# Is Dora growing too fast?



## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

Soooo I said something in the big "weight" thread in the Standards forum, but I wanted to be more specific. We got Dora at 9 weeks, took her to the vet, she weighed 2.4 pounds. Today (4 weeks later) the vet weighed her and she is 5 pounds! :new_shocked: I DON'T have a problem with her growing up to weigh more than standard...I want her to be strong and healthy. But I am really worried that literally doubling her weight in just 4 weeks is waaaaay too much! I know with larger dogs, they can have hip/joint problems if they grow too fast, although I haven't really heard of that as a concern in little dogs like Maltese. She isn't overweight and I think she gets an appropriate amount of exercise for her age. Is it possible to overfeed her? Right now she is getting Blue Buffalo puppy food 3 times a day, a little under 1/4 cup each time. She didn't eat that much when we got her but now she eats it quickly. Again, I don't care if she is just getting to be a larger dog, but the amount of weight gain alarmed me and I wanted to double-check.


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## Furbaby's Mommie (Jul 10, 2004)

I can't answer about growing too fast, but that does sound an unusually fast gain. Maybe cut down to 2 feedings now. :mellow:


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

So long as the vet says she is a healthy weight for her frame, I would not worry.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Your vet will be able to tell you if she is at a healthy weight for her specific body type -- each dog has a different frame so her frame may be larger than a standard Maltese and she may end up larger. I have learned not to pay attention to the numbers on the scale with London & Preston, but to judge their optimal weight by their body structure. London's perfect weight happens to be 7lbs to 7 1/2lbs, while Preston is best right at 6lbs.

As far as quantity and feeding schedules, Dora is probably fine eating 2x per day now. Mine get most of their exercise chasing each other around the house and going up and down the stairs, so they are not considered "very" active, but they each get 1/2 cup total per day (1/4 cup in morning and 1/4 cup in evening). Some days they clean up their bowls, and other days they only eat a portion of each meal. Feeding a higher quality food will result in you having to feed less quantity to Dora. Which Blue Buffalo are you feeding? There is one BB variety called Wilderness that has very high quality ingredients -- the other BB varieties I would say are on the lower end of being a "higher" quality dry food. I recently switched mine to Orijen 6 Fresh Fish and WOW, what an amazing difference it has made for them in such a short period of time (we were feeding Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison prior).


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## Orla (Jul 5, 2009)

oh wow! Milo was around the same as Dora at 9 weeks(he was 2.6lbs at 10 weeks) and is just over 5lbs now at 7 months.
Every dog is different though. I wouldn't worry. as long as she appears healthy and her vet isn't worried, she's fine.


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

Hmmm...lots to think about. I would kind of like to be able to stop going home for lunch to feed and walk her, but I think she needs her walk to break up what would otherwise be 8 hours in her crate.  I feel like she's kind of young for that...If I'm wrong on that please correct me. 

Also, I'm not feeding the Blue Buffalo "Wilderness," it's Lifesource Bits for puppies or something like that? I went with the highest-quality thing I could find at Petsmart that was specifically for puppies.  I had planned on keeping her on that for a while and doing some careful research on dog food when she was ready to graduate from puppy food. 

I guess we'll just keep giving her plenty of food AND playtime and ask the vet next time we see her.


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## ilovemymaltese (Oct 9, 2008)

You can still come home from lunch, just don't feed her. 

Do you know how big her parents were? I don't know where you got her from, but maybe one of the parents weren't full malts, maybe back in their pedigrees there was a poodle or bichon. Or maybe they were just large malts? Ask your breeder.

But maybe she just had a growth spert and will slow down and stop growing early. My baby gained .5 pounds since we got her at five months old, and she is now 18 months old.


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## angelgirl599 (Apr 8, 2009)

QUOTE (Dora's Mom @ Dec 4 2009, 03:28 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858279


> Hmmm...lots to think about. I would kind of like to be able to stop going home for lunch to feed and walk her, but I think she needs her walk to break up what would otherwise be 8 hours in her crate.  I feel like she's kind of young for that...If I'm wrong on that please correct me.
> 
> Also, I'm not feeding the Blue Buffalo "Wilderness," it's Lifesource Bits for puppies or something like that? I went with the highest-quality thing I could find at Petsmart that was specifically for puppies.  I had planned on keeping her on that for a while and doing some careful research on dog food when she was ready to graduate from puppy food.
> 
> I guess we'll just keep giving her plenty of food AND playtime and ask the vet next time we see her. [/B]


Do you have a Petco near you? They have better quality foods than Petsmart IMO. But depending on where you live, it's possible that they carry different brands? The Petsmart by me has the junky foods :yucky:


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## drclee (Jul 16, 2008)

I agree - Petsmart does not have high quality food. Try to find a boutique dog store or Petco.


