# Do you think my puppy is OK?



## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

I'm new to this forum and this may be a dumb question to ask but I'm worried about Lulu's growth. We got her at 12 weeks and she weighed 3.2 lbs. Two weeks later, at her next vet visit she was 3.4 lbs. The vet said she was fine. Now she is 16 weeks and only weighs 3.8 lbs. She is SO TINY. When she is wet you can see her ribs. She plays well with our year old male havanese (Vinny) and seems happy. BUT, boy is she a picky eater. At this rate I don't know if she will even get to 7 lbs. 
Do any of you have a havanese this small??:


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## ChristineL (Aug 31, 2007)

My 2nd Havanese was also the runt of the litter. She refused to eat for the first few weeks and was so small that we didn't think she was going to make it either. We forced fed her to get her through the tough weeks, and she eventually got her appetite. She's still tiny (under 11 lb) but is happy and healthy. The reason she wasn't eating at first also had something to do with the ear mites that the poor little thing came home to me with. If you're really worried, I would take her to the vet like Kara suggested above.


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

My guys are on the large size - 15 - 17 lbs so I cannot speak to small pups, but I do know that there seems to be a very large range of sizes for the Havanese.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

First of all, what does your vet say?

Secondly, what are the sizes of her parents and grandparents. Genetics will set the growth of the puppy, but look to the grandparents for the most obvious indicators.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Roxie is very small, too. We got her when she was 3 months old and she weighed 3.4#. She will be 6 months in 1 week and she now weighs 5#. She is a happy, energetic dog, but we work at it. 

When she was 11 weeks old and still at the breeder's, she had an episode of hypogylcemia. The breeder gave her a special diet and fed her 4x/day to improve her eating.

She is not a super picky dog, but she does find kibble "boring," and playing often over rules eating. So we worked on doing something different with her food 1 time/day. For one meal she would get scrambled eggs. Another time we would add broth or baby food to the kibble and warm it up. Sometimes we would add canned food. 

She is now on a schedule of free feeding kibble, 1 1/2 scrambled eggs on bath day, 1/4 can canned food 2 times/week and some training treats.

BTW--our older havanese is 8 months and now is pretty much on the same diet as she is. It din't work to try to feed them separately. He is 10.5#.

The only thing that my vet said about her weight is that he wanted to wait until she was 6 # to spay her so there would be less risk of an anesthesia reaction.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

My vet isn't as concerned as I am although we are doing a test for parasites and I do want him to run the liver test too. She goes in tomorrow for the last of her puppy shots so I'll see what he says. We have tried 5 different dry puppy foods and now are on Natural Balance canned food. She will "sample" the chicken and beef but turns her nose up at the other flavors.
I was concerned about giving her canned food because she would be hard to switch back but I decided that the "tough love" could come after I'm not so concerned about her growth.
Our male havanese is 18 lbs so I wanted a little girl but this is really little. The breeder thinks she will get to 9.5 to 10 lbs. Her parents are 11-12 lbs. It's the vet who thinks she will be lucky to be 7 lbs.
I cooked a pot roast last night and boy did she chow that down! Diahrrea today...lol.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

She's not a picky eater--she is just holding out for the good stuff!!!

You have not mentioned what the breeder thinks. How did she eat when she lived with the breeder? How is her size compared to the others? 

Has anyone told you that you now have to post pictures? We expect it as payment for our advice!!!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

I agree with Cheryl, we need pictures not so much as payment but it will help us give better advise (and feed our MHS) 

I know there are small Havanese, I would go with your gut and get your Vet to run some blood tests just to be sure. But if she gobbled the pot roast-- she may be holding out. Jasper was a very finicky puppy - he would eat but not consistantly--- I finally broke down and started home cooking which got him through a very finicky period and he put on some weight. but then when he refused my home cooking I switched to the natures variety raw medallions (he likes beef and rabbit variety's) at 1.5 years he is now 16 lbs and eats prettu much every night a mix of the raw medallions and kibble. 

I am not an expert but If your little girl checks out ok --- I would go with what ever she will eat-- these are important weeks and months and it's her chance to grow. Maybe do some hamburger and rice and toss in a few veggies... when I was home cooking I also gave jasper a multivitamin and some fish oil and a little yogurt. 

