My beloved Snorri was the closest to a runt in his litter, although we never thought of him as such. He was smaller, underdeveloped because he got less food, but once we got him home, he grew like the proverbial weed, to be as big as Kali. He was epileptic, which may or may not have been a "runtish" feature, but he lived to be 10 nevertheless. Even though he was small, we loved him immensely, and never regretted having taken him on.


Snorri

Hi Janie I think this 'general' advice was given originally because the 'runt' of a litter may not have been the best choice when picking a strong healthy working dog. Also the runt was not the best choice if you were wanting a dog to breed from in case it didn't make the size .

Many runts catch up as they grow and any puppy runt or not can have health problems .

I think the "runts " have more personality because they have had to fight harder to survive . I have had the "runt " on several occasions and never regretted it

Thanks for the explanation Mini. That makes sense . I guess a lot more goes into rearing weaker pups these days if they look to be a lot smaller? Or not as the case may be.

I've met one of Flynn's littermates several times and Flynn is smaller in comparison both in height and bulk.

Maybe his personality of being an anxious bully arose from the fact he had to use other tactics beside size in order to get his share of the food.

Mind you, he was very ill when I got him and almost skeletal so even the best food whilst he was growing maybe couldnt put right what the illness had taken away.

Hi,

Ellie was the runt of her litter. She was weak and very feeble when born. She was about half the weight of her littermates at 5 weeks old just before I took her on.

Her breeders (my friends at the time, now ex friends) said she wasn't worth anything and because she didnt look like a GSD, she was "out". Her brothers and sister looked like GSD pups at that age but she didn't.

Her father is a GSD and mother is a Japanese Akita. Both her parents are very big for their breed but Ellie is about the size of a 3 1/2-4 month old GSD. Even Yiannis has overtaken her in height.

She's the healthiest of the dogs I have right now, the strongest in character and more independent (no doubt through trying to survive Zane's splat game - has to be seen to be appreciated!).

Laura xx

We don't know much about Mo's history but I have often wondered whether she was the runt.
She is a bit small even now and was timid and withdrawn. She would have been no good as a working/coursing dog. She has come out of her shell since we have had her. She is loving and loyal so if that is typical of a runt then I would choose the runt

Chip was the smallest in his litter and the last to be chosen. The breeder also said he was the 'bravest'. I couldn't resist him. He came straight up to me for a cuddle and that was it. He's still a fairly small dog but perfectly healthy and full of life. He doesn't seem to have any issues apart from the teenage 'trying it on stage'

Aah, these are some lovely stories of "runts" that have come good (if not better than their siblings).

Freddie was the runt, he was the last boy left and much much smaller than the others. He is very small for a boxer, apart from his normal cheeky puppy ways we didn't notice anything different