How Big?

I just brought home a 9-week-old female Maltese. She is the sweetest little girl I've ever met. However, I have two questions. 1. She is quite a bit bigger than her sister, and she is quite the little porker, how can I estimate how big she will get? Will she be half her grown size by 5-6 months? 2. Today is the third day she has been with me. I can't quite get her to eat on her own yet. She takes a couple of morsels of food from my hand, but she will not eat any off a saucer or dish. What can I do to get her to start eating? By her size right now it doesn't appear as though she's had any trouble eating up till now. Thanks for any suggestions offered.
Angela Mapplebeck

• When I first brought Lucy home, the breeder suggested mixing a TINY bit of catfood (canned) with her dry food for a few days. He said that puppies love catfood and will eat it if nothing else. Recently my veterinarian told me that catfood is very, very rich and puts weight on fast, but the richness is why the dogs love it. (I inherited my mom's siamese cat a few months ago when she died, and have to hogtie Lucy to keep her from the dry Purina Cat Chow; meantime, I have to coax her to eat dry dog food...go figure!. Anyhow, I was concerned about her chowing down on the catfood, so asked the vet about it.)

  You might try to wet catfood mix for your new baby until it is used to eating whatever you are feeding it. But don't do it for more than a week or so.
  Cathy Brown

• The growth rates among certain lines of Maltese vary quite a bit. Some mature very slowly but for a longer period of time (even up to 18-20 months) and others grow quickly to a point and then quit.

  Usually, you can take the pup's weight at 12 weeks of age and the double it - depending on the adult size of the parents, you can then add a half of a pound or three-quarters of a pound to the pup's doubled 12 week weight - this should approximate the full adult weight (given that it is not overfed and allowed to get FAT. It seems as though that is not your current problem.

  Try the Gerber Baby Food Chicken Sticks (in the bottle). Yhis usually perks up any dog's interest in eating. Smash it up into the dry kibble if you wish, but it's not unusual for a little one to go "off their feed" a little just after going to a new home. HOWEVER, make sure it EATS EVERY DAY !! They sometimes fool you in that they don't eat a great deal, anyway, but a 9 wk old pup can go hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) very fast if they are not eating at all. Watch for signs of lethargy and weakness. I'm not trying to scare you, but I often recommend against a new pup being placed prior to 12 weeks of age. Let me know if I can be of more help.
  Larry Stanberry - Divine Maltese

• I have just bought my first maltese male who is now 9 wks old. My pup also would not eat very much at first, but since I am crate training him, I feed him in his crate which seemed to help. He now eats three times a day with no problem. I'm sure its just being in a new environment and the crate makes him feel secure.
  Tracy