I have read threads here and the other board about puppy weight at 6 months old and Katie seems to be at least half of the lightest dogs' weights.

She is my foster and was purchased from a breeder along with her littermate and kept outside in a small kennel most of the time. She was surrendered by her owners but they kept her sister (who was reported to not be as thin but I didn't meet her for size comparison).

The owners gave me a vet record card that stated her DOB as 12/1/10. She is quite thin but I don't think she is more than 10 lbs underweight. Her height seems very small as well. Just wondering if anyone has every had a 7 month old this small or if I should be worried about something else? We are having her vet check in the morning.

Some pictures. I tried to pick ones where you can compare her size to things you may be familiar with.

I don't have Oscar's vet records here with me at work, but I'm pretty sure he was "small" for his age when he was 6 months when compared to a lot of dogs on here. I wouldn't worry about it if she seems otherwise healthy...as you have probably read, Oscar has always been thin because of his many bouts of giardia and SIBO which started around the same age.

She does look a bit underweight...and the obvious first question I would ask is what she is being fed and how much of it she is being feed and how many times/day she is being fed.

She is a gorgeous petite girl, though!

I wonder if Halo (Cassidy's mom) might be similar in size? She always seemed more petite to me, but Debbie would have to chime in.

My dog was similar to Oscar with the digestive issues and until she hit about 3 we struggled with her weight over all.

Wow, so small and so beautiful!

If she is about 10 lbs underweight and can catch up, then she might still grow to a weight within the range of the breed standard. But of course, as you are concerned, her growth could also be stunted due to poor nutrition. Some number crunching:

Acc. to the SV/FCI breed standard, the weight of adult females is to range from 22 kg to 32 kg (48.5 lbs to 70.5 lbs). Many females today are above breed standard, esp. in the USA.

Iff she is ca 10 lbs underweight, her ideal weight would be ca 38 lbs now.

At 7 months, puppy weight is about 75 % of adult weight (I use a pdf chart for this, I'll try to find whether the link for downloading is still somewhere)

For a pup of 38 lbs at 7 mths this would indicate an ideal adult weight of ca 50 lbs.

This little girl's coloring and build look to me like many dogs of WG WL. The WG WL dogs tend to be found on the lower end of the size/weight spectrum for the breed, agile dogs with a ratio of body surface to body volume that is optimal for endurance work, as well as lightweight enough to work on deep snow without breaking in. My favorite kind of GSD!

A shelter here had a b/t adult female whose ideal weight was about 49 lbs, lovely dog. Anna had EPI but since EPI typically develops in the young adult, I doubt it had an impact on her growth. Found a stray in the Boston area, unknown ancestry.

Your foster girl's coloring and build look exactly like my Feli whose ideal weight was about 54 lbs, for those who like to see ribs it would have been less. At GSD meetings here, I was seriously asked whether she was a GSD dwarf! In Germany Feli would have looked quite normal for a GSD, although there are also many larger females. Feli had been a stray from WV, so nothing known about her ancestry.

Chippy would be ecstatic about this little girl!

Thanks everyone for the reassurance.

My Raven is large female (82 lbs at 3.5 yrs old) and I thought Kaiser was small (68 lbs at 1.5 yrs old) so this girl seems so tiny to me. I remember barely being able to pick Raven up at 3 months and I can pick up Katie no problem so she just seems so much younger to me.

I'm sure someone will be excited to have a beautiful compact GSD when she is ready for adoption.

This is the link to the all breed growth chart that I had found helpful in the past www.petscorner.com.my/pdf/puppy-chart.pdf

The little girl will thrive under your care!

I wonder if she just has some catching up to do. I found a chart that gives a 7 month old female as 54 lbs and she's half that so I wonder if she's a bit malnourished (obviously as she's underweight).

Kenya is 7 years old, 50lbs, all shepherd (UKC Champion to boot). If the dog is 10lbs underweight that might seem about right. She'll just be a smaller, fine female.

Kenya came to my mind when I read this post earlier. I would love a smaller GSD like this My Kira is about 60 lbs and I love her size.

I'd say your foster is just going to be a smaller female.

Molly is 55#'s at 20 months. At 8 months she was 48#'s. I have never seen one as small as her, around here they are all great big mammoths.

Thanks again everyone. I figured she'd be small, I had just never heard of any as small as her. I'm really starting to love the small ones.

She's got a big personality to make up for her size though and really starting to settle in (and cause some mischief).

Diabla is 54 lbs. and at 7 months old she was 39,6 lbs. She is the second smaller GSD I know. Are you sure your foster is full GSD?

As sure as anyone can be without getting the dog from a reputable breeder or having papers. The only thing about her that doesn't seem GSD to me is her size. Well, truthfully, her face reminds me of a fox but I'd bet money she isn't mixed with fox. The previous owners claim the father is an import from Germany and they saw the mother (not sure if they physically saw the father).

I was wondering if she might be younger than 7 months.

I don't remember Dante being that "knuckly" (the joint on the front legs) at 7 months, seems it was more like that at 5-6 months.

HOWEVER - that was 7 years ago so I may just not be remembering right!!

What ever her age, she's darling!

I also noticed her "baby-puppy wrist knuckles!" I too wonder if perhaps she's younger than suspected. Adorable girl!

I suspected that she may be younger too but they provided a birthdate even though the first of the month seems to be odd. Vet did say she has her adult teeth.

Jamie, I cannot get your little foster Katie out of my mind. How did she develop, how much does she weigh now?

Such a beautiful pup! I love the 'small', agile GSDs. And I have a soft spot for sables. You see why I am coming back to your thread.