Sumo's slow start in life

by Brian
(North Carolina)

Sumo 8 weeks 2 days

Just recently I purchased my first GSD. He was 5 pounds at 7 weeks. At the 8th week he was still only 5 pounds. We found that when we took him to the vet the day after we brought him home that he was filled with hook and round worms. The poor guy was covered in fleas and one tick. You could feel every rib, bone and vertebrate on his little body.

The vet told me that he was extremely underweight seeing that I was told he was 8 weeks and should be 15-19 pounds by now. The vet checked his teeth and said he looked to be only 6 weeks and the breeder probably pushed him off early but didn't tell me the correct birth date. The man did seem that he could have been in need for some money so I could believe what the vet said.

Sumo went 2 days without eating any food no matter how much money I spent on the so called best and healthiest foods that are offered. Finally I tried Purina puppy chow and he ate with tenacity. I was so excited seeing as how frustrated and anxious I had been when he wasn't eating.

Today 6-29-11, Sumo is 8 weeks and 2 days and is now 7 pounds. I will try to keep his progress posted for anyone that may run into the same problem I have. There are some stories that I have read on this website that have helped me to have some hope that my little guy can still have good potential as an adult GSD.

If anyone that reads this is experienced with GSD puppies let me know if he looks like an 8 or 6 week pup. I feel that he looks younger based on his face.

Thanks for reading.

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Update
by: Brian

Just an update on Sumo.

He is now 2 years old and seems to be very healthy. His weight is around 70 lbs now and that is a very lean weight for him.

If I overfed him the vet says he would probably weigh 80 to 90 lbs but he likes to see GSD's at a lean weight due to the potential of hip dysplasia.

He finally caught up to his ideal weight around a year old.

Karma
by: Gillian

Our girl Karma looks a little younger than your pup in the picture, she is supposed to be 7 weeks +2 days today.

The puppy breeder let them go at 6 weeks, she claimed the mother was aggressive towards them and she feared for their safety. When we got her at supposedly 6 weeks, she weighed the same as a 4 week old according to the chart.

Her teeth are around 3-4 mil in size and her canines around 10 mil. She now weighs 8 lb 8 oz and to me still looks tiny. She is eating well and gaining weight slowly and is on a good balanced diet.

We also have a White, he just turned 1 yr and he is 27" at the withers and weighs around 38 kg. He still has plenty of growth in him and we are not concerned about him at all.

Follow up on our GSD
by: Mary

Well, our GSD is 8 days away from being 10 months old. She now weighs 75 lbs.

I would have never believed she would look like she does now, when we first brought her home. Other than some destructive puppy digging and chewing she is a great puppy, and gets along well with our other 3 dogs, including our Shih Tzu, who is her best buddy.

Just goes to prove that lots of love and care can make such a difference in a dogs life.

Hope Sumo is doing just as well as ours.

Regarding your GSD
by: Teresa

I also had a similar situation. Person on Kijiji selling GSD. Lady told me pup was 8 weeks old and dewormed only.

When I came home searched on internet for her size. I say pup is 4 weeks old but could be wrong. Brought pup to vet immediately vet said approx 6 weeks. I still don't agree. Pups weight is only 4lbs. Vet gave pup first shot and pill to deworm.

I have had her for 1 week everything was great until yesterday. Constant diarhea mustard colour no smell. She still has an appetite, I gave her rice and probiotic yogurt. Every 3 hours I take her outside.

Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I will get a stool sample and have it tested for worms. My family is so worried she looks exactly like yours did.

How is your dog doing now?

Six Weeks
by: Anonymous

I read your story and looking at the picture I would say six weeks. He is short in the legs and his ears are completely down. At eight weeks GSD's usually start to get that leggy look and he is not there yet in this picture.

I have read your posts and am happy to see his weight improving! I would highly recommend looking into a more natural food for him now. Orijen, and Instinct are both great products just for starters. Hope he continues to improve.

I am sure glad he found you, as with so many of these other stories!

GSD Puppy
by: Mary

We were looking for GSD puppy, but we weren't having much luck finding a breeder in our area. I found a breeder by chance while looking on ebay classifieds.

They had 3 pups left from a litter of 11, two solid black males and one black and tan female. We drove over an hour to see them, and when we got there I was very appalled at the condition of this breeder's dogs and pups. It was almost 100 degrees outside and none of the dogs had water available in the area where they where chained up (yes, chained).

They had over 10 breeder dogs and kept the puppies in the back of their house where they wouldn't take us to see them (no clue why), so they brought them to us in the front of the property. I wanted to leave as soon as I saw all the dogs and the condition they were living in, but my husband insisted on seeing the pups.

He held the two males, but they weren't fond of being held and wanted down. So he picked up the female. She was skin and bones, dehydrated, her coat was dull, and I thought it was just dirt from being in the yard (it wasn't). She was laid back, didn't fight to get down, and my husband decided for some reason he didn't want to leave her, because he thought she wouldn't be alive for much longer. At first, I really did not want to get this puppy, even though it broke my heart to see the condition she was in, but like my husband, I felt like she would be dead in a few days if we didn't take her.

We offered the breeder a lot less than he was asking and he took it. We got her home, gave her a bath, gave her food and water. She acted as though she hadn't eaten in days and ate the food so fast I thought she would get sick, she drank a one quart bowl of water, also. I wasn't sure what she weighed, but I knew she was extremely small for a 8 week old puppy. She was smaller than my 5 month old Shih Tzu that weighed 6 pounds.

