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Any "petite" dobes out there?

11K views 79 replies 31 participants last post by  Robin Luther 
#1 ·
Would love to see some photos of some dobermans that ended up under 50 lbs at their adult weight! My little girl is 18 lbs at 15 weeks and from all the weight calculations I've done, it's seeming like she may end up at around 35-45 lbs!

Oh and because I know some may ask, yes she is at a perfectly healthy weight!


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#5 ·
When we got Lexi, she weighed 42 lbs. She was full of infection and very exhausted. She has very short legs. Her body looks to be normal size but her legs are only about 8 in. long. She looks much better than she did when we got her, but still short. It is obvious she didn't come from good stock, but that's ok we think she's a beauty. Lot's of people ask if she's a pup. She's about 5. She weighs 50 now.






 
#6 ·
I can't recall my girls weight at 15 weeks, but I know it was lite compared to calculators and estimates based on DT forum members... I was concerened she was going to be a "little" Doberman.

However, she's 2 years, 10 months today and a perfect 72#. Took some time for her to mature and put the weight on.
 
#7 · (Edited)


Roxy is pretty much 50lbs exactly. Petite girls rock! She is so lithe and graceful...and fast! People do comment on how little she is. Most dobes we see around here are larger, so they think she's very young. She is almost 2 1/2.

ETA: Her height is standard, BTW. 25" at the shoulder.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm not concerned... And she's not too thin. She saw my vet 3 days ago and he's very happier with her weight. She had just finished playing for a couple hours with a couple of big dogs and a flirt pole. She always looks much more ribby in photos


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This shocks me.
Perhaps the photo is just misleading but going off that photo alone, this puppy looks concerning skinny to me.

That being said, while I like a lean dog you're dealing with a puppy here. I"m not saying that she needs to be obese or anything but she does need stuff to grow on. Considering that you're slightly concerned/curious about how small she is maybe she actually needs the extra food.

I had a coworker once with a skinny "runt" puppy much like Ramsey (though this pup was a husky). The coworker complained about how small the dog was and how she thought the pup would be runty forever. I asked how much they fed and my coworker responded with something about the bag recommendations. I don't remember what that was, exactly, but it was a small amount. I suggested she try feeding a little more and all of a sudden the puppy grew and looked much healthier.

My doberman averaged 4-6 cups a day (of good food too) while he was growing up. He would come to doggy daycare with me and run around all day with dogs. Then we'd go to the dog park and he'd run around some more. Still, he never looked that skinny.
 
#14 · (Edited)
My Rupert is on the smaller side :) I havnt weighed him in quite a while, last time I did he was about 70lbs and I think he's lost some weight since then. I struggle to keep it on him, when he's frequently around bitches in season at shows. I've never measured him, so don't know how tall he is. He's normally one of the smallest in his class in the ring, but we do have a lot of big dobes over here...

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I think your pup looks quite slim, might just be the angle of the photo but I'd want a teeny bit more on. Probably just me though :) he's adorable
 
#25 · (Edited)
Sorry patchwork but you're wrong. Here are some photos taken the same day. ;)
Hmm, okay. Well poo-poo on me for thinking she's skinny (even in the other set of pictures) and could use more food. Since I'm the only one showing concern on the issue I guess that I'll just let it go because I must not know what a healthy puppy looks like.



Oh, wait...
I'm sorry, but she looks too thin to me too. You should not be able to see her shoulder blades and hip bones as easily as you can in the photos. The skin is stretched too tightly over them, because she is too thin. Please up her food a little. She's gorgeous!
I think your pup looks quite slim, might just be the angle of the photo but I'd want a teeny bit more on. Probably just me though :) he's adorable
That being said, I'd like to see your girl a little thicker. To me she would be too thin. You should only be able to see two ribs.
I think she looks a bit too skinny as well, and I like my dogs thin. Try upping her food. I've got an active, skinny dog... She needs to be fed a high calorie food to keep weight on.
Hey guys, you must be wrong too.
 
#17 ·
I think she looks a bit too skinny as well, and I like my dogs thin. Try upping her food. I've got an active, skinny dog... She needs to be fed a high calorie food to keep weight on.

Found some photos of my little Dobe Poppy - she was TINY!








Not long before she was PTS :( She stopped eating, and had liver and kidney failure, being a very little, light girl she dropped weight SO quickly :( :( She still enjoyed wiping her eye boogers on the carpet every morning though!
 
#26 ·
Actually my vet IS a nutritionist. And we discuss the prey model diet she's on every time I go in, as I highly value his years of expertise. You are very entitled to your opinion. However, your opinion is very off the topic if this thread. My pup is a growing, active, and most od all healthy puppy. No need to start off topic drama.


