[Kitkat]

OK I was just reading the thread "what does your baby weigh now" trying to figure out if my baby's weight is "normal" and I'm freaking out -

He'll be 8 wks on Sunday and he currently weighs 3lbs - Is this normal? Is he obese? The funny thing is, to me he looks like such a tiny little squirt. I weighed him by putting him in a shoebox on a kitchen scale - I 0'd out the shoebox weight.

Oh boy.....Is he going to be a 20 lbs malt?:huh::blush:

 

[uniquelovdolce]

lol can u take a pic of the fluff already? my dolce was and is a tiny lil thing so im not much help

 

[Kitkat]

lol can u take a pic of the fluff already? my dolce was and is a tiny lil thing so im not much help

I know I'm so technologically inept...but I've also been all over this puppy this week. I downloaded about 300 pics from my camera :blush: yesterday to free it up and will take pics of my widdle poochie over the weekend. We took pics when he was 4 wks at the breeder and then used the camcorder for when we brought him home late Sunday night. I will post pics of him next week...I hope I can figure it out - I'm so spastic! I use I photo too on the mac which makes things more confusing to me.

But seriously, I think I may have a big widdle fella on my hands...it's weird though, he was the tiniest of his littermates and the mom didn't seem like a big malt at all - I don't know.:blink:

 

[llf060787]

My Bitsy was about 2 lbs at 14 weeks. She's now 8 months and weighs about 7.5 lbs. Some do their growing at the beginning, and some do it more slowly. It depends on the weight of the parents. How much did Max's parents weigh?

 

[Ladysmom]

The general rule of thumb is to triple their weight at eight weeks which would put him at about nine pounds.

Genetic play a big part in it, though. Not only how big his parents were, but his grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

 

[Kitkat]

The general rule of thumb is to triple their weight at eight weeks which would put him at about nine pounds.

Genetic play a big part in it, though. Not only how big his parents were, but his grandparents, great grandparents, etc.

Which means my baby will probably end up being a bigger malt. Unless he's just growing a lot now and will then slow down...we'll see. It's just that it seems like most sm members doggies here weigh less at a much older age.

 

[maltlovereileen]

If your puppy is healthy and active, no need to 'freak out'... if you've read the board, the dogs end up all different sizes. Depending on where you bought your maltese, will be a better indicator of size (ie, from a breeder who is known [therefore you see the general sizes of the dogs in their breeding program], you will have a better idea of what the full grown size will be...if yours was bought from another source, you will be less likely to know because even if you saw the parents, you don't know how large the dogs who they were bred from were, etc...therefore, it is more of a mystery card ) Hope that makes sense. Just ENJOY your new little one and don't worry about stuff (and let your vet guide you as far as your pup's health [have Never heard of an obese puppy - they are way too active for that])

 

[Ladysmom]

Which means my baby will probably end up being a bigger malt. Unless he's just growing a lot now and will then slow down...we'll see. It's just that it seems like most sm members doggies here weigh less at a much older age.

The Maltese standard calls for adult weight between 4-7 pounds. If you didn't get him from a responsible breeder who carefully breeds to produce Maltese who will grow up to be excellent representations of the breed, he could be very far from the standard.

The standard is a blueprint for breeders to follow, a "recipe". Just like with cooking, if you don't follow the recipe carefully, the outcome can be very different from what you intended.

We have had Maltese from backyard breeders here who weigh in the teens and have long snouts and curly cottony coats.

This is a good explanation of puppy development from a Maltese show breeder:

Maltese Puppy Development

 

[Kitkat]

The Maltese standard calls for adult weight between 4-7 pounds. If you didn't get him from a responsible breeder who carefully breeds to produce Maltese who will grow up to be excellent representations of the breed, he could be very far from the standard.

The standard is a blueprint for breeders to follow, a "recipe". Just like with cooking, if you don't follow the recipe carefully, the outcome can be very different from what you intended.

We have had Maltese from backyard breeders here who weigh in the teens and have long snouts and curly cottony coats.

This is a good explanation of puppy development from a Maltese show breeder:

Maltese Puppy Development

Thanks - no actually they're not real breeders so although I met the mom and her siblings, I guess it's a mystery as far as the other factors go. I took a look at the chart and there seems to be little or no difference between the 8wk weight and the 3 month weight so maybe for now, he's just a bit over the standard at 8 weeks and will slow down for the next few weeks. Or maybe we're over-feeding although many people here expressed that I shouldn't really worry about that too much since he's a pup...still, I wonder. Going to the Vet early next week - I figured that if I thought he was doing fairly well, I didn't want to put him through yet another stressful event all in the same week.

 

[Ladysmom]

You cannot overfeed a eight week old puppy.

Considering the circumstances, be glad he's a bigger boy. Much less risk of hypoglycemia.

He is already genetically programed to be the adult size he will be. Don't worry about it and just enjoy him.

