# 13 month male 39.5 lbs Failure to thrive?



## benandtucker (Apr 23, 2013)

New here and not sure if this is in the right place, but will start here and hope for any advice. My 13 month old golden male is very small - 39.5 pounds and a small frame. He looks great, not skinny/underweight at all, great appetite, great energy, beautiful coat. I've always known he was growing slowly, and assumed there would be a growth spurt but there has not been so far.

Went to the vet for his yearly check-up, vaccinations, etc. and she said that he looks good and acts good but with his weight that low and for as small as he is she would classify him as failure to thrive. That hurts to hear when you thought you were doing a good job and putting your heart into growing a happy/healthy boy. 

She asked me about his food (Purina Dog Chow) and approved (that's what I've been feeding dogs for 20 years and have had vet approval from 3 vets now) so I don't think that has anything to do with his lack of weight gain. 

Heartworm test and fecal test, all negative. Her first thoughts was worms and that was not the case.

I'm trying to do some research to find out what could be causing this, and hoping beyond hope that his quality of life and lifespan won't be reduced, but I do want to know what's going on.

I've only heard of this in young puppies and elderly/geriatric dogs. Has anyone here heard of failure to thrive in a dog this age? His mother was 65 lbs, father was 75 and all their other dogs were around those same weights/sizes. He was from a small litter - 6 pups, and the runt died on day 2. There was one huge puppy, the rest were smaller and mine may have been just a bit smaller. I think he was around 8 pounds when he was 8 weeks old.

Help! Any advice? Things to look for? Tests to have run? (The vet said we can start doing blood work and tests, and we'll go ahead with that but I'd like to have an idea of where this might take us). Thanks!


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

How big were his parents? Do you have pictures of him from the side that you can post? How big are his littermates now?

That is extremely small. Has he been checked/treated for coccidia? In my personal experience, I have seen puppies with chronic coccidia present as very small for their age although his weight at 8 weeks is not that bad.

Was bloodwork done to test for liver shunt or kidney disease? 

You're probably going to get a lot of negative comments about Purina Dog Chow. I personally don't like it either, but I am not sure it would factor into his very small sizeif his coat, energy level, etc.is good and bloodwork is good.

I know we had at least one adult Golden (from an excellent breeder) on here who I believe was less than 50 pounds as an adult male and was very healthy and normal. Some Goldens are just very small.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of him? 

Some goldens are just very small because of genetics. It means that they don't meet the breed standard, but otherwise doesn't indicate they are not thriving. Unless physically they have no fat or muscle, are weak and frail, etc....


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## benandtucker (Apr 23, 2013)

Hi,

His parents are 65 lbs(mother) and 75 (father) lbs and they have other goldens there from these parents who are the same size/weight range. 

I am not sure about the other puppies from his litter. The last time I checked in they had not heard from any owners of others from that litter, but I will send an email to ask. That would be interesting to know.

I do have pictures, but as this is my first time posting here I'm not sure how to add the pics. Any quick tips for that? 

Yes, has been checked for coccidia and nothing. I do remember reading that his 8 week old weight was good, but my fear is that I have failed him somehow since then. 

I'm sure the vet will be testing for liver shunt and kidney disease, this all just came up on Saturday so it's all pretty new. I've also read a little about diabetes and heart problems, now I'm wondering about that, too. (I know I won't know anything until blood work and tests are done, just wondering what others have experience with little dogs).

I know others here don't care for my dog food choice, but I do know that isn't why he's so small and I mostly mentioned it because I didn't want anyone to focus on him being so small just because of food choice. He definitely has more than that going on to make him so small.

That's good to hear that you know of at least one other smaller golden. At only 13 months he should continue to grow/fill out a little more too, right?

Thanks for your reply!



Tahnee GR said:


> How big were his parents? Do you have pictures of him from the side that you can post? How big are his littermates now?
> 
> That is extremely small. Has he been checked/treated for coccidia? In my personal experience, I have seen puppies with chronic coccidia present as very small for their age although his weight at 8 weeks is not that bad.
> 
> ...


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## benandtucker (Apr 23, 2013)

I'm going to work on getting a few pictures on here. It may be difficult to tell his size, but you'll be able to see his condition.

I'm afraid it isn't likely to be genetics in his case where the other adults there tend to be 65 for females, 75 for males. Unless this is a gene that just popped up in him. I have no problem at all with his size (we got him to be a wonderful friend after losing our old golden, and we never intended to use him for breeding or showing).

