Am I doing the right thing ??

[Pedro C]

Hi all

My dearest Jake passed away last month at 10 years of age and I've already made plans to get a new puppy. My soon to be consecutive 7th boxer dog.

Three weeks ago I've found a nice well respected local breeder who shows her dogs which are getting very good results over here.

She had two litters available. I saw both litters sire's and dam's and chose my pup from litter E.

In the meantime, litter F had a problem and all the puppies unfortunately died.

The reason of this was to do with some sort of major infection the bitch passed to her pups but I was assured by both her and her vet that the first litter wasn't affected by this sad incident even though they were pretty close together.

I went there again today and the pups looked fine. Just like the usual boxer litter at 6 and 1/2 weeks.

Maybe a little underweight at just 5.72lb (2.6kgs) each average.

The puppies were very alert, playful and quite cute the one I chose in particular, was great.

I'm a bit concerned about the whole situation and since I've already made a downpayment before all this happened I'm somewhat hesitant regarding getting this dog or not.

As you all know, this is at least a 8/10 years commitment and I simply can't make a mistake here. Any advice please ???

I'm mostly worried about the pup's weight. I can't recall how heavy my last pups were at this age.

What do you people reckon ??

Kind regards,

Pedro

[Louise501]

That does seem a little light, Luka is 6.5 weeks and weighs 11lb, his sister Angel is over 10lbs but maybe thats heavy for that age, I am not sure what the average is.

[Pedro C]

Hiya

Thanks for that.

I'm really concerned now about the puppy's weight. I think 10lbs (5kgs) is the average for a 1.5 month old boxer pup now that you've mentioned it.

Please keep your replies coming. I need to make a decision soon.

Cheers,

Pedro

[Louise501]

I wouldn't think 10lbs was average for a boxer pup of 1.5 months, that would be really heavy. I am a little confused, was the mother the dam for both litters E and F? If not there wouldn't be a problem would there?

[gmacleod]

I would likewise think that 10lb is very much on the large side for a 6.5 week old boxer pup The litter you're looking at does not sound abnormally small to me.

Puppy size and weight is something that varies enormously. To the point that I don't even think averages are remotely meaningful. As long as the development is fine, and the pup isn't noticably behind his littermates, then I don't think there is a problem there.

I'd suggest taking a look through the anatomy/physiology forum. There are literally hundreds of size/weight threads there. Browsing through those threads, I'm pretty sure you'll find that these pups aren't an unusual size (ie. especially small) and, as mentioned, that the variance is huge...

[Donna1969]

My boy Carson at 8 weeks weighed in at 8 1/2 pounds. He does seem small to me but I was used to my monster Blizzy who was ALWAYS on the bigger side both height and weight.

Carson was in the middle of his litter (of 6) regarding size. He wasn't the biggest nor was he the smallest, he was smack dab in the middle.

He's not at all skinny looking at all and he is solid. I actually have to weigh him to see what he's tipping the scales at these days.

My newest one coming is definatly larger than Carson (sight unseen..only have seen pictures of her) but her parents are also bigger than Carson's.

[Pedro C]

Originally Posted by Louise501

I wouldn't think 10lbs was average for a boxer pup of 1.5 months, that would be really heavy. I am a little confused, was the mother the dam for both litters E and F? If not there wouldn't be a problem would there?

Hello again

Well, as gmacleoad said and thank you for that, apparently there's no rule whether you know for sure if your pup is light or heavyweight at any given growing stage since they all mature each in their own way.

But to answer your question Louise, no. Both litters had different dam's. When the infection was spotted on the sick bitch, the lady breeder transferred all those puppies to the other litter and the poor 2nd girl had to feed 14 babies in total !!!

Obviously, she didn't have all the necessary milk to feed them all to begin with and I think that's where the problem begun.

I was assured by the breeder that she helped her feeding the pups with powdered milk bottles. Royal Canin type which I simply can't tell how good a replacement that is from proper mother's milk. Not even close is my guess.

Now I'm faced with the fact that I will never know for sure how my eventual pup will do in the future and if he will ever recover from this important first growing stage of his life and how prone to disease he will be throughout is life.

Sleepless in Sintra,

Pedro

[Pedro C]

Hi all

Ok. I made my mind up and decided not to have that puppy nor any other from that particular breeder.

I couldn't take the chance and she understood my doubts. It was agreed I could have my deposit back as soon as she sells the pup to someone else.

Now the good news in the meantime, I just got the most beautiful and adorable puppy girl !!! I did see her before I actually chose the other pup at another breeder and loved both her looks and her character but since I wanted a boy, she was never an option.

Now all has changed and I'm the proud owner of lovely three month old boxer girl. I never had a female dog before and I just hope I can cope with it but sure it's going to be fun having one.

She's already on canidae and she's doing great. She loves it to bits and simply devours her food like there's no tomorrow. Not a picky eater this girl for sure !!

She's dark brindle and white with gorgeous markings, lean and muscular and
weights 19lbs as we speak.

Soon I will start her album and hopefully you will be able to check her out although she's already on my avatar.

Cheers,

Pedro

[courtney323]

Great news Pedro, she is adorable!

As someone who has owned both a female and a male, my personal preference has always been females. I think you will love having a female!

Best of luck.

[Beau's Mommy]

She's absolutely adorable!! I'm glad you found a baby to suit you. As far as males/females, like Courtney, I've always preferred females, but I'm a sucker for them all!!!