 

[maltlovereileen]

You cannot overfeed a eight week old puppy.

Considering the circumstances, be glad he's a bigger boy. Much less risk of hypoglycemia.

He is already genetically programed to be the adult size he will be. Don't worry about it and just enjoy him.

What Marj said :thumbsup:

 

[Orla]

Milo was about 1.8lbs at 8 weeks.

Like Marj said, you can't overfeed an 8 week old puppy - they're supposed to be fat and chubby!:wub:

 

[Ladysmom]

Milo was about 1.8lbs at 8 weeks.

Like Marj said, you can't overfeed an 8 week old puppy - they're supposed to be fat and chubby!:wub:

How big is Milo now? I know the standard in Ireland is different than ours. Your Maltese are bigger, right?

 

[Orla]

How big is Milo now? I know the standard in Ireland is different than ours. Your Maltese are bigger, right?

Milo is 5.5lbs/6lbs now(last time he was weighed he was 5.5lbs but I think he's gained a bit in the last few weeks - he feels heavier lol) - our standard is 6.6 - 8.8lbs. Milo's quite a small boy for over here.

 

[Kitkat]

OK good. Thanks! I wasn't originally thinking about the "over-feeding" thing but I started noticing that a lot of SM members seem to meticulously measure out their pups food at different wks/month etc. so I started to think that maybe I'm doing something wrong + we're Italian and we tend to over-do-it sometimes - LOL. Also, he tends to kind of nibble at his food at first, for like 10 seconds then he takes a "break" and goes away to do something else and he only goes back if I encourage him by placing him near the bowl and sometimes putting some on his mouth - so for a moment I thought, am I being too Italian saying "mangia, mangia" - but I guess it's better to have some extra reserves than risking hypoglycemia. He's so cute - yes, he's my little chunkie teddybear and I hope to keep him healthy for a long, long time no matter how big or within the standard he winds up being.

As always, thanks everyone for the reassurance -

 

[Ladysmom]

OK good. Thanks! I wasn't originally thinking about the "over-feeding" thing but I started noticing that a lot of SM members seem to meticulously measure out their pups food at different wks/month etc. so I started to think that maybe I'm doing something wrong + we're Italian and we tend to over-do-it sometimes - LOL. Also, he tends to kind of nibble at his food at first, for like 10 seconds then he takes a "break" and goes away to do something else and he only goes back if I encourage him by placing him near the bowl and sometimes putting some on his mouth - so for a moment I thought, am I being too Italian saying "mangia, mangia" - but I guess it's better to have some extra reserves than risking hypoglycemia. He's so cute - yes, he's my little chunkie teddybear and I hope to keep him healthy for a long, long time no matter how big or within the standard he winds up being.

As always, thanks everyone for the reassurance -

At his age, "mangia" is a good mantra!

Those of us who carefully measure food have adults. Some, like my Lady, have no concept of being full and would eat as much as they can. :biggrin:

Even if he ends up to be 9-10 pounds, that is still a very small dog.

 

[Kitkat]

You cannot overfeed a eight week old puppy.

Considering the circumstances, be glad he's a bigger boy. Much less risk of hypoglycemia.

He is already genetically programed to be the adult size he will be. Don't worry about it and just enjoy him.

What Marj said :thumbsup:

Milo was about 1.8lbs at 8 weeks.

Like Marj said, you can't overfeed an 8 week old puppy - they're supposed to be fat and chubby!:wub:

At his age, "mangia" is a good mantra!

Those of us who carefully measure food have adults. Some, like my Lady, have no concept of being full and would eat as much as they can. :biggrin:

Even if he ends up to be 9-10 pounds, that is still a very small dog.

Thanks again Lady's mom - so much to learn....
My lab was like that - he'd eat like there was no tomorrow if he'd have a say in it so we had to keep it controlled - but until he was about 11 he was also very active so eating more was OKish up until that point.
When is their puppyhood officially over?

 

[Canada]

Thanks again Lady's mom - so much to learn....
My lab was like that - he'd eat like there was no tomorrow if he'd have a say in it so we had to keep it controlled - but until he was about 11 he was also very active so eating more was OKish up until that point.
When is their puppyhood officially over?

I have heard that puppyhood is over at a year,
but for a Maltese...They seem to have an eternal puppyhood! Lol.

I have had Maltese family members of varying sizes but they all seemed to take up the same ammount of room (in my heart!)

I found the growth chart & pics interesting, but you probably shouldn't expect your pup to follow that chart
as he is not one of their pups.
He is an individual, and lucky you, you've got him! :wub:

 

[Katkoota]

Some good info you got here, Cat

The Maltese standard calls for adult weight between 4-7 pounds.

I was only gonna add this....

our standard is 6.6 - 8.8lbs

4-7 lb is AKC standard
6.6-8.8 lb is FCI standard

 

[Kitkat]

Thanks again for all the good info.