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New to the breed just got our 1st pup. Weight concerns

Steven Dunn

New Member
So we just picked her up she’s 9 weeks old but only 14 pounds. She doesn’t look too skinny but hasn’t been eating much. Do not have papers on her. Does think she’s a mix breed?

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Loverboy Skyline

Well-Known Member
You didn't mention her breed but from the pictures I'm guessing she's an English Mastiff, and she certainly looks pure to me and healthy too. My Bullmastiff was only 11 pounds at 8 weeks and 14 pounds at 9 weeks. He is 27 inches and 138 pounds now at 18 months which is the top of the standard. My guess is your puppy will end up a little bigger than that because of her breed. You might want to track her growth. My puppy gained 3 pounds a week fairly consistently, so yours should gain at least that much and maybe more. Good luck with her, she's beautiful!
 

Steven Dunn

New Member
You didn't mention her breed but from the pictures I'm guessing she's an English Mastiff, and she certainly looks pure to me and healthy too. My Bullmastiff was only 11 pounds at 8 weeks and 14 pounds at 9 weeks. He is 27 inches and 138 pounds now at 18 months which is the top of the standard. My guess is your puppy will end up a little bigger than that because of her breed. You might want to track her growth. My puppy gained 3 pounds a week fairly consistently, so yours should gain at least that much and maybe more. Good luck with her, she's beautiful!
Yes she is English mastiff, sorry. Thank you so much. I just was looking at growth charts and it was saying she should be 24 lbs. so that made me curious.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum. She's a cutey. I'd have guessed she was a little younger than nine weeks though. Not because of her weight but just because of her overall look. I'd say she's most likely full EM. There's no guarantee without papers, so if you really wanted to know you'd have to get a dna test. I wouldn't bother. She looks pretty perfect to me.

Loverboy skyline is absolutely correct about weight. My beautiful Ella was a tiny thing. She came to me at 5 weeks (foster fail) and I kept careful track of her weight for a few months. She was not an unhealthy weight when she came to me. Her body condition was good. At 9 weeks I have down that she weighed 13.3 pounds. The first couple of weeks she gained a bit more than two pounds and after that it was about 3 pounds per week or a little more. She grew into a beautiful girl at the lower range of the standard. She was a sleek and muscular 128-130 at almost nine years old when I lost her in February. Try not to worry about the charts and what the scale says. Watch her body condition and keep her nice and lean while growing.

Please check out the posts on bloat on the forum. It's super important information. Consider getting insurance now. Big dogs cost big money and an emergency situation can be devastating and force you to make difficult choices. Please also consider a prophylactic gastropexi when you have her spayed. That's not usually covered by insurance so tuck away some extra $$. And please post pictures as she grows.
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
I can tell you my male EM was 24 lbs at 11 weeks when I got him, charts said he should be around 40 lbs. He is now a very lean 190 lbs with an ideal weight of about 210. Puppies can be small for a variety of reasons, as long as she is healthy and at a good body condition I wouldn't worry as a small puppy is not an indication of a small dog.
 

glen

Super Moderator
Staff member
Welcome, you have a beautiful pup
Iv not got an em but have ccs, i wouldnt worry about her weight, as longvas shes healthy, slow ans steady growth, certainly not over heavy is best to help the joints. And enjoy they sure grow fast
 

Loverboy Skyline

Well-Known Member
I can tell you my male EM was 24 lbs at 11 weeks when I got him, charts said he should be around 40 lbs. He is now a very lean 190 lbs with an ideal weight of about 210. Puppies can be small for a variety of reasons, as long as she is healthy and at a good body condition I wouldn't worry as a small puppy is not an indication of a small dog.
I went through that experience too. I read posts from people in the FB forums that their Bullmastiff was already 50 pounds at 3 months, and mine was about half of that. But by the time he was 5 months he was 65 pounds and the charts were predicting he would be between 130-140 by the time he's 2 years old. You'll get a better indication of her size by the time she is 5-6 months. Also keep in mind that forum members who brag about their puppy's size tend to exaggerate, and also keep in mind that the only people who like to post their puppy's weight are the ones who are proud of their big puppy while the people with smaller puppies don't say anything, so that's why you only hear about big puppies.

Finally, if you have an English Mastiff you will have a really big dog, and since this is your first EM you might be in for a rude awakening on what it's like to own a really big dog! Mine is only a standard size Bullmastiff and I'm already experiencing things I didn't expect because of his size. At this point, I honestly don't see a need for me to have a dog any bigger than 120-130 pounds of lean muscle, but to each his own.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I went through that experience too. I read posts from people in the FB forums that their Bullmastiff was already 50 pounds at 3 months, and mine was about half of that. But by the time he was 5 months he was 65 pounds and the charts were predicting he would be between 130-140 by the time he's 2 years old. You'll get a better indication of her size by the time she is 5-6 months. Also keep in mind that forum members who brag about their puppy's size tend to exaggerate, and also keep in mind that the only people who like to post their puppy's weight are the ones who are proud of their big puppy while the people with smaller puppies don't say anything, so that's why you only hear about big puppies.

Finally, if you have an English Mastiff you will have a really big dog, and since this is your first EM you might be in for a rude awakening on what it's like to own a really big dog! Mine is only a standard size Bullmastiff and I'm already experiencing things I didn't expect because of his size. At this point, I honestly don't see a need for me to have a dog any bigger than 120-130 pounds of lean muscle, but to each his own.

I also think that in the US (I can only speak for us) most people are so accustomed to seeing overweight dogs and puppies that they think a dog in good condition is skinny.

I was asked several times if I was disappointed that Elsie wasn't bigger and I never understood that. She was big. Very big compared to most other dogs. When you have a dog that's 125+ pounds what difference does ten pounds really make? She looked perfect and was big and lean. The only time she was weighed after four months was when she had a vet appointment.