As a breeder and Weimaraner lover, I get this question all the time! So let’s cut to the chase, how big will your Weimaraner puppy get?
Size is Genetic
Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula to really know the answer. Most often the response you will get to this question is that you need to look at the size of your puppy’s parents. Size is a genetic trait so knowing how big your puppy’s parents are is a good place to start.
This can get tricky because your puppy will not necessarily be similar to his parents, depending on the breeder. If a breeder has developed a long and consistent line, then you will have a way better idea than if your breeder tends to outcross more.
If you know the size of your puppy’s parents and grandparents, you’ll have a much better idea, but as any breeder will tell you, genetics can be tricky! There always seems to be that giant puppy or midget born to two normal sized parents, so looking at the grandparents can be very helpful.
In addition to ultimate size, rate of growth also seems to be genetic, with some families growing much more slowly than others. So just because you may have a 65 pound Weimaraner at 6 months old doesn’t mean that that dog will be 100 pounds at 12 months – unless you let him get FAT!
Poll Results: Weimaraner Weight Chart
While I can’t tell you for sure how big your Weim puppy will get, I polled over a hundred owner of Weim puppies of various ages to get averages for both males and females at different ages. This is not a scientific method by any means but will help you get a basic idea where your pup stands on the curve.
One issue that came up while collecting this data: Most Weim puppies are a little bit fat. And most Weim owners really had no idea. So before you compare your Weim to the chart, keep that in mind and don’t be afraid to have your pup show a little rib!
Is Your Weimaraner Puppy Waaaay Bigger?
Your puppy may simply be bigger, be heavier boned or growing faster than most. But if you think your pup may be fat, check out this article on how to determine if your Weim is fat.
A lean puppy is far better than even a little bit of puppy chub! According to most research, overweight puppies have an increased risk of hip dysplasia as well as other joint, bone, and muscle problems.
Excess calories and nutrition spur faster growth. Your puppy will grow super fast until he’s about 8 months old (when he should be 80% or more of his adult weight), and any additional stress from excess weight on those joints can cause major problems as your pup gets older. Some breeders will void a health contract if your puppy is overweight during these months — it’s that much of a risk factor!
Your puppy may have extra skin, but feel along his rib cage. What’s there? Rib bones should be easily felt. The muscles of his shoulders and thighs should be easily seen and firm to the touch. Hip bones may be easily seen and/or felt, depending on your dog’s structure. Some dogs will always show some hip, it’s just how they’re made.
As with an adult dog, when viewed from above, your pup should have an “hourglass” appearance, and his spine should be easy to feel, but not prominent, as long as he has a strong, straight topline. A “puppy belly” is normal and will be less noticeable as your dog gets older.
Your puppy will likely go through a stage of growth around four months when he is all legs. It is normal for him to look very slender to you during this time, he’ll grow out of it!
Male dogs can be hard to keep weight on as they go through adolescence (age eight to 18 months) but females don’t seem to be quite as extreme in that regard.
You should also know that just because a pup is the biggest in his litter at eight weeks it does not guarantee that he will be the biggest as an adult. It only means that he eats the most as a puppy!
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I’ve shared this and the “Weimaraner Weight” post with a large group of folks who recently were discussing how to tell if your dog is fat or not. I’ve met more than few people who think that if you can see your dog’s ribs at all, it’s too thin.
If someone is experienced with their diets, please send me an email. Currently looking for good sources on owning my first weimaraner. I was recently concerned that I wasn’t feeding him enough as he is looking pretty lean, however, this article put me at ease. But I wouldn’t argue conversing with someone who could tell me for sure if I am doing the right thing at the moment. Thanks for your time. 🙂 I’m just a new mom wanting to take good care of my pup. Mr. Tobi Valentine.
My 5 month old Weim Hazel was incredibly skinny from the start. She also had white spots on her nails that made me wonder wether she had some nutritional deficiencies. I started her on a raw dried food 3X day added a couple of drops of good quality fish oil and a tablespoon of raw canned food and a probiotic powder. I’m relieved to say that in the past three months she has steadily grown strong lean with a gleaming coat and shiney nails. Bixbi Pet is the food I used because my daughter’s Visla and my Son’s rescued Lab/Pit thrive on it. Hope this helps
Interesting topic! I am currently entertaining three 5 month old female puppies. I also have three adult bitches ages 10.5 (Puppies’ granddam) who weighs 54 #, a seven year old (Puppies’ dam) who weighs 52 # and a six year old (puppies aunt) who weighs 53 #. The adults range in height from 23.75 to 24.5. The puppies’ sire is a very moderate dog, I would say a little over 25″ and probably weighs a little over 60#.
The puppies are out of working parents; they’ve been going to a handling class for socialization, etc. Almost to a person everyone comments on how “skinny” they are, except for one couple who had owned a Weim in the past and said “Well finally a Weimaraner who is not too fat”.
Our dogs are also smaller (and skinnier!) than most, as we keep them in working condition. Interestingly as I plugged in numbers, my dogs were almost always under the curve, and ended up being smaller than the “average” as well: 50-56lbs and 23.5-25.5″ I have gotten comments about my puppies especially being too skinny during that 3-7 months stage. I take it as a compliment 🙂 Enjoy “entertaining” those puppies!
