[Jessneff5]

So I have an American Pit Bull Terrier puppy named Hercules. He's just the friendliest little guy and best puppy I've ever had 😇 he just turned 4 months old 4 days ago & he's the biggest in his litter.

A couple days ago a gentleman told me that Hercules looks to be too small for his age and told me that I should be very concerned. I love my pup no matter what size he is, but I want to double-check and make sure you guys don't think I should be worried...does he look too small for his age to you guys? Are there any issues I should be aware of if he is? He currently stands at 16.5" at the shoulder. I haven't weighed him in a while, but if I were to guess, I'd say between 28-30 lbs. I just don't know of any reason to be upset or worried if my pup happens to be too small and figured I'd ask....

 

[Shell]

He looks completely normal (and adorable) to me.

Pit bulls are not meant to be huge dogs. Male size range is about 40-60 lbs full grown, of course outside that range can still be healthy but people saying their pit bull is something like 100 lbs either have a very fat dog or one that isn't an APBT

Growing too fast or trying to add weight to a puppy isn't healthy either and from those photos, his weight looks appropriate to his structure IMO so thats good.

 

[Toedtoes]

I agree. I'll add that pits, pit mixes and other bully breeds have a lot of size range to them because of the rampant backyard breeding. Folks breed for larger and larger to cater to the "macho owners". As long as your vet is happy with his size and weight, just ignore what strangers say.

 

[storyist]

I used to get people asking if my adult Rottie bitch was a puppy (85 pounds, very in standard as to size) and then saying how small she looked and telling me about some 170-pound Rottweiler all the time. I'd widen my eyes and say, "Oh, my, is it terribly fat or just badly bred?" Sometimes you just have to have fun.

 

[LeoRose]

Your pup doesn't look "too small". As mentioned, pitties shouldn't be huge dogs.

This girl is seven years old, and is 19" at the withers and weighs 35 pounds in pet condition.

2021-9-22 Leo & Lily DSC_4538 by Rosemary Elwell, on Flickr

 

[DaySleepers]

He's a cutie! And I agree, not too small at all. There's a lot of bully breed mixes out there that get labeled as APBTs or Amstaffs, but either have a bigger breed mixed in our are really a mix of something like American bulldog or mastiff, and have no APBT at all. So it makes sense that people have a skewed idea of how big the breed should be.

And sometimes genetics is funny and you get a smaller than average dog. Nothing wrong with that, either! I have a well bred dog from a great breeder and he's one of the smallest in his litter, even among his sisters. Totally healthy, just a genetic quirk.