Rottweiler??? Puppy 9 weeks weighs 3.9lbs

by j
(birmingham)

To cut a long story short and through fear of people on-line enforcing reputable breeding etc…… we went to a friends house this weekend who showed us to her sister in laws house that had a rottweiler bitch with a last remaining pup supposedly the runt of the litter.

She was very shy and the people who had her were mistreating her, after consideration before going home we decided we could not leave her there and we have the time patience and space for a rottweiler pup especially one who needed a loving home.

Anyways she is absolutely gorgeous and after some hurried researching partly worrying that we will have a massive rottweiler on our hands and how big she will get we have discovered that she is seriously small for her age. She is 9 weeks old and she is definitely of that age she weighs in at 3.9lbs, the only info I can get out of my friend is that the mum escaped and she bred then apparently with another rottweiler.

She has all the markings and colourings of a rott but her size is definitely underaverage. We are not concerned about the fact she won’t be a big rottweiler etc we just want to make sure we can give her the right care and food etc for her breed. What do you think is she a crossbreed? or is it not unheard of to get a very small rottweiler, any ideas of her size when she’s fully grown?

we love her regardless, she’s absolutely gorgeous and all she needed was tlc will take her to vets this week for jabs, chip, worming etc. any advice would be great thanks x

Hi J
To be honest, I seriously doubt that this puppy is a purebred Rottweiler as she is MUCH too small/light. It is possible that she’s seriously underweight because she truly was the ‘runt’ of the litter and maybe hasn’t had the right nutrition or care, but it’s unlikely that even in that scenario she would be so small.

From what information you have managed to get out of her original owner, my best guess would be that she’s a Rottweiler mix, and that the dad was most likely a smaller breed. It’s perfectly possible for a pup to have the black and tan markings of a Rottweiler (these are also seen on many other breeds from Dobermans to Dachshunds!) even without having both parents with the same markings.

I would personally treat this puppy as a medium sized breed rather than a large, or extra large breed and choose puppy food according to that. As her mom is a Rottweiler there is the possibility of Rottie-specific health issues such as hip problems, but as long as she gets proper veterinary care she will most likely be fine. Mixed breed pups tend to be more robust and healthier than their purebred counterparts a lot of the time.

This little one is very lucky to have found such a loving home with people who are going to give her a happy life and I wish you all the best with her.

Click here to post comments

Return to Your Rottweiler Questions.