[Sami.G]

Can anyone tell me how old this little guy is?

He's 6 lbs and supposedly 9 weeks old. Can that be right if he's supposed to be a German? No, we don't have papers just video and pictures of the parents. BTW he was severely emaciated when we picked him up, only weighing 4 pounds. He had no fat on him and very little muscle. We could feel every rib and vertebrae. He barely had enough energy to stand and walk around. The family we got him from werent very good animal care takers and he wasn't from a breeder. A guy's two pet rottweilers wound up breeding and that's how this little dude and his sister came to be. He also has giardia, that we are treating him for. He's gained 2 pounds in five days and keeps getting bigger. Is this normal for some rottweilers puppies to be this little at 9 weeks? Could he be a runt? I was thinking we were lied to and he's more around 6 weeks?

If you're wondering why we took him in the condition he was, well they didn't even have his mom with him anymore. He was staying at a different house from his mom. And he was seriously underweight and the people who had him didn't care, he had conjunctivitis/upper respiratory infection, told to use by a vet, and the people we got him from just shrugged and just told to "wipe his eyes, its no biggie" when we asked them about it. So, my boyfriend and I took him because we knew we would actually care for him.

All these pictures were taken March 30th 2021, except for the one with the pink blanket, that was the day we picked him up.

 

[big black dogs]

Welcome to the forums. He does look about 6 weeks of age...but if he's had poor nutrition and worms...it could set him back in growth. Without papers or a pedigree...you will just have to guess his birthday. Has he been seen by your own vet? If not he needs to be seen , and most likely wormed again, and he needs his first vaccinations.

Good that he is gaining weight. What food are you feeding? and how often per day are you feeding? Only dogs from Germany or are from German sire and dam are German. BYB's often try to upsell their breeding by saying they are "german". Sounds like he was BYB bred, and I suggest you get some pet insurance on him quickly, before genetic things with poor breeding start showing up.

Enjoy your pup, and train and love him. I'm sure he's going to be a fun dog even though he comes from not such great beginnings.

 

[Djdj86]

Can anyone tell me how old this little guy is?

He's 6 lbs and supposedly 9 weeks old. Can that be right if he's supposed to be a German? No, we don't have papers just video and pictures of the parents. BTW he was severely emaciated when we picked him up, only weighing 4 pounds. He had no fat on him and very little muscle. We could feel every rib and vertebrae. He barely had enough energy to stand and walk around. The family we got him from werent very good animal care takers and he wasn't from a breeder. A guy's two pet rottweilers wound up breeding and that's how this little dude and his sister came to be. He also has giardia, that we are treating him for. He's gained 2 pounds in five days and keeps getting bigger. Is this normal for some rottweilers puppies to be this little at 9 weeks? Could he be a runt? I was thinking we were lied to and he's more around 6 weeks?

If you're wondering why we took him in the condition he was, well they didn't even have his mom with him anymore. He was staying at a different house from his mom. And he was seriously underweight and the people who had him didn't care, he had conjunctivitis/upper respiratory infection, told to use by a vet, and the people we got him from just shrugged and just told to "wipe his eyes, its no biggie" when we asked them about it. So, my boyfriend and I took him because we knew we would actually care for him.

All these pictures were taken March 30th 2021, except for the one with the pink blanket, that was the day we picked him up.

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So apart from how he was treated, he was of a litter of two? Sounds like he's had a bit of good luck finding you 👍

Its hard to tell how old he is, but as he gets older its only going to be the difference of a few weeks difference so won't mean much. For now get him as healthy as possible then use your judgement on how he's acting to gauge his age in terms of starting introducing/socialising/getting shots and walking him outdoors etc. 8 to 12 weeks is an important age to do alot of things, but at the moment in this situation, it seems its more important to get him healthy, then pick up the rest after.

 

[Djdj86]

Lovely pictures by the way, bless him

 

[Agis]

He's still got blue eyes, so I'd say younger than 9 weeks. How young I'm not sure though.

 

[Sami.G]

Welcome to the forums. He does look about 6 weeks of age...but if he's had poor nutrition and worms...it could set him back in growth. Without papers or a pedigree...you will just have to guess his birthday. Has he been seen by your own vet? If not he needs to be seen , and most likely wormed again, and he needs his first vaccinations.

Good that he is gaining weight. What food are you feeding? and how often per day are you feeding? Only dogs from Germany or are from German sire and dam are German. BYB's often try to upsell their breeding by saying they are "german". Sounds like he was BYB bred, and I suggest you get some pet insurance on him quickly, before genetic things with poor breeding start showing up.

Enjoy your pup, and train and love him. I'm sure he's going to be a fun dog even though he comes from not such great beginnings.

Hey, thanks for replying. Yes, we did take him to our vet and she said he's 9 weeks, but I'm still just so blown away by that. He's so little that he doesn't look to be 9 weeks! And also yes, he was a BYB. We are starting his vaccines sometime next week and he is being treated for giardia. Right now we are feeding him some wet food by blue and blue wilderness, red meat formula, with some boiled chicken as a treat.

 

[Sami.G]

So apart from how he was treated, he was of a litter of two? Sounds like he's had a bit of good luck finding you 👍

Its hard to tell how old he is, but as he gets older its only going to be the difference of a few weeks difference so won't mean much. For now get him as healthy as possible then use your judgement on how he's acting to gauge his age in terms of starting introducing/socialising/getting shots and walking him outdoors etc. 8 to 12 weeks is an important age to do alot of things, but at the moment in this situation, it seems its more important to get him healthy, then pick up the rest after.

Hi! Yes, he was a litter or two, that we know of. And he was smaller than his sister. We thought maybe he was the runt. We are hoping we didn't get screwed over and wound up with a mut for the price we paid......if we did hlget screwed, oh well, we are just happy that we got to him when we did and that he's going to live a spoiled life with us. Thank you for your insight!

 

[Sami.G]

He's still got blue eyes, so I'd say younger than 9 weeks. How young I'm not sure though.

Okay, that's what I thought too. Thanks for the insight😊

 

[Agis]

Even if he is 9 weeks, he can catch up on a bad start. Agis is a Rottie mix and way smaller, but he's still a great guy, if your guy does end up small.

 

[StellasDad]

I salute YOU! For taking him into your home. No matter what happens he will obviously be much better with you. It was obviously LOVE At First SIGHT
I don't have a direct answer for you, just this info.
Our Stella was 13 pounds at 8 weeks and now as an adult 80 pounds. So not a big dog.
Best of luck !

 

[#5moose]

You did a great thing with the little guy, u should be very proud of yourselves !!!