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## myfairlacy (Dec 28, 2007)

If your vet said she's not overweight for her frame, then I wouldn't worry. It sounds like she's probably going to be a larger Maltese when she's fully grown. She may do most of her growing early on and then stop too. Some lines will grow early and be done and others will keep growing for a while. Sometimes people say to double the weight at 12 weeks and it can sometimes be a good estimate of adult weight...but this definitely isn't true all the time. She may end up being about 10lbs full grown though.


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

I think I can find Natural Balance at Petco...it's farther away but only across town. Is that appropriate for puppies or just adult dogs? I have looked up Orijen but the closest dealer to me is over 2 hours away sooo that's not really going to work for me.  Those are probably the 2 food brands I hear mentioned most often on here. Regardless of the food she's probably just a big girl and I worry too much.


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## HaleysMom (Jun 4, 2009)

Haley eats Natural Balance that I get from Petco(located on University Drive(they had one at Whitesburg/Airport road but shut it down 2 years ago). To bad PetSmart doesnt sell better foods because it is right down the street from me and just over the hill from you.
The last time Haley went to the vet she weighed a little over 5lbs(with her harness on) she will be a year old December 26th. Unfortunately Haley came from a BYB, had no idea about BYB at the time until I joined SM...so I'm not sure what her weight will be grown. I saw her parents, they were on the small side but you just never know......


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

QUOTE (HaleysMom @ Dec 4 2009, 05:55 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858333


> Haley eats Natural Balance that I get from Petco(located on University Drive(they had one at Whitesburg/Airport road but shut it down 2 years ago). To bad PetSmart doesnt sell better foods because it is right down the street from me and just over the hill from you.
> The last time Haley went to the vet she weighed a little over 5lbs(with her harness on) she will be a year old December 26th. Unfortunately Haley came from a BYB, had no idea about BYB at the time until I joined SM...so I'm not sure what her weight will be grown. I saw her parents, they were on the small side but you just never know......[/B]


Thanks  I used to live right over by that Petco on University but now I guess I will be swinging by there over lunch or something to get her food (maybe not now but when she's grown). 

BTW, if you'd like to meet me and Dora (and my husband) we'll be taking puppy classes at Petsmart starting next Saturday.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

Are you feeding her any treats? Those can really add up in calories.


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## Starsmom (Jan 31, 2009)

Wondering...does she get ANY chicken? Is it hormone free? I believe I ended up with a 13# Malt because it didn't occur to me the chicken I was feeding him contained hormones.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

QUOTE (Dora's Mom @ Dec 4 2009, 11:47 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858231


> Soooo I said something in the big "weight" thread in the Standards forum, but I wanted to be more specific. We got Dora at 9 weeks, took her to the vet, she weighed 2.4 pounds. Today (4 weeks later) the vet weighed her and she is 5 pounds! :new_shocked: I DON'T have a problem with her growing up to weigh more than standard...I want her to be strong and healthy. But I am really worried that literally doubling her weight in just 4 weeks is waaaaay too much! I know with larger dogs, they can have hip/joint problems if they grow too fast, although I haven't really heard of that as a concern in little dogs like Maltese. She isn't overweight and I think she gets an appropriate amount of exercise for her age. Is it possible to overfeed her? Right now she is getting Blue Buffalo puppy food 3 times a day, a little under 1/4 cup each time. She didn't eat that much when we got her but now she eats it quickly. Again, I don't care if she is just getting to be a larger dog, but the amount of weight gain alarmed me and I wanted to double-check.[/B]



Have you asked the breeder? Larger dogs usually grow faster. Maltese usually don't if they are within the standard size.
Sounds like yours may exceed that.


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## ilovemymaltese (Oct 9, 2008)

QUOTE (Starsmom @ Dec 5 2009, 12:59 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858424


> Wondering...does she get ANY chicken? Is it hormone free? I believe I ended up with a 13# Malt because it didn't occur to me the chicken I was feeding him contained hormones. [/B]


How would you know if chicken contains hormones? Do they purposfully put hormones in chicken? I guess the chicken we feed Gigi doesn't contain hormones because she never grows but I was just curious...


