Puppy weight tracker template
An example chart for a dog that matured at about 26 pounds (12 kilograms) is shown below: The site has helpful tips, detailed instructions, and a video on how to use the charts. If your puppy jumps from one curve to another, they may be growing too quickly or too slowly so you should talk to your veterinarian and consider some adjustments. Your puppy should follow a single curve on the chart over time. Each time you weigh the puppy, plot their weight on the chart for the age of your puppy on that day. However, if you’re able, I think it’s very reasonable to purchase a digital pet or baby scale so you can weigh them at home regularly (just don’t rely on holding your puppy and using a human scale to weigh them by subtracting your weight – this is too inaccurate). Ideally, they would be weighed at your veterinarian’s office so calibrated scales are used and you get accurate weights. Puppies should be weighed at least monthly until they are 6 months of age and then, assuming things are going well with growth, every 2-3 months after that (although there’s nothing wrong with continuing to weigh them monthly).One limitation is that the charts don’t go above an expected adult weight of 88 pounds. You then select the chart that matches your puppy’s sex and expected adult weight (there are 10 different options). You can estimate expected adult weight from the parents’ weight (if known), from breed standards, using the puppies’ current weight and age, or talking to your veterinarian (some DNA tests will also give you estimated adult size). The charts are broken down by sex of the puppy and expected adult weight.I’ve used these charts and find them to be very valuable – especially during growth spurts and plateaus – to be able to adjust the amount of food to keep puppies growing at the right rate.
Using these charts can help puppies grow at an ideal rate and reduces their risk for becoming overweight (I’m seeing more and more overweight puppies). These charts can be used to follow your own puppy’s individual growth rate compared to standard healthy growth curves (very similar to growth charts routinely used in children). Keeping your puppy on track: One very helpful resource to help your puppy grow at an ideal rate is the WALTHAM™ Puppy Growth Charts which were developed using data from 50,000 healthy young dogs of different breeds and sizes. While assessing body condition score regularly is very helpful, it is not sensitive enough in growing puppies to ensure they grow at the ideal rate. Puppies go through growth spurts and plateaus as they grow so adjusting the food to match these changes isn’t easy. Finding the right rate of growth for puppies can be challenging because it changes over the course of the growth period. The Goldilocks principle for growth (not to fast and not too slow just the right rate).
Recently, I wrote about a step-by-step process to select food to start your puppy off right so they get all the protein, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals they need during this critical growth period. But you can also help ensure an ideal growth rate for your puppy by adding some additional steps. Keeping your puppy at a perfect body condition score of 4 to 5 (on a 9-point scale) is critical (and it’s better to err on the side of your puppy having a body condition score of 4 or even a little lower, than to having a body condition score over 5). However, even before those extra calories cause a puppy to become overweight, they cause puppies to grow too quickly which – especially in large breed puppies – can increase their risk for bone and joint problems that can affect them for their entire lives.
Too many calories from puppy food, treats, and other foods during growth can cause puppies to become overweight. For example, a Great Dane puppy that weighs 1 or 2 pounds at birth grows well over 100 pounds within one year (and even more by the time they’re full-grown at 18 months)! But even small breed puppies need careful nutrition while growing to optimize their health. Nowhere are the unique requirements more evident than in large or giant breed puppies. One of the reasons puppies have such specialized nutritional requirements is that they have to be able to grow from tiny puppies at birth to full-sized adults within approximately one year and stay healthy. Nutritional imbalances that might have minimal negative effects – especially in the short term – in an adult dog can have disastrous results in a growing puppy, such as malformed or fractured bones, anemia, poor growth, skin problems, or even heart disease. Puppies are very sensitive to nutritional imbalances which can include too much or too little of a nutrient or even improper balance between different nutrients. Feeding puppies correctly reduces their risk for obesity and orthopedic diseases, and increases their chances for a healthy life. Growing puppies have very specific nutritional requirements that are different from those of adult dogs.