Hmmm, while typing that last paragraph I realized I forgot to add in my original post that he was neutered at 5 months old. Aren't some people now thinking that neutering early can cause them to be smaller?

He really does feel good to the touch - not overweight, not underweight, plenty active (sometime too much!) not weak or frail, and has a beautiful shiny coat.

Thanks for your reply!

PS I love your old golden pictures. There's nothing like an old golden!



Megora said:


> Do you have any pictures of him?
> 
> Some goldens are just very small because of genetics. It means that they don't meet the breed standard, but otherwise doesn't indicate they are not thriving. Unless physically they have no fat or muscle, are weak and frail, etc....


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## CITIgolden (Mar 9, 2013)

I was walking KC yesterday and saw 2 five y.o.goldens that were half the size of KC (he's about 14mos) I talked to the owners to ask if they were a mix and the couple said they're purebred. The father was big and even the mother was fairly large but the breeder told them that she has had smaller litter-mates from that particular couple in the past and offered a refund if they don't want to keep them. As they live in NYC the size worked out perfect obviously but the point being that there was nothing wrong with them. I don't know the weight but they were the size of an aussie cattle dog maybe with golden fur and face. 

From a genetic standpoint in every n-th generation (you would have to have a long history), in people as well, you can have larger differences. I'm 6'3", my brother is barely 5'7"... 

I wouldn't worry unless you really wanted a bigger golden, in which case it may make sense to chat with the breeder. My breeder also told me that my dog may be larger than what's the AKC standard, but I couldn't care less. I guess unless you want to show your dog, just enjoy and don't worry about him being sick.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Actually neutering makes them bigger. My little Laney was 52 lbs full grown and her brother that I saw in practice was 30 lbs heavier... If his weight matches his size... Definitely r/o something like a shunt (you should be seeing other signs) or thyroid... But genetically there are some dogs that can have pituitary dwarfism or just vary from the standard.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

To post pictures, when you are posting, hit the GO ADVANCED button.

Scroll down to ADDITIONAL OPTIONS, hit MANAGE ATTACHMENTS.

If you have your pictures saved onto your computer Hard drive, click BROWSE to locate your pictures.

Once you selected your picutres, hit UPLOAD. Once pictures have uploaded, hit PREVIEW POST to see if your pictures have loaded. If they did, hit SUBMIT REPLY.


Hope the test results are good for your boy.


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## Alexa (Apr 16, 2013)

My golden, Nala is 13 months as well and relatively small given she is the runt of her litter and she is a female. Her weight is normal (53 pounds) but her height she seems to be lacking in, I have been waiting for some sort of growth spurt but nothing yet. I do also understand that goldens grow until about 2? 

Anyway I hope all works out for you and the little guy!!!!!! I'm sure it will!!!

Here's a picture of her just to give ya an image









Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Millie'sMom (Sep 7, 2012)

My younger golden was 39 lbs at a year and is now 49 lbs at 3 years. The dam and sire are within breed standard and she was not the smallest nor the biggest in her litter. She did do a lot of filling out between 2 and 3 years, and I believe boys take longer to mature. She is happy and active, she fetches a ball for hours each day, and herds sheep on weekends, so she is obviously healthy and passed all her health clearances for breeding. I actually like her small size, and her small size makes her much more agile than a bigger dog. I like to believe that her smaller size makes it less likely she will suffer joint issues, and I have heard smaller dogs live longer.

As long as he checks out healthy with the vet, and is active and happy, I would not worry too much about his size, he still has some growing and filling out to do.


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## Onsa&PorterATX (Apr 23, 2013)

My golden is about the same age as yours and he weighs 66 lbs. My friends Golden is also the same age and is at 72. As long as he seems healthy and the vet checked him out and said he seems good, I wouldn't worry too much. It definitely seems like there can be a lot of variation in their sizes. 

While I don't think the food would be causing him to be small, I do think a higher protein food would help him bulk up if that is what you are looking for (Merrick, Wellness, Orijen, etc). Just a thought. My little nuggets eat Merrick and we have been very happy with it.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

I doubt that food has anything to do with it at all. 

Neutering at 5 months could have some effect, but I suspect it is more related to genetics than anything else. Do you have the pedigree?


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