Trooper and Brunson turned 7 months old on the 9th of this month and at that time weighed 66 and 77 lbs (their Dad was a big dog). At times it is very tough to get Troop to finish his food and have tried various soft foods mixed with his kibble. That helps for a while, then he gets picky again. We've tried fish oil, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. and they all work for a while then he gets picky again.
Our vet told us that a good way to judge whether they are over or under weight is to feel their ribs. He told us you should be able to feel some meat between the ribs and not sharp ridges. Trooper has always been on the thin side in the rib area. We just try to have patience with him when he's eating.
Alot of people have suggested stewing some meat and veggies to mix in and i think with Trooper that would help him eat.
It may also be a good thing that Oscar is not growing too fast. It could help him avoid joint issues and i have heard that smaller berners may have longer life expectancies. Good luck with him, let us know how he is doing.

Wow - Trooper and Oscar sound exactly the same regarding their food pickiness. Oscar used to love kibble and rice and now acts like it is poison. Then we tried kibble mixed with soft food and he loved that at first, and now hates it. We even tried venison and other meats. The general theme is that he eats anything once but then acts like he hates it. He used to eat anything if it had cheese on it but has shunned that too.

I just felt his ribs and there are definitely some sharp ridges so we will do what we can to feed him a variety of things and try mixing things into the usual combos.

I agree that it is probably good for him to be on the smaller side as it will be better on his joints. I will be happy if he puts on another 25-30 pounds and fills out a little bit.

We might be getting him a little brother soon as well (another Berner) but will pick a bigger guy this time so we have one small and one large. Do you love having two Berners? Is it double the amount of work or does it work well?

Welllllll.... you can call us nuts., because we actually have 3 berners, lol. We got our girl Vayda just over 2 years ago and fell in love with the breed. When we lost our small dog we decided to get another berner (one more). While talking to the breeder we asked about the little guy that had had a few problems (Troop has a heart murmur and a couple other problems).....well she told us that he would need to go to a home who understood his problems and could deal with them. Being crazy, we welcomed Trooper into our homes as well and couldn't be happier, he is quite the character.
As far as being more work.....it actually seems to be easier most of the time. They all keep each other company when we can't be around and are all such good friends.

I'm glad to hear that you have three and still have your sanity We actually brought home a little brother for Oscar last night. He isn't little though. He is a 10 week old BMD male (name TBD although we might go with Otis) and already weighs 30 pounds. His paws at 10 weeks are already larger than our 10 month old Oscar. I forgot how much work it is to house train a BMD but we will barrel through it. At least our family is now complete. I don't think we will be adding a third though

Wow! Congrats on your new addition....yes the house training can be a pain but its over before you know it. I bet you will love having 2!!!

I have no idea of Gracies current weight but she was 23 lbs at 13 weeks
About 55 pounds at 8 months

i'm guessing she is about 65 -70 now... She is a bit over a year old.

She's a little thing but her proportions are nice. Not really super stocky like a male but not leggy either. Her Mom was small and her Dad was big.

My Kali is now 7 months and weighs in at 85lb...she was 80lb at 6 months. Her sister is much smaller (she's not with me, the breeder kept her) weighing in at 55lbs at 6 months. I think my Kali is going to be a big girl!!

The key with size is to know what you are starting with at 8 weeks, and then monitor growth by ensuring 2-3 lbs per week (two growth spurts at 4 and 8 months may mean more for a week or two but otherwise this is key for orthopedic development). A general guide most Berner owners use is 10 lbs a month (except that 3-4 month spurt and 8 month spurt).

According to breed standard, a typical 8 week old male is 18-20 lbs and an 8 week old female is 12-15 lbs. At 3 months, my last female was 22 lbs. and at 4.5 months she was 41 lbs to give you an idea of growth and how that spurt impacts things.

And for those of you who think that because you got the smallest in the litter, thereby meaning you will have a smaller Berner - not so. This has absolutely no bearing on overall long term growth.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen the smallest in the litter become the biggest adult in the litter - true. And picking the biggest 8 week old puppy does NOT mean you will have a big one. I have seen no correlation to this whatsoever.

My pup will be 5 month next week and she weighs about 26 pounds. I feed her 3 times a day and she get multiple treats for training purposes. My vet isn't worried, by after reading all these posts, I'm not so sure.

How do I upload an image to this thread? I have one of her on today's walk.

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AnnetteG

I found the answer to the upload image ?, Here is the pic of Moca on her walk today.

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AnnetteG