1 pound 8 ounce dog. Anyone else ever have a dog this small?

Question

My yorkie is one year old now and only weighs 1 pound and 8 ounces. She is 5 inches tall and 6 inches long. Its strange to have such a teeny dog. She is the love of my life, but I've never met anyone else with so small a dog and I'd like to meet other people who know what it's like. : )

She’s a good girl & deserves to b taken care of for as long as she can live. I think it's terrible that anyone would suggest I abandon her because she needs extra care. Shame on u!
I know she's not normal, but she’s alive & happy & so far healthy. Her pedigree goes back 10 generations, (all 4-8 pound dogs.) She’s been checked for liver shunts, kidney problems, thyroid problems, heart problems and anything else I could think of. Vet still says there’s nothing “wrong” with her, she’s just tiny. I would never breed her, that would surely be a senseless end to her life . I would like to say I would never breed ANY dog. I believe breeding should b left to professionals & only breed standard dogs should be bred.
I'm hoping to get her up to 2 pds, I do give her lots of extra nutrition under my vets recommendations.

Answer 1

Well, you are just a few ounces over the World record smallest dog! > http://www.sptimes.com/2003/04/22/SouthPinellas/World_s_tiniest_dog.shtml

this one thought they had the smallest, but is just 2 ounces less than yours> http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-littledog2707apr27,0,7141107.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

Here is a video of one that is about the size of yours> http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=23162

I think that your little dog is smaller than the last record holder.

Answer 2

I am sure she is the love of your life--but also at risk of some major health issues. Especially because she is a Yorkie. Actually, she would be considered a normal sized 10 week old puppy--clearly something went wrong during her development.

She will likely need patella surgery at some point on both knees simply because injury is inevitable due to her small size. A dog this small can actually dislocate a knee on the kitchen floor from sliding or even from the sudden strong vibration from passing trucks when she is nearby. Grade 1 or Grade 2 injuries do not require repair but usually become arthiritic within a few months of the injury. Grade 3 patellae are painful and make walking difficult. With Grade 4 the dog cannot support its weight at all and is unable to stand.

Unfortunately, because of her small size and extremely low weight, she is not a candidate for surgery because the anesthesia risk would be fairly critical. If she was at least 2 pounds, she could risk Isofluorane gas for anesthesia--but even that would be risky given her weight. That means any health issue, knees--or anything else--may be a problem.

Yorkies also have a predisposition for hypoglycemia--a blood sugar disorder which can cause sudden collapse, seizuring, and death. This is brought on by an unstable blood surgar level which causes the liver to basically shut down and leads to problems with the brain as well. These kinds of problems are also common with dogs that have not been properly weaned from their mom and taken away from her at too early an age. Puppies are not fully weaned just because they eat kibble--they have to be able to eat complete meals several times a day. They learn to "finish the bowl" rather than play while eating with their mom at 9 weeks of age. Unfortunately, with Yorkies hypoglycemia is a problem whether or not the puppy was properly weaned.

Symptoms of at risk Yorkies are extremely small size, small bones, and underweight. These are dogs that often do not eat enough to maintain normal health. Many times, they will ignore their food and literally starve themselves to the point of collapse. There are no mild symptoms of impending collapse.

Hypoglycemic shock is also brought on when the dog is under stress--from activity, from a change in the environment at the home (like house guests), from heat. I had a Yorkie that I took on a 6 hour trip to visit family during the summer. My car air conditioning worked fine the entire trip, and I made two stops. As soon as I got home and was unloading the car, my Yorkie collapsed.

While I am sure you love her, be prepared for some health issues down the line. Meanwhile I would discuss some alternative feeding options with your vet to try to get a little more weight on her and keep her blood levels in the normal range in order to take preventative measures as much as possible.

Good luck.

Answer 3

i have a 4 lb chihuahua and that is small as well but i always keep a tube of nutri cal on hand in case he does not feel well or does not eat . That is a vet reccomended issue for small dogs when they get hit by low blood sugar which is common in yorkies . Do you have a tube of it if not get one . and I would not risk any kind of sugery with her as she is so small . what does she sleep in a bird cage ? there is a lady is st .pete florida who has a male yorkie called tiny tim and he sleeps in a bird cage and no she does not breed him . so you see he is probably the same size as your dog . she has a website and i believe it is called tiny tim .com. not sure about that.

Answer 4

regrettably, because you comprehend it really is parvo, you ought to have taken it to the vet already. once a dogs receives parvo and the disease is in its stepped ahead stages like this, there is fairly not something you may want to do for the dogs. it really is the position you want to go back to a decision for the sake of the dogs and positioned the dogs out of its soreness and suffering and positioned the dogs down. it really is a tragic reality of existence, a existence lesson that faces us all finally and it really is frustrating to address, yet be solid for the dogs sake and do the right element. you also favor to study a lesson from this. once you get a dogs, take it immediately to the vet and performance its images performed frequently and do once a 12 months examine ups. Parvo is one hundred% preventable.

Answer 5

ouch, tha'ts a little harsh but she has a point, it's great you love your dog, but her size is NOT normal definately not within breed standards and most likely not healthy. I'm not trying to criticize you but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T try to breed her, it will probably kill her and her puppies and if she lives they probably wont. I know that may not be anywhere in your thoughts but never hurts to reiterate it. But it's really neat you have a dog that little, mine are huge and I prefer big dogs but that's really awesome! just take good care of her and make sure she gets some AWESOME nutrition she'll probably need it later on! Good luck with her!

Answer 6

I have never seen one that small. But good luck finding someone to share your stories with.

Answer 7

Sorry but that is NOT a dog. Take it back, tell them they gave you a rat by mistake and get a real dog! Seriously, I am amazed she has survived and pray you are not thinking of breeding her.