My puppy is very big but not fat is this ok.

 

by Carlo Bottiglieri
(chatham, kent, england)

Hello my name is Carlo Bottiglieri I have a five month old puppy called Boycie. I have spoken to a lot of people online and they all say he is over weight.

He has a clear waist you can feel his ribs but not see them. This I am told is how he should be.

Here are his monthly weights.
3 months-44Lb
4 months-55Lb
5 months-63Lb
I think myself he is just a big boy but I would much value your opinion, my veterinarian says he is fine. I have uploaded a picture for you.

Hi Carlo
I wouldn’t worry too much about your pups’ weight from what I can see above.

According to the weights you give me, he is slightly above average in pounds for his age, but all puppies and dogs are different and he’s not way out of the ballpark at all. Plus, he’s gaining approx 10lbs a month which is perfect.

From the photo he looks fine to me. He’s fairly stocky in build and with good bone size, and although it’s very difficult to say anything definite from just a photo, it looks as though he’s carrying the right weight for his body type.

If your veterinarian says he’s fine, then I would trust that evaluation as he’s seeing your pup ‘in person’ and is a professional who knows what he’s talking about! Just make sure that you only feed your pup a premium puppy food and monitor his weight-gain and shape as you are doing.

You can learn more about weight gain and development in Rottie pups on my Rottweiler Puppy Growth Chart

Hope this helps, best of luck with that good-looking pup.

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Hi … our male rottie Harley is 8 months old and is 26″ tall, and weighs about 85lbs. He is a great dog.

My husband is worried he is going to be small like his mom, who was only 90lbs but his dad was 135lbs…needless to say we haven’t got him fixed yet, but want to soon!

Any thoughts on weight and height?
Thanks
Kim from Canada

Hi Kim
From that photo Harley looks like a gorgeous dog, and his structure and bone size don’t look ‘small’ or ‘light’ to me.

At 8 months old he’s still very much a puppy and will continue to grow until he’s 2 years old, or older. Rotties are slow to mature, and the biggest males take the longest, he will also get his full height before his full weight and so may look a bit ‘out of proportion’ for a while. It’s very important for the health of a pup that they be kept ‘lean’ and fed properly to avoid too rapid growth, or excessive weight gain that often leads to bone/joint problems.

At 85lbs he’s on the upper edge of the ‘normal’ weight for an 8 month old pup and is doing just fine. Rottweilers were not originally bred to be an X-large or giant breed, and a lot of the desire for huge Rottweilers is a fairly recent development… and not one that is really beneficial to the breed as a whole. Extra big dogs tend to have more musculo-skeletal problems in addition to other health issues, plus they are not as agile or active as a working dog should be – and that’s what Rottweilers are, working dogs.

I would definitely recommend having Harley neutered just as soon as possible, it won’t affect his growth if that’s what your husband is concerned about, and it can literally be a life-saving procedure. Neutering (and spaying) early – preferably before 6 months of age – gives significant protection against all sorts of reproductive order diseases including cancer.

You can find out more about ‘average’ Rottweiler puppy growth and development on my Rottweiler Puppy Growth Chart page, but bear in mind there really is no such thing as an ‘average’ dog :o)

Rottweilers are an amazing breed, they look gorgeous and their personality, intelligence, temperament and abilities are superb. Size is just one part of the package and shouldn’t be a major consideration or worry, unless it’s a health-related problem.

Hope this puts your minds at rest. Best of luck with Harley, he’s a beauty.

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I’ve got 2 male Rotties that are 4 months old. I’ve been trying to find them “the perfect collar”.

I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on nice collars only to have them outgrow them in a couple months. Can you give me an estimate as to how big the average neck size is for a male Rottie?

Hi Heather
That’s an impossible task I’m afraid because they’re all different – even siblings. Also at 4 months old your pups are still ‘toddlers’ and have a whole lot of growing to do before they’re adults. You are going to go through several collars by then.

Adult Rottweilers need strong, sturdy collars and I personally prefer leather ones. However, there are tons to choose from and you’ll find a great selection on my Big Dog Collars page.

But at this young age you certainly don’t need to be spending lots of money on expensive collars unless you want to and have the money to spare 🙂 Simple woven nylon collars are fairly inexpensive yet are strong and durable, probably just stick with those for another year or so.

By the way, Dante and Damon are adorable – what a pair. They’ll keep you on your toes for sure! Best of luck with them both.

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is this head is ok

Head

My 10 month old female have 24 inch height, and 31 kilogram weight. is it ok. and her head is too small. is her head sized after ten months. here i attached her photos. can i use any calcium tonics, or tablets???

Her food details mention here

350 gram Beef And .650 gram Rice. per day as twice
that means 125+325 X 2 per day.

Is this ok?

Hi Soorya
Your girl is only 10 months old, she’s still a pup and is similar in terms of development to a human teenager. She has a lot more growing to do, and probably at least another year or so in which to do it.

Rottweilers are not meant to be X-Large or ‘giant’ dogs. An adult Rottie female should reach somewhere between 22 and 25 inches (at the shoulder) by maturity and your girl is already 24 inches tall so she’s doing fine there. Usually they gain all their height, before getting their full adult weight, and although she is a bit below average in weight for her age she looks totally in proportion to her body structure.

Bone type and size, and head size, pigmentation etc. are all determined by genetics, and diet, exercise or supplementation (not recommended unless the diet is lacking) will not change that. Her head doesn’t look small in proportion to her body, and although it will fill out along with the rest of her as she gains weight, it’s simply her body type.

