Size stats are in on 109 of the puppies we've produced over the last 15+ years.
For those who didn't know, I've been collecting current weight, height, diet, and overall body condition on all of the pups we've bred for about a month now.
We've said many times throughout the years that birth weight and size don't mean anything in relation to adult size.
However, because of how big the current Oo litter pups are, I wanted to do a little study to see if that is really accurate.
I went through and looked at the largest & smallest pups (at birth) in each litter and compared to largest and smallest in each litter at their current ages.
I also looked at the pups' weights at 5 weeks old, which is the age we usually stop doing daily weigh-ins, and looked at largest & smallest compared to current adult weights.
It was also really fun to look at overall male vs. female average weights, as well as highs, lows, and median & mode weights across all of these pups & litters.
Across 22 litters and 109 dogs, here's what we found:
The biggest pup in any given litter is the biggest adult only 18% of the time.
The biggest pup at 5 weeks is the biggest adult 36% of the time.
The smallest pup at birth is the smallest adult only 14% of the time.
The smallest pup at 5 weeks is the smallest adult 41% of the time.
Here's the chart of male/female averages and other fun numbers, too:
In looking through all the data, the one thing that's not detected in the numbers, but became evident very quickly to me was how much genetics really do play into things...we have lines that consistently produced bigger dogs, and those that consistently produced smaller ones...and of course, a few that were a complete 'mixed bag' with both small and large adults!
For those out there really interested, here's a break down of averages by litter:
Quantum Physics litter (Divo x Penelope):
Average male: 36lbs
High: 40
Low: 34
(no female data)
Chinese Delights I (Timmy x Penelope):
Average male: 39
Average female: 28
High: 40
Low: 27
Chinese Delights II (Jett x Polliwog):
Average male: 36
Average female: 33
High: 36
Low: 33
Shaken, Not Stirred (Jett x Polliwog):
Average male: 42
Average female: 27
High: 43
Low: 27
Mambo Italiano (Clovis x Bella):
Average male: 37
Average female: 30
High: 39
Low: 29
Abracadabra (Fermi x Lizzie):
Average male: 33
Average female: 37
High: 38
Low: 32
Pulp Fiction (Feynman x Spicy Duck):
Average male: 40.5
Average female: 36
High: 41
Low: 36
Matrix (Johnson x Polliwog):
Average male: 37
Average female: 27
High: 41
Low: 27
Olde Time Candy I (Jett x Bella):
Average male: 42
Average female: 27
High: 55
Low: 26
Olde Time Candy II (Timmy x Penelope):
Average male: 45
Average female: 30
High: 45
Low: 30
Olde Time Candy III (Bok Choy x Spicy Duck):
Average male: 40
Average female: 39
High: 44
Low: 33
Bond I (Johnson x Polliwog):
Average male: 40
Average female: 31
High: 42
Low: 31
Bond II (Chewy x Lychee):
Average male: 35
Average female: 27
High: 37
Low: 24
Halloween I (Jett x Bella):
Average male: no male data
Average female: 27
High: 28
Low: 26
Halloween II (Alfredo x Spicy Duck):
Average male: 41
Average female: 35
High: 47
Low: 36
W's (Johnson x Lychee):
Average male: 35.5
Average female: 24
High: 36
Low: 23
W2's (Bok Choy x Trinity):
Average male: 37
Average female: 38.5
High: 39
Low: 37
Young Americans - the Bowie litter (Bok Choy x Spicy Duck):
Average male: 50
Average female: 40
High: 54
Low: 35
Power of Cheese (Johnson x Lychee):
Average male: 34
Average female: 27
High: 40
Low: 26
Operation Stealth I (Bok Choy x Theodora):
Average male: 37
Average female: 31
High: 37
Low: 24
Operation Stealth II (Alfredo x Trinity):
Average male: 30
Average female: 23
High: 33
Low: 23
Krinkle Kids (Baxter x Dots):
Average male: 35
Average female: 29
High: 36
Low: 28
Cool! Nerdy! My questions: 1. Are you able to report total number of females and total number of male pups you have produced? 2. Did food type correlate at all to current size? 3. Does height factor? 4. Will this information lead to any changes in your program?
ReplyDeleteGreat questions! So yes - as you'd expect, I keep copious records, as is required by AKC, but mine go way above and beyond, due to my nerdiness, lol.
DeleteSo: 1. Data for this study was on all pups 9 mos and older, so didn't include my last 3 litters, ages 4 weeks, 19 weeks, and 21 weeks. Total males produced in that grouping is 83. Total females in that grouping is 67, with a loss of 7 deceased as pups, and 9 deceased as adults, so that brings total to 134. We got 109 responses. So a loss of data at 19% (or basically, 81% of owners with living pups reported in).
Food type did not correlate, as far as we could tell, but not seeing the dogs in person, that's just a guess. My own experience of switching to raw from kibble has yielded LEANER dogs who actually weigh MORE. I assume that the different body condition & weights is due to muscle weighing more than fat. My own guys are literally physically skinnier (more muscle, with MUCH less body fat), but they weigh more than they did when they ate kibble.
3. Height, on the dogs I got it on, definitely factored in. The taller they are, the heavier they are, in most cases.
4. We've actually made some changes in our program prior to this study - aiming for more moderate size (the breed as a whole, in our opinion, is leaning toward looking more like labs than sighthounds in some cases!), and aiming for more girls (just easier to place them in homes for some reason). We've been successful with the girl/boys ratio - my early litters, we were 'boy heavy' in 70% of the litters. In my recent litters (like Kua's!), we've been able to breed early in the mama's cycle and produce more girls...so we've switched over to being 'girl heavy' in 80% of the latest litters!
Love the data! Thx!
DeleteThanks for doing this study! Interesting and useful information.
ReplyDelete