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## Starsmom (Jan 31, 2009)

QUOTE (ilovemymaltese @ Dec 4 2009, 10:10 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858426


> QUOTE (Starsmom @ Dec 5 2009, 12:59 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858424





> Wondering...does she get ANY chicken? Is it hormone free? I believe I ended up with a 13# Malt because it didn't occur to me the chicken I was feeding him contained hormones. [/B]


How would you know if chicken contains hormones? Do they purposefully put hormones in chicken? I guess the chicken we feed Gigi doesn't contain hormones because she never grows but I was just curious...
[/B][/QUOTE]


These days, unless the packaging states the chicken is hormone free it will have them. Yes, they are given growth hormones to get them to grow bigger, and faster - then to market earlier. It's all in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.


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## roxybaby22 (Feb 25, 2009)

QUOTE (Cosy @ Dec 5 2009, 01:09 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858425


> QUOTE (Dora's Mom @ Dec 4 2009, 11:47 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858231





> Soooo I said something in the big "weight" thread in the Standards forum, but I wanted to be more specific. We got Dora at 9 weeks, took her to the vet, she weighed 2.4 pounds. Today (4 weeks later) the vet weighed her and she is 5 pounds! :new_shocked: I DON'T have a problem with her growing up to weigh more than standard...I want her to be strong and healthy. But I am really worried that literally doubling her weight in just 4 weeks is waaaaay too much! I know with larger dogs, they can have hip/joint problems if they grow too fast, although I haven't really heard of that as a concern in little dogs like Maltese. She isn't overweight and I think she gets an appropriate amount of exercise for her age. Is it possible to overfeed her? Right now she is getting Blue Buffalo puppy food 3 times a day, a little under 1/4 cup each time. She didn't eat that much when we got her but now she eats it quickly. Again, I don't care if she is just getting to be a larger dog, but the amount of weight gain alarmed me and I wanted to double-check.[/B]



Have you asked the breeder? Larger dogs usually grow faster. Maltese usually don't if they are within the standard size.
Sounds like yours may exceed that.
[/B][/QUOTE]

Excellent point!


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## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

Dora's Mom, she sounds just perfect as her vet gives her the A-OK.  She sounds happy, active, and well adjusted...and you are a _very _good mommy, so no worries. You are doing exactly what you should be doing and you have a bouncing, *THRIVING* baby girl to show for it!


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

I took a comparison of her from her first day at home at 9 weeks, and now at just over 13 weeks. Looks to me like she's a lot longer, which explains the weight gain well.

9 weeks:










Today (13 weeks and chowing down)










And just for fun here she is in an Alabama onesie  I couldn't find a jersey that fit! The dress part is a little long and trips her so we don't leave it on her for long, just for pictures


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## Canada (Jun 4, 2009)

QUOTE (Dora's Mom @ Dec 4 2009, 03:28 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858279


> Hmmm...lots to think about. I would kind of like to be able to stop going home for lunch to feed and walk her, but I think she needs her walk to break up what would otherwise be 8 hours in her crate.  I feel like she's kind of young for that...If I'm wrong on that please correct me.[/B]


I think that it is wonderful that you go home on your lunch break to give Dora a break from her crate.
8 hours would be a long time for her if you couldn't get home. 
I understand the crating would be good for her potty training but what about baby-gating the kitchen as her area?
I mention that alternative as you were thinking that you might like to stop going home on your break.
Or an X-pen?
Or maybe you could get a TRUSTED friend to take her on a mid-day walk? I know it must be hard to find someone that you would trust with her.

Just trying to help with the suggestions. Sorry if this is "off-topic" from Dora's weight. I'm sure Dora won't mind that I talked about something apart from her weight! Like how most girls are with their weight!


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## Dora's Mom (Nov 7, 2009)

QUOTE (Canada @ Dec 5 2009, 06:45 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=858614


> I think that it is wonderful that you go home on your lunch break to give Dora a break from her crate.
> 8 hours would be a long time for her if you couldn't get home.
> I understand the crating would be good for her potty training but what about baby-gating the kitchen as her area?
> I mention that alternative as you were thinking that you might like to stop going home on your break.
> ...



Thanks Canada  I have trouble gating off rooms in my house because it's very open, so she has an x-pen. She's only 13 weeks old and I just feel like that's too long to go without lunch or go without a walk. And I don't have anyone I could trust her with that doesn't work 8 hours like me and my husband. Luckily it's pretty slow at work, being the end of the year and all. I want to try to keep going home for lunch until she's about 6 months old. My husband got in trouble for his long lunch breaks so it's just me every day.  BUT as of this week she will be sleeping through the night! Yaaaaaay! :chili:


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