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| Please bear in mind when reading topics pertaining to health issues, that most of these questions were answered by helpful Maltese owners with no formal education in veterinary medicine. When in doubt seek a professionals advise. |
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| Determining size (weight) by Gayle |  ORIGINAL MESSAGE:I have a little girl named Shelby who is 5 months (22 weeks) old. She is 4.5 lbs 7 inches from shoulders to floor and 8 inches from shoulders to tail. She was 2.5 lbs at 3 months. I feed her 1 cup of dry food divided into 3 servings plus treats and snacks. She also gets alot of excercise with my 10 lb. little mut and my 2 teenagers who love playing tug-of-war with her. The breeder told me she will be small about 5 lbs. My vet said she will be big about 8 lbs. I have read that they are full grown (by size) at 6 months. I can't see her growing twice her size in 1 month. Could someone please clear this up for me? |
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My little "Alex" is 6 months old tomorrow. Two weeks ago, at the vet, his weight was 3 lbs 9 oz. The vet said he can grow until he is 8 or 9 months old. The bone structure will be complete at 1 year old. I tried to weigh him today on my kitchen scale. He is a little less than 4 lbs. That's all I can help you with. I think your vet is probably right. Janine |
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Hi! I also have that same question. I bought my maltese yesterday. He is four months old and weights 4.4 pounds. The breeder also said that he was small and the vet today said that they double their 4 month weight by the time they're full grown. What gives? Thanks
Tricia |
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I would also be interested in this information. My little girl is 3.4 lbs at 14 weeks. I was wondering how big she will get.
carla |
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It is very difficult to tell about size unless you are very familiar with the lines (parents, grandparents,et al)that your puppy comes from, and even then it can be a "wait and see" situation. Some lines grow and mature quickly, and others mature more slowly. Some will have their full size and weight at 6 mo. and others may not mature until 10-12 mo.
One or two things I use to help me pre-judge size are size of feet and amount of bone. Big feet on a young puppy and heavy bone for the size of the puppy ususally are indicators that the puppy will be a larger Maltese. If you don't intend to show your Maltese, it's no big deal; you simply have more lbs. to love. (As an added benefit, I have noticed that the larger Malts tend to have fewer health problems on the whole--maybe someone else has noted this also???)
I have tried the weight record keeping, doubling the weight at 9 weeks and adding 1 lb. formula, etc. etc. suggested by various breeders and books; nothing in the formula department has ever worked out correctly. It is simply a matter of wait and see unless you buy your Malt as a young adult. |
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Everyone--check the archives. There have been a number of replies from Jay and Larry and other breeders about how to estimate the grownup size of your Maltese. I don't remember the exact timing, but it is something like double the weight at 16 weeks. Don't take this as gospel--look it up. I can tell you that Lucy was about 2.5 lbs at 4+ months and she weighs about 7 lb now at 2 yr, so this estimating may not always be 100% accurate. She did grow until around 8 mo. I remember that at 6 mo, she weighed about 6 lbs and I thought that was it, but again, nature had other ideas in mind. cathy brown |
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In response to your questions about determining size, most good breeders can give you an approximate adult weight of their breeding. Some breeders use the formula of weighing the puppies at 10 or 12 weeks and doubling it. In most cases that can come fairly close to the adult weight. Hope this helps. Sharon |
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There is a lot of truth in the "double the weight" theories - but, this holds true more
often in line-breedings than in total outcrosses. We can reliably estimate one of our pup's
expected full adult weight by first, doubling their weight at 12 weeks, and then applying
an overall assessment of bone structure and also the size of the feet. It helps when you have
used both the parents before in your breeding program - most particularly if it is a repeat
breeding of the same parents. As pups do develop at different rates of speed - even within the
same litter - there is no absolute "rule of thumb" that can be expected to provide utmost accuracy
in every situation.
Larry Stanberry Divine Maltese |
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I love these size questions!!! I want to make a wild guess. I think since she weighed 2.5# at 3 months--she's almost doubled her weight @ 5 mths. Now, add 1 pound and my guess is she'll weigh around 5-6 pounds full grown. Mine weighed 2.6 @ 3 mths and 3.8# @ 6 mths. I expect her to be around 5#. The breeder also told me she'd be around 5. Joy |
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Herald always had "sturdy" bones as a puppy. He is very thick and compact. I thought he would be around 7 or 8 pounds like his mother and father but he is 15 and a half pounds with his first birthday just a few days away! He is not overweight (you can easily feel his ribs) and is strong and healthy. He thinks he is a tiny maltese, that is he jumps and walks all over people, but we love him despite his "overgrowth". When we brought him home he was unbelievably tiny! From his story I think it is almost impossible to judge. He was four pounds at 4 months, and if you double that and add a pound you come up with nine, not 15! Ruth |
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A friend of mine acquired a Maltese that at the age of 6 months weighed 6.1 pounds. The pup was from Champion sire and dam, of proper standard size. At 12 months, this pup had grown to be 12 pounds! Marsha O & Jazz |
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Mika wieghed 6lbs at 6 months and now weighs in at just 7 lbs. At 3 months she was only 2 lbs. None of the doubling methods worked for me. Jackie and Mika Jackie F. |