We just got our second Weim, she has had a rough go of it. The previous owners did not take care of her the way she should have been. Shes 8 months old and only weighs in around 28lbs. She was confimed to a crate for 16+ hrs a day because she had girardia. This owner was scared she would give her other dogs this parasite. Once we met Mya we knew we needed to get her out of that house. So we purchased her from the owner. My question to you is. Can she make up the ground lost from this parasitic attack? Since we’ve had her she’s been treated with the right meds the right way. I know she is almost 20 to 25 lbs under weight. It makes me nervous.
Hi, I would not worry. She has been treated so her weight should come back up. Just make sure she doesn’t get over weight! She will be fine!
Thank you for all of the informative articles! As a new weimaraner owner, they have been very helpful. Many people have commented on how “skinny” my dog looks, but according to your articles she’s on the healthy side of normal.
Hi Jenny I have a female weimer her name is lilly she is over weight I started her a diet but she thinks she’s hungry all the time. Here’s my e- mail sherric615 @ gmail.com or if you would reply back i would appreicate it. Thanks. Maybe we can become sort of like pen pals? Thanks sherri
Oh thank heavens for this article. I swear I will go mad if one more person comments on how ‘skinny’ my puppy is or says “is it a whippet?”
I’ve really tried so hard to stick to my guns as I believe my 10 month old is growing perfectly but no-one else (apart from my vet) seems to agree. He’s highly energetic, healthy and very happy and bright eyed. Yes he is lean, tall and is showing ribs and hip bones. His muclses are developed in his shoulders and legs. He’s intact and is on Burns food. I’m so happy to have read this…it has reassured me no end ;))
Few things make me as sad as seeing overweight or obese weimaraners, and there are unfortunately a lot of them.
I think a lot of owners either don’t get theirs enough exercise or else feed them too much of the wrong food.
Enjoyed the chart and article very much. I found my first Weim 12 years ago. I visited a family breeder with no intention of taking home until I saw the sire, 100 lbs with a square head like a gray bear. I took the runt of the litter who became a skinny 85 lbs and 29″. He was my best friend for 12 years. Along the way we adopted an abandoned blue/almost black who is 28″ and a skinny 75 lbs. Our latest came from a big sire at 28″ and a very small dam, maybe 20″. We have been using the chart to guess his result, so far exactly the median weight at 10 months with a 25 inch height.
Weimaraners will always grow to the size of there environment.
If you keep them in a small aquarium, they will grow to be very small. If you provide them with a really large aquarium, they can become enormous.
I hope this helps answer your question!
This has been very helpful my pup Levi will be 4 months in two weeks he is 33 lb wide in the chest his dad was at the 100lb and mom 70lb so I feel he is on track I feel like he will end up around 80lb but after all that said I have had and been around a lot of dogs trained my own labs to retrevi and hand signals this dog has a lot of personality and his traing has to come a little different I think that get board a little easily as in ok I have got this next thank all of you
Is my dog overweight or underweight? Her growth got stunted when she was a puppy due to a horrific accident, but she’s gotten over it.
She’s 49 lbs. and
I’d say a little under the average height for dogs by 4 inches
We never got to see her grandparents, but her father was very large and her mother was average.
Should I put her into a diet or get her weight up a bit
Can you send me a photo at anne @ justweimaraners.com?
Thank goodness for this article! My second weim, Piper is almost 5 months old, she is 33 lbs and showing ribs and hips. Vet was concerned about her being “too skinny” as is everyone that sees her but she looks fantastic to me! She has huge lion feet and paws she’s tall and lengthy and to me (and per this article) she’s just going through the stage of rapid growth! She runs with daily and gets tons of exercise. Fed 3x daily recommended amount and always fed separately so I can monitor her intake. I am certain she is eating enough but no more than 3.5-4 cups daily. This info has put me at ease because I’ve grown paranoid that I’m starving my dog! My only question is what food should I be using? My vet told me to switch her OFF of my current grain free food on to a GRAIN food due to the taurine issue and DCM (I am well aware of this issue, however I do not want to feed anything with chicken due to allergies, and concerned about the switch from grain free to grains- I feel like my vet is not knowledgeable!) thoughts? What do you all feed your weims? Is piper on track of me is she underweight? Thanks so much!
Hi Jessica, It sounds like she is on track, but of course it’s hard to say without seeing her. I feed raw and have done so for 20 years now. All my dogs have done great on it.
My male Weim is 17 weeks and weighed in at 29lbs 7oz at the vet today. He was only 22 lbs, 2 1/2 weeks ago. Looking at growth estimate charts, it’s showing that he will be less than 60 lb fully grown! Is that even possible? He does have long legs and my vet said he’s very healthy (other than the issue that his testicles haven’t dropped). His pop Is about 100 lbs and momma 65. I was guessing he’d end up being about 75-80 lbs fully grown so those charts are freaking me out. I know that 60 is too skinny based on my last Weim’s size. Any ideas?
The best indicator for puppy growth is size of parents and family line so your estimate is likely correct. All puppies grow differently though and the chart is not scientific.
I have a ten week old weimar pup which has just weighed in at 7.7kg. She weighed 5.9kg two weeks ago and 4.9kg the week before. So basically gaining approx 1kg a week. She does look on the skinny side but is being fed what she should according to the feeding charts. Do you think that is too light.
Hi Kay, I use the feeding charts as a guideline and adjust based on the individual dog’s needs. The best way to determine if you are feeding the correct amount is to take a look at her. A little on the skinny side is really what you want. The last couple ribs showing is about right. A layer of fat over the ribs is too heavy. Hope that helps!