How accurate is the puppy growth chart?

[prncssleah]

According to the chart Tank should weigh half of what he does now when judging from birth.

[JiggityJig]

Thanks....it's helpful to know that when dogs deviate from the chart, they usually weigh more rather than less.

Bone structure is a good point....maybe her dogs are small-boned, and follow her chart more closely.

[Lacy's Mom]

Anyone else want to add their statistics?

[Marlee]

Bridget weighed 1.4 at 9 weeks according to the chart she should have been under 4 lbs, she weighs in at a solid 5- 5.5 lbs when not preggers. I also agree that weight is not everything. Bone structure can make a 5 lb dog, like my bridget look very much like the little stud I used on her. They are very similar in size the only diffrence is bridget is a shorter, stocker version and though they look similar in size, their weight has more than 2lb diffrence.
It is amazing

[JeanieK]

Ollie weighed 1# 9 oz at 8 weeks, and at 13 weeks,m she weighs 2# 4oz. So she is right on the money. But she hasn't been a ery good eater. I don't know what she weighed at birth.

[Micaela]

Hi, I got Tinkerbell realy young at only 6 weeks and she weigh 9oz, she is 16 weeks and weighs just a little under 2lbs. I don't think it pretidected her weigh right, or she would be about 2lbs full grown and I think she still has more to grow. I think she is still tiny even if she hit 4lbs .

[goldcupmom]

Mia was 2.5 lbs at 13 weeks - chart says 5 lbs - in reality she is close to 7 at 18 months+. Her mom was 4.5, dad 2.5.

Max was 1 oz when born - the only pup in the litter, too! at 13 weeks he was 19 oz. Now at almost 11 months he hovers between 2.75 and 3 pounds.

[Annie&Badger]

Badger's only 13 weeks now but I'm interested to see how close the chart will get it. He's two pounds now and weighed just over one pound at 8 weeks. According to his breeder, most breeders here in the UK use the calculation of 2 x 8 week weight should give you the 16 week weight and then at 16 weeks, add more or less a pound to give you the adult weight. I'm hoping he'll pan out at the 4 to 4.5 pound mark but he's small boned and quite compact in the back so I don't think it'll matter much in terms of actual weight

[stacisnyder04]

Charts were wrong for me Cosmo was suppose to be 5 to 6 lbs and he is 9lbs.

[lksdolls]

Originally Posted by JiggityJig

I was curious as to how accurate most people find the puppy growth chart to be?

http://yorkiepassion.com/growthchart.htm

(by the way, I don't think any of us should let deviations from this chart's predictions take away from the person who provides us with this great rule of thumb! Obviously it can't be 100% correct...I was just curious how close most found it to be.)

How much did your pup weigh at birth? How big is it now? What do you think the average yorkie pup weighs at birth?

(I want to at least TRY to aquire a pup within the breed standard! Not much bigger or smaller!)

I haven't found the chart to be very accurate. Sometimes it comes close, but most of the time, no. I take their weight at birth then from 6 weeks on, every week. I look at past litters weights & age plus watch the pup grow, length of legs, etc. and get a much better guesstimate.

One litter we had birth weights of 6.5 ounce female, 5 ounce male and 6 ounce female. The biggest one grew to 5 pounds, the smallest on grew to 10 pounds, the other grew to 6.5 pounds. Not even close to the charts predictions.

[Gracy]

If you want an estimate the growth charts are helpful.
But that doesn't give you the size.
I have noticed people purchase puppies by weight.
But the size can be from 5 - 10 inches, you can have a dog who stands 5 inches and be very muscular and weighs 7lbs or 2lbs depending on his line.
Good luck, researching the line gives you a better idea of how the puppy will grow.
Good luck

[feminvstr]

every time one of you post it doesnt work...I feel like youre blaming me for the chart inaccuracy!

This chart was created for my breeding program more often than not it works well for me, like everything there are exception!

The chart is a guage, its not a crystal ball! Genetics have everything to do with the growth of your kid...if the chart doesnt work for you merely use
3x @ 8 weeks or 2x@ 12 weeks.!

YOUR BREEDER IS THE BEST TO CONSULT WHEN GAUGING THE WEIGHT, they know their bloodline!

Admin asked if they could post it as a sticky...I said of course...at this time I would ask Admin to remove it! I am tired of defending it!

[Gracy]

I didn't mean to upset you with your work.
I was just mentioning Size by inches.
Me as a breeder too, have noticed that charts are an estimate.
Genetics have alot to do with the out come of the growth.
It is very hard to determine the adult size of a puppy, it is a guesstiment.
I take my hat off to those out there that document there puppies growths as they continue to breed. Documenting is alot of work.
I do know that not one puppy is alike, similar but not alike unless of course they are identical (same egg).

[yorky4ME]

I think it's more of a guideline but not too accurate....but more accurate if you know the size of the generations. I got a little maltese who was 5 months old and barely weighed 2 lbs. His breeder told me he'll be about 3.5 to 4 pounds full grown. He's ......... 11.5 pounds now! LOL I call him my teapot maltese! LOL.... Still a love in my life! But I think the breeder lied about the age and I have a feeling we are celebrating BaoBao's birthday on the wrong day.

And .... my mom is 5 feet tall..... my dad is about 5'6" tall and my sister is 5'3" tall. I am 5'10" tall.... go figure.

[sylvan]

The obsession with weight is understandable if you are a breeder striving to maintain the characteristics and consistency of your lines. Charts are only ever used as a guideline and that's all they are meant for. You need to look at the dogs in the pedigree as much as you look at a chart or the multiplication of weight by age to get a slightly accurate guess for adult weight.
You can't blame the chart for inaccuracies.