My puppy was small due to malnourishment. Will he grow to full size?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At least in the pictures, he looks pretty good. Very handsome dog. These dogs do tend to show their ribs a bit. I think that he could benefit from perhaps gaining a few pounds but not much. In terms of his growth, he has likely reach his growth plateau which is why he has not been growing much lately. If he is otherwise doing well in terms of appetite and activity level, I would not worry much. I do think that it would be best to relay this to your veterinarian who knows his medical/preventative care history so that we ensure that his caloric intake is appropriate for his age and most importantly activity level. This is something that can be easily done and make a difference in terms of him gaining some weight. Again, he is very handsome so congrats as it looks like you have been taking good care of him. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The final weight of a dog depends on breed. Large breed and giant breed dogs can grow until 2 years of age. At 4 months and weighing only 6 lbs, I would guess (without seeing a picture of your dog0 that he won't be over 15 pounds. I wish you the best!

Puppies grow at different rates and even though the parents are large and stocky not every pup may get their build. Make sure you are giving Max a good quality food and that you are feeding enough at each meal. If he's very hungry and eats all the food quickly then you're probably not feeding enough at each meal. I feed twice a day and give a biscuit or two for treats. Controlled exercise daily will build muscle and swimming is a great exercise also. Max will reach his full size by the time he is two years old, perhaps slower than the others. He's a handsome boy and is just at an awkward stage right now. In addition please have a stool sample checked by your veterinarian to be sure there are no parasites effecting his growth. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Max.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Gaining weight after malnutrition should be a slow and steady process. I would suggest getting a good quality puppy food, and feeding him about 75% of the amount recommended on the bag/day for about 3 days, and then increasing to 100% of the amount recommended for about 1 week, and then 125% for a couple weeks until she is proper size. At that point you can cut back to the normal recommended amount. Also, I would recommend deworming her, as this is often a cause of malnutrition, and also make sure she is treated for fleas, and vaccinated. Best of luck with Pluto.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! He is adorable! If he is acting fine, I don't think you need to worry at this point. Just keep an eye on his weight may be checking every few weeks as you will likely see it go up normally. Dogs sometimes have different feeding routines and may prefer to eat at certain times. Good luck and have a great day!

There are a few possibilities. He could still be recovering from the parvo disease and will start gaining weight soon. He could be a mixed breed and just have a small adult size that he's getting to (and from his picture, he doesn't look like a pure lab to me, although it's impossible to tell from looks alone), or he could have an endocrine issue that he preventing him from growing normally. If he is otherwise normal, I would recommend giving him another month to work on growing, otherwise, schedule a vet visit to talk about possible testing. Good luck! He's quite a cutie.

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I agree that Max looks a bit smaller than an average 5 month old lab. However, severe intestinal parasites would typically cause a dog to look very skinny and in the picture you provided, Max doesn’t look alarming thin to me. Deworming should be done a few times in puppies, so I do think it’s a good idea to deworm again (under the guidance of your Vet), but I don’t think his size or temperament are likely to be related to worms. If you’re concerned he’s not growing appropriately, I recommend having him examined by your Vet, and run some bloodwork to help rule out systemic diseases which could influence growth. However, my suspicion is you simply have a petite lab and his size is normal for him. I hope this helps!