8 week old pup

Question
I rescued a pit pup from death on 11-3-08 I took him to the vet he weighed 4.8 pounds. the vet said he was around 6 weeks at the time. On 11-12-08 I weighed him and he was 6.4 pounds. Is this a normal weight or could the vet be off on his age. He was starved and dumped so he is small. I see other pits the same age and they are bigger.

Answer
Hi Brandie,

Some puppies are born much smaller and weaker than their litter mates, and are known as "runts".  Your dog might be the runt of the litter, which could be a reason why he was abandoned, or his size might be due to being starved.

If your dog is a runt, he may not grow to be as large as other Pit Bulls, but then again he may. There are two kinds of "runts". One is a "runt" because there is something genetically or developmentally wrong with the puppy. The other is because the dogs mated more than once over the course of the bitch's heat cycle, and one or more of the puppies was conceived a few days later than the main part of the litter. This second kind of runt is perfectly normal, just a little behind the others in development.

Being a runt isn't a bad thing. There always is a smallest puppy in any litter. Many believe that the smallest puppy is the picked-on , more submissive puppy, but it is just as likely that the smallest has learned to protect himself in the pack better than its litter-mates and may be the most dominant puppy. Most times the smallest puppy is just as healthy as the others. He may actually grow bigger than some of its litter-mates or it may not. I have personally seen larger pups grow into small adults. The key is to watch for activity level, evident health issues and the indivisual puppy's personality.

It's also possible that if your puppy's size is due to not getting enough food, he might grow to be a more standard size. Either way, he can still be a 100% wonderful pet, no matter his size!

If your dog isn't a purebred Pitbull Terrier, that would also impact on his size.

So basically, all I can tell you is there isn't a way to predict what size your puppy will grow to be. Feeding him the best quality food you can afford will give him the nutrients he needs to grow to be as big as possible.

Best of luck,

Patti