sure.

 

[AZ Boerboel]

That seems a little small and fluffy to me but stranger things have happened. Hell, Dmike almost had a unicorn here recently, lol.
My current Boerboel was 18 lbs at 14 weeks old. She is a smaller BB and is right around 105-110 now at 18months.
Here is a picture of mine at 14weeks. Look at the size of her feet in the picture and her in comparison to the milk jug beside her on the patio. I can't get a good view of your pups feet but usually Boerboel pups are running around on some pretty good sized paws in comparison to their legs. I know both of mine had some seriously floppy feet.


You may have a purebred BB that is just expressing some recessive traits, or you may have a mixed breed. Your experience with this breeder makes them sound extremely suspect to me with how they were acting. When it comes to the rarer dog breeds it's always best to really research your breeder before purchasing. That way you have no questions like this as far as either genetic makeup or health. I made a huge mistake with my first Boerboel by getting an Atomic ("I want a new puppy now" excitement driven purchase because the breeder was in town and had 1 female available) and though she was a beautiful soul she was one of the most genetically messed up and expensive dogs I've ever come across. You have to be really careful when it comes to breeds like this because there are so many shady "Breeders" out there. For BB's and Corso's especially.
How is her temperament so far? Who was the breeder and do you happen to have any links to the supposed parents pictures or anything like that?

Whatever she turns out to be she certainly is a cute little bugger. I do see BB in her face a lot. It's just the fluffiness that is throwing me.

 

[DDSK]

My cc Abby was the runt of the litter with a brother that was way bigger
Than the rest. Now at 18 months the big brother is 105 pounds and Abby is
115 pounds.
As long as she is healthy her size shouldn't be an issue.
Love her and enjoy her.

 

[AZ Boerboel]

One thing I can say for sure about her, that is one hell of a cute little pup.
Personally I prefer smaller Boerboels, they are able to stay active and do a lot more actual work compared to the really heavy ones.

 

[klj5022]

My Presa was the "runt" of the litter of some terrible breeders. She was about 6 pounds at 10 weeks her sistr was about 12. After a couple vet visits and a crap ton of worms being pushed out she started gaining weight. We feed her Blue Large Breed puppy with a little raw. She is now at 7 months about 5 pounds heavier than her sister with a wider head and slightly taller. This is here next to my friends 92lb CC and they are the same age give or take a week.

 

[klj5022]

She is the one without the collar, sometimes at that young they are just getting into their own.

 

[DMikeM]

I am sorry to say this but she does not look right to me. My smallest right now is 8 weeks and near 12 or 13 lbs 5 to 6 kg. I have seen some furry BB but they did not look like this one. The ears on your pup are set wrong and not correct i shape. I could be totally wrong as this is a young pup, but I will post you a pic of my runt and you can compare them.

 

[Colorado1234]

She is adorable!
I got Pax at 8 and 1/2 weeks and he weighed 25.5lbs, at 11 weeks he weighed 31lbs and today at 14 weeks he weighed 41.5lbs.
Pax's mom weighed 175lbs and his dad was a little smaller at 150lbs. Pax was not the largest or the smallest pup in his litter, he was in the middle.
I wouldnt worry about weight too much. I bet your pup goes through a growth spurt soon and you will wake up one morning thinking she doubled in size. She is so cute, congrats!

 

[Colorado1234]

Here is a pic of Pax at 13 weeks, around 37lbs.

 

[WyomingWild]

Her paws aren't that big looking. I know it's a simple and lame observation but, our Fila pups paws are giant looking compared to him. Is there a change the breeder wasn't honest? I might have missed it in your original post, but did you see the parents of this litter or their "breeding stock"?

 

[WyomingWild]

I'm just throwing it out there.....these are sherpherd/aussie mixes. her weight would be some what in the normal range too for a aussie at least.

