Twelve years ago, a wonderful family from Massachusetts purchased a toy poodle puppy from me. Buddy passed away this year and John and Judy are looking for a new pup to love. They have been visiting home kennels in search of the right puppy. John and Judy are devoted pet owners. They know they are making a lifelong commitment to their new pet.
One question they recently asked me is this: How do you estimate the adult size of a puppy?
TWO WAYS TO PREDICT ADULT SIZE
There are at least two ways you can get a good idea about how big (or little) your toy poodle pup will grow.
First, meet the parents. Yes, the dam (mother) and sire (father) are pretty good, general indicators of the size of their offspring. In my experience, females generally take after the dam; males tend to take after their father or grandfather. Sometimes it isn’t possible to see the sire; that’s especially true if the breeder uses someone else’s dog for stud service. But at the very least, you should be able to meet the mother dog.
Second, during my six years as a breeder of toy poodles, I weighed puppies every few days and collected all the weight data from the 14 litters I produced in that time. Based upon my data, I came up with a formula that seemed to work reliably. When my puppies went home at 10 weeks of age (I kept pups until they had at least two puppy shots), I could predict pretty accurately what size the dog would be full grown.
The formula I used is this: Take the puppy’s weight at 10 weeks of age and multiply it by 2.5.
For example, Buddy weighed 3 lb. 12 oz at 10 weeks of age. I predicted his adult weight at 9 and a half pounds. If I recall correctly, John told me Buddy topped out at 10 pounds.
Closer to home, my Chris weighed 4 pounds at 10 weeks of age. His adult weight is and has consistently been 10 pounds, which is exactly 2.5 times his baby weight.
Chris’ sister Bridget weighed 1.5 pounds at 10 weeks of age. Multiplying that by 2.5, I knew Bridget would be a teacup toy poodle weighing around 4 pounds full grown. I think Bridget weighs 3.5 pounds or so today. Both she and Chris turned 13 this past July 8th (2009).
BREEDER KNOWS BEST (Usually)
Keep in mind that the breeder knows his or her puppies best and should be sufficiently experienced to predict the adult weight of any pup you might buy. Just be aware that if a breeder tells you his 4 pound dog is going to be a teacup, you probably need to search elsewhere for a puppy. Likewise, if a breeder tells you the 2 pound puppy you are considering will be a 10 pound adult, be dubious.
Whether my “2.5 at 10 weeks” rule applies universally to all toy poodles is certainly open to debate. All I can say is it worked for me. It’s just one more rule of thumb to use as you search for the perfect puppy for your family.
Until next time,
Mr. Dibs
