Runt?

This is my Snorri-dog, about a year ago (pre-digicam days). As well as being epileptic, he has an overshot top jaw, (which has led to the loss of some teeth). He was the smallest pup of his litter, possibly because he couldn't suckle properly - does this make him "the runt"?

Once we got him home and started feeding him a little, often, he started to grow like the proverbial weed (doubled in size in less than a week!) - so much so that five weeks later, we met a guy with one of the other pups, and he wouldn't believe they were the same ltter, because Snorri was so big!

I think that Snorri didn't quite have the best start, but does this make him the runt?

Snorri

Lovely picture of him, he really is a lovely looking collie.

aww he is an absolute stunner of a collie hes gorgeous

that looks like a collie to me tell me what a runt is please

he is lovely Snorri

He's a wonderful looking boy :smt049

Great pic

Snorri, there is no way the gorgeous Snorri-dog could ever be considered a runt

Aileen x

P.s Hugs to both of your boys and I hope Mrs Snorri is keeping well

I dont believe in a runt of a litter, I have known too many dogs passed on as a runt that have gone on to surpass their littermates to be "runts". I believe in a litter however many dogs each one has the chance of being equal to it's parents. I have seen far too many "runts" passed off as no good when infact they turned out better. I came from a family who bred and worked collies and my grandfathers opinion was there was never a "runt" he would wait till the dog was old enough to prove itself on the farm if it didnt it was not a working dog if it did it stayed there for life but certainly we never ever had a runt so to speak.

I don,t think we,ve ever had a 'runt' in any of our litters, but you can have the more forward puppies pushing in and getting the lion share of the food if not watched, so maybe that could account for a puppy not thrieving as well as the rest. I always stay with mine when i put their food down and make sure that they all get an equal share. Snorri is lovely and looks very well grown . Maybe he did get pushed out a bit when he was a puppy.

I wouldn't like to think of him as a "runt" either - but he used to attract farmerly comments such as "That thing's no use for f...-all" - which, obvously, was wrong, as he's the ideal pet BC - affectionate, alert, good with kids and (relatively) obedient (just the occasional "selective deafness"). He would not have made a good worker, though, as he is terrified of anything that moves (including moths and beetles!). His epilepsy makes him a bit more excitable than I'd like, but the affliction has nothing to do with his having been the smallest pup! It runs in his family (via Mum, we think).

Well, any size disadvantage that he might have had when he was very little has gone now, since he had his own exclusive dinner-bowl and no litter-mates to steal the contents! Orkney BCs tend to be smaller than their mainland counterparts, but he is quite big for an Orkney BC, and he can pull on his lead like a train!

Snorri