puppy size..

[KodiBear]

Boy i am psoting alot of questions this morning..sorry..
I have a two part question.
My lab seems so small for her age.
she is 7 mos and weighs 55 lbs. I think she was the runt, mom was 65 and dad was 95. I read somewhere that l;abs stop growing at 7 mos , is this true?
she seems so small for a lab. she is a chocolate, are they smaller than the other colors or is it just the individual dog.
thanks,
Karen

[ThatsMyGirl]

My girl is a year and half and 55 lbs. Here is a quote from the AKC standard for Labradors. Please note what I put in bold:

Size--The height at the withers for a dog is 22½ to 24½ inches; for a bitch is 21½ to 23½ inches. Any variance greater than ½ inch above or below these heights is a disqualification. Approximate weight of dogs and bitches in working condition: dogs 65 to 80 pounds; bitches 55 to 70 pounds.

Your lab may or may not continue to get taller ... but they usually grow for the first year, and then fill out in their second. I would guess that she would probably be the same size as her mom when she is done.

Oh, and no the color of the lab doesn't determine their size, but their genetics do.

[Trickster]

55lbs is a very reasonable size for a 7 month old female.

In an ideal world all Labradors would conform to 'type' but in reality there is HUGE variation within the breed; show breds, field breds, pet breds and mixed lines from all three. The result of this is Labs that come in all shapes and sizes -- pet bred being by far the most common. Pet bred dogs height/growth rates would be the hardest to estimate because of unknown qualities within the lines -- any two dogs can be thrown together and produce a litter.

Determining when a dog is done growing depends on the individual. From my experience with my own dogs, they did the big bulk of their growing in the first 6 months. They did, however, continue to 'fill out' (gain 'bone'/muscle mass) until they were 2 years old.

[Bailey24]

Ditto from ThatsMyGirl & Trickster; there is such a variety within the breed.
My Bailey is 10 months & around 60 lbs & much shorter then a lot of other labs I've seen around.
Sounds similar size to yours!

[Kayte85]

Also I want to add that being the runt doesnt matter. I went with a friend to pick her lab pup when they were ready at about 6 wks old and she picked the smallest one because she didnt want a really huge lab and he ended being 105lbs. and he is not overweight its all muscle.

[Brigettas Mom]

Brigetta was weighed right before the holidays and she was 49 pounds, she just turned 11 months.

[Bob Pr.]

Being the runt SOMEtimes DOES matter.

My first Lab, my beloved Bess [BF, AKC bench line (competing breeder), 55 lbs., 1967-1981] was the runt of her litter.

When it came time to search for another, I wanted a small Lab and picked Puff [YF, AKC field line (competing breeder), 63 lbs. DOB: 8-'01]. She was the runt and had to be hand-fed because she couldn't compete for a nipple. At 9 weeks age she was 6 lbs. to her other littermates' 12 lbs. The others matured out at 20+ lbs. heavier.

(But she's the fastest of all the other Labs (probably 40+) she's ever met.)

[Kayte85]

Being the runt SOMEtimes DOES matter.

Yea, when one is that different in size, but when they are all the same age and one pup is just a few lbs lighter it doesnt mean that that pup will always be smaller that its brothers and sisters. that is all I was saying.