 

[cayeesmom]

Not an BB but my EM at 11weeks, he was only 10.2 lbs and "petite" , very close to the same as your girl. He is a purebred EM and we believe his size was due to a to young mother, [ only a year old] the whole litter of 10 was tiny, malnutrition, and sever parasites. He is now trying to catch up [considering he was 4,2 lbs when I got him at 7 weeks] and is a stocky 48 lbs today at 5 months. So there could be an explanation to her tiny size but the fluff, can't help you there. She is very cute though!

 

[Dan]

Hi Bertorubble
That's a very cute pup.
I am afraid that it doesn't look like a boerboel to me though; even if it weighed more.
I guess things will become clearer over the next month or so as the dog grows.
The thing is, by that time you'll probably be so much in love with the pup that you won't want to let it go anyway

 

[irina]

Does not look like a boerboel to me either.

 

[Bertorubble]

Thanks for the replies guys - he's a link to the dogs for sale so you can see supposed mom and dad along with siblings, ours was the only fluffy one.

LOOK!! War wagon beorbeols | Bolton, Greater Manchester | Pets4Homes

I'm looking into a DNA test such as wisdom panel who test whether a dog is pure or what is in the ancestry, the issue i have is these tests do not have a datebase on BB due to rarety, i've asked whether it can be genetically compared to other mastiff groups or even my other two BBs.

I'm dubious of her age, she looks very young, possibly as young as 6 weeks and the vet document says someone elses name on - i wondered whether they wanted to sell early as they're going on holiday.

The pup could be small and that could be normal for that pup, every pup is different. If you're concerned with the pup, have you talked to breeder about getting another pup?

He's very young and I would not be concerned with his weight at this time. You've only had him a few days, he needs time.

Be more concerned with body condition rather than body weight. Mastiffs continue to grow until 2-3 years of age.

Re: full bred Boerbel. I'm not sure. We have a couple of Boerbel owners who will chime in.

View attachment 51359

The vet said she was all in good health but knew nothing about boerboel to comment on the size, she was larger than the remaining two siblings.

DMike could answer better than me but it would depend on the lines. Some BB lines are much smaller and some Much larger.

Fluffy is not a recessive gene in mastiffs, piebald is though, I'm pretty sure.

What do you mean by fluffy is not a recessive gene? are you saying it's not possible for a mastiff to be fluffy like this? i appreciate some are larger than others, SABT (SABBS) suggests a range of which a pure boelboel should fall within however and unless she has very rapid growth that feel unlikely - although i can't predict the future.

That seems a little small and fluffy to me but stranger things have happened. Hell, Dmike almost had a unicorn here recently, lol.
My current Boerboel was 18 lbs at 14 weeks old. She is a smaller BB and is right around 105-110 now at 18months.
Here is a picture of mine at 14weeks. Look at the size of her feet in the picture and her in comparison to the milk jug beside her on the patio. I can't get a good view of your pups feet but usually Boerboel pups are running around on some pretty good sized paws in comparison to their legs. I know both of mine had some seriously floppy feet.
View attachment 51368

You may have a purebred BB that is just expressing some recessive traits, or you may have a mixed breed. Your experience with this breeder makes them sound extremely suspect to me with how they were acting. When it comes to the rarer dog breeds it's always best to really research your breeder before purchasing. That way you have no questions like this as far as either genetic makeup or health. I made a huge mistake with my first Boerboel by getting an Atomic ("I want a new puppy now" excitement driven purchase because the breeder was in town and had 1 female available) and though she was a beautiful soul she was one of the most genetically messed up and expensive dogs I've ever come across. You have to be really careful when it comes to breeds like this because there are so many shady "Breeders" out there. For BB's and Corso's especially.
How is her temperament so far? Who was the breeder and do you happen to have any links to the supposed parents pictures or anything like that?

Whatever she turns out to be she certainly is a cute little bugger. I do see BB in her face a lot. It's just the fluffiness that is throwing me.

I see boerboel in the face too - if all siblings were fluffy i wouldn't have bought but the others were typical boerboel looking so i went with this one as she seemed to have a better body proportion, i've inserted a link at the top to show you parents, we did what you did, bought on impulse, something we will not be doing again!

