I have a mixed breed pup who is 9 weeks old. I'm guessing he will be about German shepherd size, perhaps a little larger (dad is a malamute mix, mom is a pit mix). He is being fed raw (as are my GSD and Lhasa) and is looking great. He was very thin (and potbellied) when I got him and had just been treated for worms. His pot belly has resolved and now you can easily feel his ribs, but he does not feel like a skeleton.

When I got him at 6 weeks (yes I know it's too early, if I hadn't taken him they would have just given him to someone else) he was 10.5 pounds. Now, at 9 weeks he weighs 13 pounds.

My question is, what is the normal growth rate for a raw-fed, large breed puppy?

Thanks

Elisabeth

anybody?

With a mixed breed, there is no growth chart, no 'normal' growth rate. That being said, assuming the pup is given normal (not strenuous) exercise as is fitting a puppy, the amount of food fed should be the focus. 5-10% of the puppy's weight is a good guide for feeding, and at that age, the amount would be divided into 3 feedings.

Here's an article regarding feeding puppies: http://leerburg.com/feedpups.htm

At 8 weeks of age, a puppy is at 20% of his adult weight.

My pups were 17.5 lbs at 8 weeks and I expect them to reach ~80 lbs.

Hope that helps. And thanks for the link Sandy, I'll be using that myself.

Does having a rough start have an effect on their adult size? I started him on the raw diet immediately when I got him (again, at 6 weeks). I weighed him again yesterday and he is now at 15 pounds at 10 weeks and is at a good weight. He is solid, but his ribs are easily felt.

I can't be sure, but I think that if he'd had adequate nutrition to begin with he might be larger now than he is. I know his mother was an absolute skeleton while the pups were nursing (neighborhood dog, frequently running loose), I don't think they know how to adequately feed nursing mother and litters of puppies. They also said they had a worm problem.

I guess I just want to make sure his nutrition is meeting his needs and he is growing like he should from this point forward. I've never raw fed a puppy, but have raw fed several adults. I guess as long as he is healthy, growing, and not fat or too skinny I should be ok :-)

my little guy was also wormy wormy with that sad little famine tummy and flaky gross stinky skin. We got him at almost 7 weeks and he was a little mess, poor guy. I just re-wormed him this morning because it had been three weeks and he was doing some butt scooting last night.
The round worms consume the food and nutrients in their intestine and im sure that can cause slower growth and some nutrient deficiency.

Now he is growing like a weed and has at least doubled in size but not in weight. He is leggy and skinny and clumsy at 12 weeks and I think its even cuter than the rolly polly puppy a few weeks ago.
He has a definate waist, I can see a few and feel all of his ribs. He is also ALWAYS hungry so I uppped his food intake by adding another snack in the midafternoon.

He isnt on all raw yet because he wont eat the bones, he seems to be teething in the back of his mouth already or maybe still..im not sure.
I ws feeding innova EVO but bought a bag of solid gold wolfking as Nico was having allergies and it is bison and salmon based so im going to try her on that for a while. Puppy seemed to really really like it and scarfed 3/4 of a cup early early this morning and then scarfed his lunch a bit ago which was raw beef with kefir and a couple of raw carrots to chew on.
I bet you anything if i offered him food of any kind he would scarf it down so i dont know how to tell if i am feeding enough either.

But thin is better than plump for growing bones, and Northern breeds like malamutes and huskies and samoyeds often require much less food than other dogs of comprable size and can be finicky like cats.

lol, finicky he can be! At first anyway. He wouldn't touch eggs or chicken livers until I left them in a dish in his crate, he did eat them eventually and now inhales them like candy. He's always loved chicken and particularly lamb (rare treat for him ... too expensive).

He does just fine with the bones. I couldn't believe it when he got his first raw meal the day I got him. I gave that scrawny little 6 week old pup a whole chicken quarter (it was a smaller one) figuring he'd eat until he was full and then quit. The litter bugger inhaled the whole thing! He did chew ... for the most part ... but only enough to get it swallowed. He does much better now. Chews like a champ. I just still can't believe that the little guy can handle those bones so easily.

