Snoozie Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Morning! Are any of you kind DOLers able to tell me how much (approximately) my 4mth old Border Collie should weigh? I don't have access to scales ATM and am trying to make a well informed guestimate ETA: I'm only after an approximate weight going on the breed in general. Doesn't have to be "her" weight lol. Edited October 1, 2008 by Snoozie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 How long is a piece of string? It varies a lot depending on the build of the dog - and Border Collies can vary hugely. My two as adults are 510mm tall at withers and about 18kg (male) and 495 mm and about 14.5kg (female) - but they are both fairly light framed dogs, and I deliberately keep them on the quite lean side. Your best guide for an adult is to look at body condition - looked at from on top, you should be able to see a waist, and from the side, you should be able to see a tuck up. With hands on the back, thumbs at the spine, you should be able to feel ribs without having to press in - ribs are just lightly covered. For a 4 month old, I would be happy if they were covered a bit more, but by about 6 months, I like them to start matching the normal - normal/lean picture. Here are some links that might help. Purina body condition chart Ohio State vet school body condition chart Pet education article Bear in mind though, that my dogs are performance dogs, not conformation show dogs. I think show dogs are supposed to have more condition on them. I keep mine lean but well muscled to keep them able to perform for longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddii Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I agree with Tassie. My two are about the same size and weight as hers and are also athletes. Best thing is not to worry about the numbers and make sure you are happy your dog is in good condition - if you can't feel their ribs with only light pressure then perhaps they are carrying a little too much. If you do decide to put them on a doggy diet make sure the weight loss is gradual, especially with a pup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I am resigned to having 1 Fat BC and 1 Skinny BC. My older girl who has just turned 8 is 465mm and weighs in somewhere in the region of 17kg (although she did creep back to 18 recently). My 6 month old pup last time I weighed her was just a tad over 10kg no idea how tall she is but she is a midget . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddii Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I am resigned to having 1 Fat BC and 1 Skinny BC. My older girl who has just turned 8 is 465mm and weighs in somewhere in the region of 17kg (although she did creep back to 18 recently). My 6 month old pup last time I weighed her was just a tad over 10kg no idea how tall she is but she is a midget . LOL. My girl is 470mm and weights about 14.5kg these days - the vet nurse told me that she was getting too light at 16kg!! We now go to a different vet who loves to see your two because they are the 'right' weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Delta is 490mm tall and 13kg. Border collies vary so much in their size it is impossible to give you anything other than a giant ball park figure. Perhaps if you show us some photos (side on and from the top) we could give you a better indication. If she is really fluffy then a wet shot would be even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Yeah Reddii - there isn't a lot I can do about it. I did get her back to 16.8 kg but she was perpetually hungry (in her younger days I got her as low as 14). Before we got the pup she was hardly eating anything and I couldn't get her to move from around 17kg so I am just resigned to the fact she is going to stay that way. I certainly don't not exercise her adequately and she still barely eats anything. Lots of veggies and still she doesn't lose the weight. Oh well my other girl is a different kettle of fish and I think she is a tad underweight but then she won't eat and is forever running. ETA. I will take my fat BC and slink out of this thread before I get embarassed any further. Edited October 2, 2008 by ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 ETA. I will take my fat BC and slink out of this thread before I get embarassed any further. Waits for video of ness slinking off . Know how you feel ness - my previous BC boy was a chunky one - 545mm, but also solid - very hard to get weight down on him . I've probably got Mr Fergus a little too lean at present - he dropped some weight while we were at Nationals - not 'cos he was running (still got no control over him near agility gear) but he stresses quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 She just likes her food way to much and its NOT helping that her sister doesn't really like food that much and so stashes away or walks away from her dinner and no matter how hard I try and supervise them Ness still manages to get extras now that she wasn't getting before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozie Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Well I don't think she's overly fat or anything and she is growing a bit longer, but she certaintly isn't a skinny little pup by any means. I think she'd be close to the 10kg mark already ( I need to go and weigh her) and to me she looks fine, but I was told that maybe I've porked her up a bit too much???? I rescued her and gave her a home as a bub and she had worms so I've been feeding her probably a bit extra than what she really needed to make up for it lol. My camera's pretty crap but I'll see if I can get some shots of her today. That's if she will stay still enough! ETA: On the other hand though I am extremely cautious with my Lab about him becoming overweight and I've been told he's not fat enough...soooo...I really don't know lol. Edited October 2, 2008 by Snoozie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Hey Snoozie - sounds like you're doing fine. As I said, I'm happy to have little pups a bit on the cuddly side - but from now on, I'd probably be trying for that nice moderate body condition. Sounds like you've overcome her initial problems (bless you for rescuing her0, so you can just treat her as normal now. If she's been on puppy food, she could start switching to adult - helps to stop over rapid growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie N Her Aussie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Morning!Are any of you kind DOLers able to tell me how much (approximately) my 4mth old Border Collie should weigh? I don't have access to scales ATM and am trying to make a well informed guestimate ETA: I'm only after an approximate weight going on the breed in general. Doesn't have to be "her" weight lol. My AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD puppy weighs in at 12kg. but he is a boy... and it depends too on if she's a bulky bc or a petite one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 All this talk of sub-20kg Border Collies is making me feel all warm and fuzzy. I remember once telling the owner of a 48 kg BC that her dog was about 3 times it's normal body weight, and she looked at ME like I had 3 heads. "She's just plumped up a little over winter". So she was just a foot stool before, not a coffee table? I also get very excited about 30kg Labs. Ok fine, I just get overly excited about lean, athletic dogs in general. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozie Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 Ok...so it's not as bad as I thought I just went and weighed the little one and she's 8.5kg. I'll ease up on the extra feeding a bit now, i'm more than happy with her weight. Now next question. Cause it won't take long before she's up around the 10kg mark and I want to get enough wormer/flea stuff to last six months, is there an issue with me getting the 10kg-25kg dose stuff and giving that to her now? Oh and here's some photos of little miss ratbag looking very pleased with herself after nabbing some bacon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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