We took her to the vet 4 days after we got her and she was 9 pounds then - she had definitely gained weight since bringing her home. In fact, she looked like a different puppy the next day after just getting some food and water in her.

She was full of round worms and it took 3 dewormings to get rid of them. Today she is 12 weeks old and weighs 23 pounds, and seems to be growing my the day. My Shih Tzu can now stand up under her with room to spare, lol.

This puppy doesn't even resemble the same puppy we brought home. She is beautiful, her coat is thickening up and is shiny. She is so smart and has learned a lot in the few weeks that we have had her. I honestly think she knows she was saved from death, she is the most loving pup and minds so well.

I know she is still small for her age, but she has filled out so fast and we hope she continues to do well. The vet was very impressed with how she looked from the first visit to the 2nd one 3 weeks later. She is going back for her third series of shots next week, so we hope she is close to 30 pounds by then.

Our rescue pup
by: Anonymous

We rescued our GSD from a breeder when she was 10 months old. She was (and is) above average in height for the breed and only weighed 55 pounds when we got her. We immediately took her to the vet only to find out she had the three worst parasites. The breeder had been "deworming" her constantly since she was a pup. She was in rough shape. It took us 6 months to get her "clean".

The good news is that she is now a fully grown, beautiful healthy 75 pounds. The vet said he normally would not like that weight on a female GSD BUT because she is so tall and long, it is a good weight for her - no fat whatsoever.

Your Sumo has come a long way. Good for you! Do make sure you keep him social. Given her age, we have battled socialization issues with ours since we rescued her (and we knew we would encounter those under the circumstances).

Dakota - 10 weeks
by: Cindy

Was glad to read your comments on Sumo. We too, just purchased a GSD; they said he was 10 wks old. The minute we picked him to look at him, we saw that he was COVERED in fleas. He has such a wonderful, laid back disposition, we bought him. When we got home he went straight to the bath. I have never seen so many fleas in all my life and the water ran red with eggs and blood. I ended up bathing him twice to get the job done.

We immediately took him in to our vet on Monday - 6 lbs!!! I got on this site today to see what he should have weighed - about 25 lbs. The vet put him on vitamins and we have him on puppy chow, but years ago we had a Tundra Wolf/Alaskan Malamute. Off the internet we both something called "Magnum" for dogs. It was to give a dog its full potential. I may look for that again.

I will keep reading your emails to let me know what to expect.

Thanks

-Cindy

Sumo at 12 weeks
by: Brian

Sumo turned 12 weeks today. I just weighed him and he was 19 pounds. His ears have been acting weird the past few days. One will stand up once in a while especially if he leans his head down and raises back up.

He is still a little thin. He definitely has muscle now but absolutely no fat. His appetite seems to be good now as he is still on Purina one large breed puppy formula. I am hoping to be able to switch him over to Wellness once I start to run out of Purina.

It still seems he is behind on the growth chart and comparing to how late his ears are standing up, he is either American blood lines or not 12 weeks as originally thought by the vet. Anyway, he is doing great now and training well seeing that he knows how to sit, speak, shake and come. This is very impressive compared to other breeds I have in the past. It only took 10 minutes to teach him to shake.

I have been trying to socialize him because he seems good with small dogs but very aggressive against large dogs and definitely doesn't have a fear for them. Thanks for reading, I will update again soon.

Sumo at 10 weeks and 5 days
by: Brian

We took Sumo to the vet yesterday to get his second rounds of shots. He now weighs 14 pounds on 7-16-11. It looks like he is growing every few hours. He has been eating a lot better. He usually eats about 3-4 times a day for a total of 3 cups. It's good to see him having an appetite now compared to the time we first brought him home.

GSD
by: Anonymous

I was in a very similar situation. I took home my 8 wk old pup and she weighed 5 lbs. She is now 19 weeks old and weighs 32 pounds. I feed her Purina large breed puppy and give her nutri-cal, its a paste loaded with calories for weight gain.

She still has catching up to do but is on the right track...seems like your pup is as well! Good luck

Sumo
by: Zancy

Hi Brian,
I stumbled across your comments while checking on my GSD pups normal weight. Kaiser will be 8 weeks old this Thursday and this morning he weighed in at 9 lbs. I have only had him for a few days but have noticed other pups this age are a bit bigger.

I have only ever owned GSD's and I would say that if your pup has an occasional ear popping up (even for a few seconds at a time) he is likely to be 8 weeks old. Sometimes low weight is heat intolerance for these dogs. They have to be cool to be normal hungry.

Here is my e-mail address if you want to compare our pups progress since they are the same age. Did you check out your breeder really well before purchase? That's key but either way you have the next few months to do everything right so he will grow to his full potential. Especially begin socializing to other dogs and other animals and people. The socialization period is a short window for GSD pups!

Good luck.
Zancyvonhooks (at) gmail (dot) com

Sumo at 9 weeks - 10 pounds
by: Brian

Sumo is now 10 pounds as of tonight July 4th. He is growing at a good rate but still about 12 pounds behind. You can't feel the vertebrate in his neck because he now has muscle there and his ribs are just slightly noticeable to the touch.

He is doing much better than last week when he wouldn't eat and weighed only 5 pounds. It's almost like he changes every hour.

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Sumo's slow start in life

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