My cc Abby was the runt of the litter with a brother that was way bigger
Than the rest. Now at 18 months the big brother is 105 pounds and Abby is
115 pounds.
As long as she is healthy her size shouldn't be an issue.
Love her and enjoy her.

I understand your comment, however i wanted a boerboel and paid for a boerboel - consequently i expect a boerboel.

One thing I can say for sure about her, that is one hell of a cute little pup.
Personally I prefer smaller Boerboels, they are able to stay active and do a lot more actual work compared to the really heavy ones.

I agree, my opinion of a small boerboel is an athletic 50kg however, at her weight for age she will end up being the size of a medium dog

I am sorry to say this but she does not look right to me. My smallest right now is 8 weeks and near 12 or 13 lbs 5 to 6 kg. I have seen some furry BB but they did not look like this one. The ears on your pup are set wrong and not correct i shape. I could be totally wrong as this is a young pup, but I will post you a pic of my runt and you can compare them.

View attachment 51381

I agree Mike i'm not starting to feel she doesn't look right, her chest and shoulders isn't one continuous outward curve like you typicall see and the ears i also picked up on, boerboel have triangular samosa ears, these seem different.

She is adorable!
I got Pax at 8 and 1/2 weeks and he weighed 25.5lbs, at 11 weeks he weighed 31lbs and today at 14 weeks he weighed 41.5lbs.
Pax's mom weighed 175lbs and his dad was a little smaller at 150lbs. Pax was not the largest or the smallest pup in his litter, he was in the middle.
I wouldnt worry about weight too much. I bet your pup goes through a growth spurt soon and you will wake up one morning thinking she doubled in size. She is so cute, congrats!

View attachment 51382

Here is a pic of Pax at 13 weeks, around 37lbs.

Lovely puppy

Her paws aren't that big looking. I know it's a simple and lame observation but, our Fila pups paws are giant looking compared to him. Is there a change the breeder wasn't honest? I might have missed it in your original post, but did you see the parents of this litter or their "breeding stock"?

View attachment 51391View attachment 51392View attachment 51393
I'm just throwing it out there.....these are sherpherd/aussie mixes. her weight would be some what in the normal range too for a aussie at least.

Definately a chance the breeder wasn't honest, i will post pictures of her paws, personally i think they're large vs her frame, however her frame is small.

View attachment 51394Not an BB but my EM at 11weeks, he was only 10.2 lbs and "petite" , very close to the same as your girl. He is a purebred EM and we believe his size was due to a to young mother, [ only a year old] the whole litter of 10 was tiny, malnutrition, and sever parasites. He is now trying to catch up [considering he was 4,2 lbs when I got him at 7 weeks] and is a stocky 48 lbs today at 5 months. So there could be an explanation to her tiny size but the fluff, can't help you there. She is very cute though!

Thank you!
Good to hear yours caught up in weight, if i was convinced she was pure boerboel i'd be less concerned RE the weight, but the weight has triggered my suspicion about her being pure BB.

Hi Bertorubble
That's a very cute pup.
I am afraid that it doesn't look like a boerboel to me though; even if it weighed more.
I guess things will become clearer over the next month or so as the dog grows.
The thing is, by that time you'll probably be so much in love with the pup that you won't want to let it go anyway

Yes, my partner is already in love - i'm dissapointed as a family can only have space for so many dogs, and i wanted a boerboel so to be fooled into something else to line someones pockets is upsetting regardless of her undenying cuteness

 

[Bertorubble]

 

[DMikeM]

This is a Shepherd in the woodpile pup. Bitches can impregnate from multiple males. I suspect they had a fence jumper or some other dog on the property that tied with the bitch before or after the Boerboel. But I just don'e see any Boerboel in this pup, and those are not BB feet. Boerboel feet are a little unique and are 99% of the time larger than the leg bone above it.

Here is Odi as a baby check out his feet.

 

[cayeesmom]

I would still do the wisdom panel, even though they might not be able to pick up on BB, I assume they have some mastiff breeds in there data base. Or will it just throw a random breed or say mix? But if one side comes up a more common pure breed something at least you know what one side is.