I was told he was on Purina One before I got him ... it could be worse, but blech! I used to feed Pro-Plan (after having bad luck with Nutro) and had nothing but trouble with that either. No faith in Purina. Anyway, I'm not sure how I got to rambling about that .. sorry :-P

If Luka stops eating bones when he gets to teething, I guess I'll just grind his food for awhile. We just a grinder so we could start my momma's 8 wk old chi pup on raw. She's so tiny and I don't really like feeding wings (prefer more meat on my RMBs). She weighs 1lb 13oz.

Luka is still on the thin side too, but I want him that way, like you said thin is much better for the growing frame. I just didn't like having his spine and hip bones sticking out. You really can't see his ribs, but you couldn't when he was scary thin either, his fur is too fluffy. He looks amazingly like a medium sable shepherd pup but is just slightly fluffier than the average shepherd puppy. He'll probably turn up with a coat about like a malamute.

Anyway, I'm babbling and getting off topic, lol. I just like to talk about my dogs :-P

The person we got ours from was apparently giving the pups a bag of ol roy high protein and letting them tear it open and free eat, as there was shredded bits of bag all in the puppy enclosure and only one water bowl. So they were full of worms and awful food and learning poor feeding habits....in a filfthy area and the momma dog wasnt with them....i was livid.
I hope my report to the spca and humane society was worthwhile!!!

our pup still has puppy fuzz only with a few longer silky outer hairs starting to fill in. he has a super dense fuzz coat though to his ribs arent as obvious as they would be on other dogs.
he feels like a lamb.

He wont chew anything harder than a stuffed animal or flip flop or toilet paper right now ROFL. I did get him to gnaw on a big nylabone and put it on his back molar area and groaned while he chewed so i guess he is getting some back teeth in and its sore.
He only has his front needle teeth and one on each side in the back right now, nothing in the middle section of mouth.

Pups will eat until they pop in my experience so I try to err on the side of less being more with all of them, they all eat everything I give them no matter what. If there is food leftover i know there is an issue.
But with Levi our husky who passed some days he had to be handfed to eat anything at all, he was just to busy to eat i guess. And i had a roomate with malamute once and I remember the pooy guy on all fours trying to get his dog to eat.
I will be getting a grinder soon because I have a gulper and it makes me feel better having it ground!

I know he'll definitely eat until he pops! I read somewhere (and should have known better, I've had enough pups!) that most pups will limit themselves and quit when they're full. Not Luka! He was miserable for a couple days after eating so much! Of course, it didn't help that he got away from me that night and ran back up to his previous home. They then let him in the house and FED HIM! I don't understand why you would feed someone else's dog? Especially when I was on his tail (had to grab a flashlight to chase him through the woods) and he wasn't there more than five minutes! But yes, I know, bad me for not having him on a leash *sends self to crate*

I have that susan vega song stuck in my head now and the dogs are getting tired of hearing me sing it now im sure..lol its an earmworm. My name is Luka, I live on the second floor....thats all i know

Our pup gorged himself one morning when the cat knocked the gate down and he could get to the food.

He looked like he had swallowed a cantaloupe and i was worried he had managed to Bloat at 9 weeks....but he kept pooping every hour or so and letting out gas so I knew he would be fine, but boy was he miserable that day.

Now he gets small meals throughout the day and seems to be doing well with that, sleeping more and less franticly hyper and rough than he seems to be when he is hungry.

I think that as long as they arent acting too miserable, growth is steady and eyes and skin are bright and healthy...and their tummy growling isnt waking you up at night then all is well.

But when their little hip bones start sticking out it is a little scary..but im guessing at the rate this little guy is growing combined with the amount of energy he expells not matter what I fed him he wouldnt keep any weight on him for more than a minute.