New Poster With Odd Question

dsvw56 · 09-10-2011, 12:15 AM

Hello all. I am the proud new owner of a boxer puppy. It's my first boxer and I'm very excited. When I picked him out he was about 1 week old. At the time he was the largest pup. He is now 5 1/2 weeks and is still the largest but by such a large margin now that he doesn't even look like he came from the same litter. Even the vet remarked at the disparity between them. I've never seen this before where one pup is this much larger than the rest of the litter, and neither has the breeder that I'm getting him from but neither of us are all that experienced. I'm getting a little concerned as all of the other pups' skin is starting to tighten up while he still has a lot of loose skin which suggests he's not going to slow down quite yet. So has anyone else encountered this? Can anyone make an educated guess as to how large he may get? I've attached a couple pics so you can see for yourself just how much larger he is. The skull size (first pic) is what really gets me. The first pic was taken at around 4 weeks and the second at around 5.

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Annie · 09-10-2011, 08:56 AM

He looks like a mutant! (in a cute, adorable way, of course!!) I am curious to hear what it might be caused by, too....

Kaco Boxers · 09-10-2011, 10:09 AM

Some little puppy seems to be the piglet of the group. He also looks bloated, hopefully he has been dewormed several times by your breeder. I have had litters where puppies are all different sizes. Usually what we do is give an extra feeding to ones that seem to get pushed out of the way by the bigger ones. What I would do, is place him on a high quality large breed puppy food when you get him and carefully watch how much he is eating. You dont want him growing to fast as this will just cause more issues in the long run. Its hard to estimate size by pictures, how big were the parents? Grandparents even?

Ron · 09-10-2011, 05:52 PM

wow that's a big pup. A vet visit will insure he's just a big "healthy" boy

purplelori · 09-10-2011, 08:28 PM

He's going to need a BIG name, that's for sure! 'Dozer or Hulk come to mind

He's sure handsome tho. I have no knowledge, but think as long as your vet says he's healthy, that's the most important. I also agree with Kaco Boxers about large breed puppy food--it's supposed to be formulated to slow their growth and allow their joints to keep up with their weight.
Keep the photos coming!

dsvw56 · 09-10-2011, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by purplelori

He's going to need a BIG name, that's for sure! 'Dozer or Hulk come to mind

He's sure handsome tho. I have no knowledge, but think as long as your vet says he's healthy, that's the most important. I also agree with Kaco Boxers about large breed puppy food--it's supposed to be formulated to slow their growth and allow their joints to keep up with their weight.
Keep the photos coming!

lol thanks. His name is Thor actually. The breeder was actually calling him Chunk before I picked him. I was torn between this one and a brindle with an adorable offset white stripe on his face. I ended up choosing this one because he was the biggest. I'll post a pic of the two together below.

As for the concerns, he's already had 2 worm treatments and goes to the vet on the 14th for shots and a check-up. I'm VERY anxious to find out how much more than the others he weighs. I'm sure he's already over 8lbs. The vet also seen him the other day as the breeder took him and one of the others along when she went to pick up some supplies. If he had noticed anything I'm sure he would have mentioned it. I guess he did get shown around the office though because of his size.

Kaco Boxers · 09-11-2011, 08:00 AM

6 weeks and 8lbs is normal size. I bet he will be around 12-14 lbs at 8 weeks when you pick him up. I have had a couple males at 17-18lbs at 8 weeks.

Ron · 09-14-2011, 09:27 AM

i think newman was around 11-12lbs when we got him

Spyglass Sally · 09-15-2011, 08:22 AM

You got a big boy!

We got Buddy at 5 weeks (too early, I know now) and he was 4.5 lbs. He's around 60 now but I know that many on this forum have much heavier boxers. At least you won't have to worry if you'll need to bottle feed him, lol!

Doreen · 09-15-2011, 11:40 AM

I don't know what my Rex was as a pup since we rescued him and he was just a skeleton, skin and bones when he was found and put into a shelter from the photos I saw. But he is a whopping 80 lbs now!!!!! I only wish I could have seen puppy photos.