My German Shepherd puppy is small for her age. How to help her grow?

A diet consisting of primarily boiled chicken is not balanced and is lacking in vitamins, fatty acids, fiber and minerals. Proper nutrition, prevention of parasites and disease and genetics are what affects the over-all adult size. She may not get much bigger due to her age (the window of growth closes). I recommend to feed her Royal Canin German Shepherd Puppy until 15 months of age and then switch her to the adult version. German Shepherds can have some unique dietary needs and the diet is formulated specifically for them to address these needs. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I would recommend feeding a high quality large breed puppy food such as Purian Pro Plan large breed puppy or Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy or Royal Canin German Sheperd Puppy. These foods will have to correct balance of protein, calcium and phosphorus to allow the correct growth of muscle and bones in a large breed dog. The rest is up to genetics, as you cannot make a dog grow larger than their genetics have determined them to grow. Female dogs are often smaller than males, and there isn't really anything you can do to increase their height other than provide good nutrition.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If Shera is only 4kg at this age, I would suspect something is preventing him from gaining weight. I would recommend having him examined by a veterinarian and have him checked for intestinal parasites and treated for parasites. He may have a congenital disease such as a liver shunt or some other systemic disease going on that needs to be treated. The sooner he is seen the better. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Grown up size of a doog depends on genetics and nutrition. You can help your dog grow to his full potential by feeding him a good quality complete puppy food for large dogs. Some dogs will stay on the smaller side within the breed sprectrum. This does not take away from them. You do not want to make your dog grow taller faster than nature wants him to grow, as you make him prone to bone problems. Your dog will still grow for about another year to 18 months. Be patient.

I would say Pedigree is the best for Zara. Be sure to feed her a puppy formulated food, as puppies need higher amounts of calcium, protein, and calories than adult dogs. A puppy food will provide that for it, as well as all the nutrients she needs to grow correctly and be healthy. She does NOT need any medicines, her puppy food will give her what she needs. Adding additional medications with her food can abnormally affect her growth, i.e. too much calcium leads to bone growth abnormalities. As for weight, each puppy grows differently even within a breed, so it's not really possible to say her perfect bodyweight. At four months of age, she should be roughly half of her adult weight, and female German Shepherds can weigh between 48.5-70.5 pounds when fully grown. I hope this helps!

She is a cutie. She likely is just a smaller framed GSD. Her weight looks appropriate for the breed here. You are feeding her a high quality food so you are doing what is needed to keep her weight ideal, which it is. As long as her stools are not soft, then there isn't much else to do about her smaller frame. It is just her genetics. It sounds like she is a timid dog. Take her to see more pets/people in smaller sessions. Take her to the dog park and to the pet store so that she is exposed to more people/pets. Also I would suggest enrolling her in doggy daycare so that she can learn how to be around other pets without being so timid and fearful. She will come around the more you expose her now while she is still a puppy and can be trained out of her fear. If push comes to shove, then its best to hire a dog trainer to work with her one-on-one. Here is more information on socializing puppies/kittens. --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8941891 Best of luck moving forward with your puppy Oggy and I hope that she gets over her fear soon! Take care.

German Shepherds are lanky dogs, especially when they are puppies. Make sure you are feeding him enough and that he is dewormed regularly. If Boe is still abnormaly thin as an adult, then I would worry about something else going on. I would recommend to feed the Royal Canin German Shepherd Puppy Formula. This is a nice diet with the right calories for a growing puppy. Please post again if you have any further questions!