Growth
Is my puppy growing right?
By Dr. Steve Pelton, DVM. Small-animal vet since 2000.
The short answer
- Don't chase a number on the scale. A healthy 4-month-old Beagle and a healthy 4-month-old Great Dane are on completely different roads.
- Watch two things: does he stay roughly in his own growth lane, and can you feel his ribs easily?
- A line that goes flat is worth asking your vet about. Losing weight is a call.
- Don't underfeed, but keep him lean.
Stay in your lane
"How much should he weigh?" is the question I hear most, and there's no single answer. Two puppies of the same breed can end up 10 pounds apart as adults and both be just right.
What we do have are free, published puppy growth charts, built from the weights of tens of thousands of dogs and grouped by expected adult size. Each chart has curved lines called centiles. Think of them as lanes on a road. Your puppy doesn't need to be in the middle lane, or any particular lane. He just needs to stay roughly in his own as he grows.
Many vets now weigh puppies at every visit and plot them on one of these charts. If yours does, ask to see it. The tracker below plots your own weigh-ins so you can take them along.
Growth tracker
Plot his weigh-ins
Add a birthday and at least two weigh-ins to see his line.
Now feel his ribs: body condition, 1 to 9
Vets score body shape from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very heavy). 4 or 5 is just right. Look down at him from above, then run your hands along his sides, and tap the one that looks most like him.
Fluffy puppy? Feel, don't look. A cloud of fur can hide a thin puppy.
General education, not veterinary advice. Your vet's plan for your puppy comes first.
The hand trick for ribs
Put your hand flat and feel the back of it with your other hand. That's about how a puppy's ribs should feel under his skin. If it feels more like your knuckles, he may be too thin. If it feels like your palm, he may be carrying extra. Ask your vet to show you on your own puppy. It takes ten seconds and you'll never forget it.
Big puppies: steady, not speedy
For big and giant breeds, lean and steady matters even more, because extra weight is extra load on joints that are still forming. Large-breed puppy food does the slowing down safely. There's more in the giant-breed corner and what to feed your puppy.
Want the real charts?
The WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute publishes its puppy growth charts free online, by expected adult size, along with how to read them. Print one, plot his weights, and take it to his next visit.
Questions I get every day
How big is my puppy going to get?
Nobody can tell you exactly, especially with a mix. Paw size is a fun guess, not a reliable one, and a DNA test tells you what's in the mix, not the final number. The best plan is to weigh him at every visit and watch his line stay in its lane.
He's always hungry. Is he getting enough?
Appetite is a poor guide, especially in Beagles, who are starving five minutes after breakfast for life. Go by his growth lane and his ribs. If he's staying in his lane and you can feel his ribs easily, he's getting enough.
What body condition score should a puppy have?
4 or 5 on the 9-point scale. You can feel his ribs easily under a thin layer of fat, you can see a waist from above, and his belly tucks up a little from the side. Fluffy puppies fool everyone, so feel instead of looking.
My puppy lost weight. Is that normal?
No. Puppies should keep gaining. Check the scale first, then call your vet today if it's real, and sooner if he isn't eating or seems quiet. For toy breeds, a puppy who skips a meal and seems quiet needs a call and a trip in.
Where this comes from
- WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute. Puppy Growth Charts (free, published centile charts by expected adult size). waltham.com/resources/puppy-growth-charts.
- Salt C, Morris PJ, German AJ, et al. Growth standard charts for monitoring bodyweight in dogs of different sizes. PLOS ONE. 2017;12(9):e0182064 (correction 2024).
- World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). Body Condition Score chart, dogs (9-point scale; ideal 4 to 5).
- Merck Veterinary Manual. Hypoglycemia in toy-breed puppies.
General education, not veterinary advice. Your vet's plan for your puppy comes first.