Yorkie pup's weight? 1.5 lb now, 12w exactly...can the doubling rule be true?
Just got a new Yorkie puppy. He is twelve weeks old today. I've had him for one week. The vet has told me he will be anywhere between 5 and 10lbs, which I find to be a pretty big window (she weighed him on Wednesday at 1.5 lbs). I also think her quote was just a standard Y.T. weight. I've read on other posts that you can double the pups weight at 12 weeks for their adult weight...can this be true? This doesn't match with what the vet has said. I don't have access to the parents or breeder. Weight not a concern, just curious... Any info will be appreciated.
Jacqui D2007-02-11T05:04:07Z
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Personally, I dont think there is any way to accurately predict a dogs adult weight or height, other than "guess"-tamating using the breeds standard. I work at a vet's and I've seen purebred puppies from the same litter weigh the same at 10-12 weeks and grow up to be different sizes. In fact, I have seen papillion puppies from the same litter grow up to be as much as twice the size of the parents and other pups. It's strange but it happens. People try to guess, but I also think that this "double the weight at 12 weeks" thing is a bullshit thing "teacup" breeders say to get you to think that they have tiny toy pups. If your Yorkie ends up being 3 lbs, instead of the 5-10 lbs that is normal and healthy for a Yorkie, I hope you dont end up with all the medical problems commonly seen in abnormally small dogs.
I went searching for a good Yorkie or yorkipoo breeder and I was shocked by how hard it was to find one that wasnt advertising "teeny, tiny, fits in a thimble" puppies. I actually gave up and am going to rescue one from a Yorkie rescue or humane society.
But anyways, I'm sure you'll love your new baby no matter what size he grows to. He must be sooo much fun : ).
If you saw the mother (dam) or father (sire) of your puppy, you would have a much better idea of how large it could get. There are instances where puppies are either much larger or smaller than the immediate parents, but at least you would have something to go on. Seeing as many dogs in the pedigree as possible will help when trying to determine what your puppy will grow up and become. You could call the breeder, and find out what sizes the dogs are behind your puppy. If you did not by from the breeder and are uncomfortable calling you could look at the pedigree. If you don't have a pedigree and you have an AKC dog you could get an online pedigree done from her AKC number. Once you get her pedigree, if there are any dogs with Ch in front of ther names you can assume that those dogs were correct for the standard of the Yorkshire Terrier. You can also Google their names and see what comes up, you might even find pictures of them. Also watch for prefixes in names, the first word in a dogs name often tells you what the breeder called their kennel, or their line. I don't like to use the word kennel in this instance because although some dogs are raised in a kennel, many dogs are raised in homes. I personally like to see when small dogs like the Yorkie are home raised, in fact in a bedroom right next to the breeder so that they can have a close watch through those first few weeks. Below is the link to the AKC store page where you can order an online pedigree if you don't have one. Of course your dog would have to have an AKC registration for that to work, if you have another registration Google that registry and see if they can help you do some pedigree research.