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#29 · (Edited)
Lol patchwork, drama much? Take it elsewhere please. I'm fairly certain I've responded to others as well. However, you were the only one that was "SHOCKED" and seriously "concerned" with how "skinny" my pup is. That is why I addressed your "shocked concern" first. ;)
I mean, since that's what you cry when somebody disagrees with you and either makes valid points and/or carries on their disagreement with you for more than a couple of posts, sure, lets call it drama. Similar to what I said before, silly me :rolleyesww:




I guess I'll bow out as well. Plus, it's time to feed my dogs ;)
 
#30 ·
When you open a topic suggesting that your puppy will be undersized and other people state that we feel that she isn't undersized but rather underweight it isn't off-topic.

I suggest searching past threads that breeders that take part on the site have posted of their puppies around the same age. These are experts and should give you a frame of reference on what the size of your dog should look like.

By the way, the second set of pictures show much of the same thing, and even hip bone on the last picture.
 
#32 ·
Actually, I posted asking for photos of petite sized dobes. That is all. I didn't ask for any kind of critique of my puppy, or show any concern about her being small. Everyone is more than welcome to state their opinion of what they *think* based on a few photos of my puppy hard at play as this is an open public forum. However I know without a doubt that she is at a healthy weight. Both my vet and I agree on this and that is all I need. She is not too skinny. I can promise you.

However, staying with the initial topic of this thread, I will furthermore only be responding to posts that pertain to that-petite Dobe photos.



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#33 · (Edited)
I think your puppy is lean and has probably just gone thru a little growth spurt. My Vet would agree with your vet since they know I like my dogs lean. My breeder (for Lana) likes the puppies the way yours looks. I will say that keeping my puppy lean like yours has slowed down growth and made it much slower than the records I have for other pups. I was happy with that outcome.

Right now Lana is quite healthy and a little fat at 55lb (could lose a pound or 2) - I can't really see her last 2 ribs or her hip bones like I would prefer - she will be 1 yr old next week. Her growth plates are almost closed.

Here is Lana at the same age as your pup (27lb -she was a little pudgy IMO):



And now (a couple of days ago):




 
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#49 ·
I agree, I'm not trying to upset you or cause drama, but I do think you need to feed your puppy a little bit more, seeing her hip bones jutting like that is not what I like to see on a puppy her age. Elsie went through stages of looking like that, and I was prey model raw feeding, I ended up changing to kibble and raw because unless I wanted to feed her as much as an adult doberman there was no way I could keep her looking in really nice shape (her hips and all of her ribs were visible).

:nicejob:

And what a useful contribution you made :rolleyesww:
 
#35 ·
She IS too thin, it's obvious and I'm concerned about your vet. She HAS BEEN too thin in every update you've posted for weeks now. And I've been accused of promoting underweight dogs, so yes, you should be worried.

I'm also shocked that she would be playing in any choke collar, the fact the one you have on her is so large only makes it more dangerous, and to top it off it is backwards in several photos posted. Since wearing it backwards is such an obvious mistake, i imagine you haven't recieved proper education to use such a tool (if there is a proper way to use this tool on a PUPPY.)
 
#37 · (Edited)
I don't think she is in imminent danger - she is not that thin. Have another look at some of the pups that end up in rescue. What the issue is in my opinion is that she has no margin for a small passing illness. I would put a couple of pounds on her by upping her food just to feel safer should anything weird happen.

I would have preferred that you be positive about how a choke collar should be sized and worn, versus pointing out just the negatives. I would have liked it if you said that the choke chain should not be long enough to get a foot caught in and just big enough to pass freely over the head. It should be placed over the head so that with the dog on the left, the chain is freely passing across the back of the neck and returns underneath and up the right side so that the end ring can easily fall down and release any "choke" (didn't say that well - a diagram would be better). We also don't leave choke chains on a dog when not in active use for obedience training because they are known to be dangerous.

Anyway, if she carried the extra couple of pounds I would like to see, she would weigh 20+lb. That is still petite, but it doesn't mean she won't just be slow to mature.
 
#38 ·
She is way too thin. She looks like my 3yo male who actively trains in bitesports quite hard. Being able to see that much bone on HIM makes me cringe, and seeing that much on a puppy is scary. Especially the picture of him laying down in the car is particularly frightening. You shouldn't be able to see a young puppies hip bones like that. All of the pictures he looks too skinny.

I've met plenty of vets who are absolutely complete idiots.
 
#40 ·
Sometimes I wish Riley was that small, lol. He is over the standard in height by at least 3 inches (30" last I measured), and I am a small girl (5'3"), so it's not easy dealing with him when he gets excitable. I would have been much better off with a small female... but hell... I love the big goof ball anyway.
 
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