Let us know how she is doing and please post pictures of both your Havs and what are their names?


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

My Beamer was 2.9lbs at 14 weeks when i brought him home...
He is now 6 months and 9 days old and weighs in at 6lbs. So hopefully he will be around 8lbs or so...
He is crazy picky eater.. even most treats he will not eat! I bought a thing of Charlie Bears today and he wont touch them! lol


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## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

Javi is also on the small side . . . at 4 he is 7 lbs. 6 oz . . . and he is Mr. Picky . . . His breeder thought he would be about 10 lbs. . . 

Phoebe is chubbier . . . She is 11 lbs. 2 oz. . . . At her last visit, the vet said that she was fine but didn't want her to come back for her next visit at 12 lbs. 

Problem is that I am always trying to get some more weight on Javi . . . they eat the same things and same amount.


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## JASHavanese (Apr 24, 2007)

arlene said:


> Javi is also on the small side . . . at 4 he is 7 lbs. 6 oz . . . and he is Mr. Picky . . . His breeder thought he would be about 10 lbs. . .
> 
> Phoebe is chubbier . . . She is 11 lbs. 2 oz. . . . At her last visit, the vet said that she was fine but didn't want her to come back for her next visit at 12 lbs.
> 
> Problem is that I am always trying to get some more weight on Javi . . . they eat the same things and same amount.


A 12 pound hav isn't abnormal. How old is she?


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

I have never had a small puppy .. Asta was 5 lbs when I got him and so was Cosmo .
Ahnold was year and he weighed 11bs but he looks like he was a small pup ..
My friend Donna who has Tulip she weighed 3 and half pounds and she was very little .. I never saw her until she ws 8 months but I saw pictures of her ..She looked like a little peanut . 
I do not post pictures - but I will give advice .. 
it sounds like your vet feels he is healthy - so did the first vet I took Cosmo to. I did not feel he was truly commited amd interested in the health of my dog so I decided to find someone who really understood small dogs better .. 
First of all how often do you feed her - you did not mention that . I fed Cosmo three times a day until he was 8 months old . He was also a very finicky eater as a wee pup but initially he had parasites and that really seemed to set him off . Even though he was big & large boned he seemed very sensitive ..
I know I get on this bandwagon a lot but he seemed sensitive to wheat and corn and so called healthy foods .. 
Once I changed Vets and I put him on the homecooked food he did much better . It was a slow process however and for a while I had to keep switching formulas fish versus chicken and turkey until he reached a certain age and then he just seemed to eat better and not be as finicky .
I was told to stay aware from Lamb and Beef just for a fYI ..
Every time I took him to the vet he had gained enough weight to satisfy her criteria - he never lost weight so she seemed Ok with it . 
It was just stressful and hard feeding him to ensure he gained weight . for a while I had him on a fish and potatoes & sweet potaoes . I would also add natural yougurt & a vitamin powder to his food ..
Like the Havanese book says - some of them can be very finicky eaters .. Maybe he is like Leona Helmsleys dog - only chicken and steamed vegetables - hand fed if you please .. 
It would be interesting to hear from Tom ..
? Has anyone heard from Tom lately ..
There are also some other previous threads with people having the same concerns you may want to look them up ..


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

He comes around occasionally, usually for just threads regarding the HSD. I am pretty sure he is now it that camp.  I miss his great advice, too.

Kara


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## arlene (Jul 28, 2007)

JASHavanese said:


> A 12 pound hav isn't abnormal. How old is she?


She was just 3 and I would say she was just right at 11 lbs and change.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Thanks for all the great posts! Lulu is now 16 weeks and 4 lbs. We went through a couple of weeks of Natural Balance canned food and she ate with coaxing. She really likes little bites out of my hand!!! Now she is eating the Eucanuba small breed puppy kibble and doing better. We tested her for parasites and thank goodness she was negative. 
We will run a full panel blood test just before she is spayed to check on her liver. 
I'm also having a hard time keeping our year old (Vinny) from eating too much! He feels the need to eat whatever she does, lol. That's when he's not too busy hiding her toys from her, lol.
I finally was able to post a picture.


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