question about body structure
 

Hi I am Barney's mom. I have been lurking for a while and decided to introduce myself today. I have enjoyed reading your posts to find information to help me with Barney. He's 17 weeks old and weighs barely under 4 pounds. He is about 8 inches long. He has long skinny legs. His bone structure seems very light. I was wondering if any of you when their frames stop growing...not necessarily how long their weight continues to increase. When purchasing him, I asked for one that the breeder thought would be larger. She thinks he'll be about 8 or 9 pounds. I am just hoping his tiny bones can handle that weight.

Welcome to YT :)
I'm not precisely sure of when Rufus stop growing but he is a big yorkie (13 pounds).
Someone else might be able to answer your question :)

Welcome to yt!!!!

I remember my Remy seamed so "lanky" ... is that what you mean? Like she needed weight to balance her frame. I think she was full height and length before a year and then she started filling out. She put on over a pound after a year but did not get taller or longer. Hope that helps

Hi Anny, my previous Yorkie, Charlie, was about 15 pounds. I called him my porky, dorky, Yorkie. We absolutely loved his size, but his frame was so much larger than Barney's. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of Charlie's growth. We were so in love with him by the time we realized he wasn't going to be a "cute little teacup" that I just completely ignored his growth. My main concern about Barney is that his bones seem so tiny. He has long, skinny legs. I swear his little leg bones are smaller than pencils. I don't remember Charlie ever feeling so fragile.

I don't remember Rufus feeling fragile either, he had a good bone structure if I remember correctly.
Nena is smaller than Rufus, she weights 6 pounds, but I don't remember her having a fragile body stucture either..she's always been small and kinda skinny :)
Isn't there some kind of vitamins that can help with his bone structur?

Hi Shinja, maybe he is just lanky. I am probably being paranoid. I tend to be a little ocd at times. After Charlie, I am so afraid something will happen to Barney. Poor puppy. I am constantly hovering over him. However, I may check with his vet about vitamins.

my oscar was 4 lbs @ 13 weeks, he is now 9 lbs @ 1 1/2 years old..
he is 13 in long (base of neck to base of tail) 12 in tall ( shoulder to floor ).
he does have very tiny bones even at 9 lbs..
oscar was fully grown in height & length at around 9 months..

dont worry your pups bones will grow and get much stronger as he ages so he can support the weight ..
sounds like he will be around 8 or 9 pounds like your breeder said..

this is my boy today...:D

My Yoshi was 4.2 pounds at 20 weeks. He's now 17 months & weighs 8.1 lbs. However, I think he could stand to lose just a few ounces. His tummy seems a little round lately. Lol. Anyway, I would definitely describe Yoshi as "lanky". I'm attaching of photo so you can see his body structure. He has long legs & a long body. This photo was taken last summer, so his tummy isn't round in this shot.

I also have a Yorkie/Maltese mix. She also weighs 8.2 pounds. However, she is more solid...thicker boned & sturdier. Her legs are shorter. I attached a photo of her as a puppy. I couldn't find a good recent body shot.

Yoshi stopped growing (length/height) at about 10-11 months. Since then, he's gained weight, but his frame has not grown. I'm not sure if he'll go through another growth spurt, but he hasn't in the past 6 months.

Yoshi is definitely more fine-boned than Momo (my Morkie). However, he is not "fragile" in the least. He's fully confident with his body & loves to run, jump & walk on the balance beam. He's actually enjoys brisk activity more than Momo & is very agile. I'd like to think that nature knows how to structure a dog's body so that the body can handle the lifestyle of the dog. I would think that as long as he's not too thick around the middle, that his thin legs would be able to handle his frame just fine.

It's funny, my husband & I were talking about Yoshi's body structure last night. We're both very pleased with how he's turned out. He's a nice, solid 8 pounds & we both agreed that he's the perfect size for us. He's big enough that we don't have to be afraid that he's going to get injured. Yet, small enough to cuddle in my arms :)

Thanks for the responses. I love the pictures. Your babies are beautiful. I am guessing that Barney will be built like Yoshi. I am going to show his picture to my husband. We have had a hard time imagining what he would look like grown up with those long, long legs. Now, I know. I agree that his 8 pounds looks very good on him. I hope that is how Barney turns out. I am also relieved that his tiny structure won't be an issue. I am scared to death every time he jumps off the couch. I'm afraid those little legs are going to snap. He is built like a square. His height is the same as his length.

Awww...thank you ;) Now I'm dying to see a photo of little Barney! I do have stairs for Yoshi in our bedroom. I've heard of many Yorkies being injured from jumping on & off furniture. You never know if they're going to land the wrong way. Even though he's a rough & tumble little boy, I try to be safe. And our bed is a bit high compared to the couches downstairs. But his long, skinny legs seem to be doing their job so far! Good luck with your baby & welcome to YT!

pics of Barney
 

Here's baby Barney. He looks huge, but he just weighs 3.8 pounds. I swear he has 2 pounds of legs. :)


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I tried posting earlier. I am not sure what happened to my response, but here are my pictures of Barney. He is only 3.8 pounds, but he looks much bigger. It's those giant legs:)Attachment 385038

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OK. I may have several responses out there in cyber world somewhere. This is my 3rd attempt to attach pictures. Attachment 385040

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Little Barney is so adorable! He even has floppy ears like Yoshi! He doesn't look fragile at all to me. Yoshi was my first Yorkie. Prior to that, I only had larger dogs. So it took me a while to get used to having a little guy around. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way! I fell so in love with Yorkies that now I have a third coming next month :p Good luck with your new baby!

Btw, you're not alone. There are actually a lot of long legged Yorkies. There's even a group for them here on YT ;)
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gro...odel-club.html

Oh I understand.. Remy is my first Yorkie, her brothers are shih tuz and are in the 25 pound range 😜 remy seamed so fragile .. Skinny!! I was so happy when filled out

I think you will be fine. If you feed them right they will grown into their bone structure and be perfect. Also I have friends who dogs are built different, they have shorter legs and are more stocky. They weigh more then remy but look smaller. I am not sure which body structure is more to standard but both are cute!