She is a nice-looking female and given time I think will develop into a well-built adult, maybe a little taller than average and perhaps a little ‘light’ in frame, but nothing to worry about and it’s a bit early to really say what she is going to look like later on.

As for her diet, your best bet is to use a premium large breed food and avoid supplements as they can cause problems. I’d recommend that you check out this webpage for info. and advice on finding an appropriate food, or providing a well-balanced home made diet… Feed Program For Overseas

Hope this helps, best of luck with your pup.

22 – 25 inches 68lbs now, 92lbs adult

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He is very playful character. His grand father is Ch.Zap flash rouse.

Feeding rice with beef lever & ROYAL CANIN JAINT Babydog with milk daily. can i continue still 6 months?

Hi Manuel
Lovely pup :o) Good bone structure, color and eyes and he looks sturdy and healthy.

As for feeding him, you can use puppy food up until he’s at least 18 months, if you’re also adding home-made ingredients make sure that they’re well balanced.

I’d recommend using my Feeding Puppies page as a guideline, and also check out this page Feeding Program For Overseas as it has lots of tips and advice that I think you’ll find helpful.

Best of luck with your beautiful boy.

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I have a 7 month old male Rott. He weighs 85 pounds. He was 12 pounds at 8 weeks. We have started in Shutzhund training and the teacher said he wanted to see more rib. Implying my pup is slightly overweight. The vet said he looked fine. He is a rott not a german shepherd.

The other dogs in the class look very thin to me, on some of them you can see every rib they have. IF he is right and my pup is to heavy have i damaged his joints. what is the margin of growing too rapidly, being too heavy and damage to joints and when do joints close and growing stop.

Hi James
From the photo above, your Rottie looks just about perfect to me – but size/weight can be a bit subjective with different people having different opinions. However, although you should be able to FEEL your pups’ ribs (under a layer of fat), in my opinion you shouldn’t be able to see them clearly.

At 7 months your pup is an adolescent, a teenager basically, and he looks to be growing in height faster than he’s putting on weight, which is normal. He legs are fairly long, but his bone size looks heavy and big enough to support that sort of skeletal ‘framework’, he will gain his full height before his full weight and may look gangly, or awkward, or a bit out-of-proportion for a while as he grows.

I definitely don’t think he looks overweight, so I doubt very much that there’s any problem with his bones/joints. As long as he’s eating a properly balanced diet designed for a large breed puppy, and he’s not exercising to an extreme where he could damage his joints, then I doubt you have anything to worry about. I’d take your vets’ advice in terms of your pups weight/health.

Do bear in mind though that I’m not a veterinarian and I’m just giving my own personal opinion!

Rottweilers are slow to mature, and his bone and joint development will continue until he’s about 18 months old. After that he’ll keep putting on weight and developing muscle until he’s fully grown. All pups are different and the bigger males can take up to 2 1/2 to 3 years to reach maturity.

Hope this helps some, best of luck with that beautiful boy.

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I have an American Rottweiler, His name is Bishop. He is now just over 10 months and 81lbs. He is in great shape, may look a little thin but I think this is part of a growth stage?

He is fed 3 times daily (2 cups per feed) He is NOT food aggressive but he does not chew his food at all. I have tried everything I can think of to slow down his eating but have come out unsuccsessful.

Also do you know at what stage he will stop growing up and start filling out? Thanks
Ange.

Hi Ange
Bishop does indeed look in great shape, and yes the ‘lanky’ appearance is just because he’s an adolescent. Once his bone structure is mature, he wills start to ‘fill out’ that frame.

Have you tried feeding him in a very wide, shallow dish rather than a regular dog food bowl? Even something like a baking tray works. It makes it more difficult for the dog to gobble down his food, which is important for large breeds as ‘speed eating’ can be a factor in Canine Bloat. Sometimes hand-feeding a pup like this helps, just fill your palm and let him eat it that way. You can do it one piece of kibble at a time, but you need a LOT of time to feed a Rottie that way :o) I’d also suggest that you feed him twice a day now, rather than three times, just divide the total amount of food he gets per day into two servings, rather than three.

As he matures, and his growth slows down his appetite will probably diminish some, and his eating will slow down.

As for when he’ll be mature, some of that depends on his individual bloodlines, but in general Rottweilers aren’t fully grow or adult until somewhere around 18 months to 2 years of age. Males can take even longer, sometimes up to 3 years before they gain their full size.

I would say by about 14 – 16 months old your pup will have reached his full height, after that he will slowly build muscle and gain weight until reaching adulthood – however long that takes. There’s definitely ‘room for error’ here and it could take longer, but you can check out my Rottweiler Puppy Growth Chart page to learn more about Rottie development.

Hope this helps some. Best of luck with Bishop.

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About The Rotty lover 2159 Articles
My name is Dr. Winnie. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University, a Masters of Science in Biology from St Georges University, and graduated from the University of Pretoria Veterinary School in South Africa. I have been an animal lover and owners all my life having owned a Rottweiler named Duke, a Pekingese named Athena and now a Bull Mastiff named George, also known as big G! I'm also an amateur equestrian and love working with horses. I'm a full-time Veterinarian in South Africa specializing in internal medicine for large breed dogs. I enjoy spending time with my husband, 2 kids and Big G in my free time. Author and Contribturor at SeniorTailWaggers, A Love of Rottweilers, DogsCatsPets and TheDogsBone