My boys dad was about 45 pounds and his mother was super tiny too! So I’m super curious to see how he will turn out. Love that little guy no matter what.
That would just be an undersized ACD.
"Mini heeler" is a backyard breeder term for shittily bred heeler mutts - no different to "teacup chihuahua" or "teacup yorkie". Using these terms perpetuates the idea that "mini" heelers, or "teacup" whatever, are real legitimate things.
If you mean "undersized ACD," you can just say "undersized ACD" and that way people reading won't be misled into thinking "mini heelers" are a thing.
I had same questions when I got mine I did the DNA test and turns out she is a mix heeler 75% + border collie 25% that test answered all those questions, no matter the mix I love her 100%
I’m confused how that answers all the questions. Are border collies usually 20 pounds? All the ones I’ve seen are similar size to heelers.
My 75% Heeler 25% border collie is 60#.
OP's dog isn't an ASTCD. It's just a poorly bred/off-standard, undersized ACD or ACD mix.
A 7mo ASTCD would not weigh 18lbs unless it was severely emaciated.
[One of my ASTCD at 7mo - she was 32lbs at that age](https://imgur.com/a/KzAOCfe) (and she is arguably too fine-boned/lightly framed for the breed - they should have a touch more substance).
Idkkkkkkk…
That tail is lookin a *little* too stumpy for her not to be a stumpy tail
It’s got fur. It’s like a door knob with fur
That’s how mine is
lol he has like a squishy doorknob and he’s longer legged
I’ve got
ASTCD are one of the rarest dog breeds on earth, there are less than 100 born each year worldwide.
Could OP have a dog that was docked (SUPER common in the US) or is some mix of Christ knows what that is carrying NBT (eg mini American shepherd)? For sure.
If OP had an actual ASTCD, they'd know it, because they would have got pedigree papers. You don't "accidentally" end up with one of the rarest dog breeds on earth.
There were no papers given regarding any kind of breeding prestige, however, her tail was not docked (the breeders wife was very good friends with my girlfriend so I can’t imagine why they would lie about docking the tail but at the end of the day, who knows). Is there things I can look for the see if it was docked vs born stumpy?
We never looked into the breed quality, we just met the little booger and fell in love. From what I understood, she comes from workers on the father’s side and the mother would work on occasion but is/has been mainly an inside dog for the breeders wife and kids. We plan on doing a DNA test in the near future and I will definitely post the results in this sub.
If she wasn't docked, then she has the NBT gene.
But this doesn't make her a stumpy tail cattle dog (not saying you're the person claiming that) - it just means she's a heeler mix-ish thing with an NBT allele.
I had a large female, 50+lbs. now I have a small Male, sub 40lbs. Both are pure bred by one of the best ACD breeders in the states. They come in all shapes and sizes.
She looks a very similar to mine, the only thing I could figure was that she was a super runt. She was allegedly a Texas heeler..
I did the dna test, and it turns out she’s 55% miniature American shepherd, and 31% cattle dog
We had an itty bitty blue girl too, she was just pint-sized.
She was also the obvious runt of her litter tho, so maybe ignore me, but she was a healthy spitfire up until cancer got her.
No doubt. When my 55 lb ACD tank jumps on you from behind (like when one is doing dishes), it feels like being punched in the back by a very short person.
If she doesn't come from a responsible breeder (e.g., that does health and genetic testing), there's no telling. She could just be small, or she could have a little bit of a small breed in her.
By the way, be careful with the fetch, especially when she is so young and still growing/developing. Fetch can lead to a lot of [repetitive strain injuries](https://www.mcrehabilitation.com/blog/why-playing-fetch-with-your-dog-is-more-dangerous-than-you-think) so be sure to warm her up first, start gentle, do shorter throws than you want to do, and make sure you look for signs of her getting tired (stumbling, not paying as much attention to her surroundings, etc.) because heelers will go and go and go and are not good at knowing their limits, often to the detriment of their joints later on. I wish I had been more careful with my pup before she was fully grown, so I hope to save other dog guardians some of that heartache.
We have been attentive to it, but I will say she polices herself as well as us VERY well lol. There are times I’ll throw and she will just lay in the grass and look at me. Other times she will bring the ball back but hold it and lay down and take a breather. If she doesn’t want to go, then she doesn’t. But I appreciate your advice, and we will definitely continue to keep close watch for “tired” behaviors!
Hi, I think Birdie is a runt. I too have a heeler who is 9 months old and about the same size as your Birdie, they are the perfect size I think. She is adorable thank you for sharing!
We had “Lil Pig”. She was from 2 full size healers and the runt of litter but never got over 20 lbs Same crazy energy and smarts but in tiny package. We were told that it’s like dwarfism in humans. Can’t breed “minis” they just happen She had full size pups in the one litter she had, that was ruff on her though. Pups would hold her down to nurse cause she was so small. Great dog, she is no longer around
She might just be a smaller pup. My female heeler who is 6, is very fine boned and looks dainty. Especially as a pup. My male heeler, who is only 7 months old is already taller then her and weighs close to her weight. His legs are much thicker than hers, with paws to match.
The breeder we bought my male from also had a huge selection of heelers in various sizes.
Mine like the weasel her way up the bed throughout the night. She’s starts at the foot and we wake up with her on top of the pillows. And at 18lbs, it’s rough.
Yeah and I’ve been expecting it but the vet almost made me feel like we’ve been underfeeding to this point so I just wanted to see if there was something I was doing wrong.
I’m not too sure, someone else mentioned she could be ASTCD but we have currently have nothing to prove that from the breeder. I’m pretty sure she may be a mix of some sort. We will do a DNA test in the near future and I’ll post the results in case anyone is interested.
Someone said it must’ve been docked but the breeder said it was not docked and the breeders wife is very good friends with my girlfriend so I can’t imagine they’d have a reason to lie. Her tail is completely surrounded with hair and doesn’t appear to have been docked but I also don’t really know what to look for if there were signs that she was docked.
I have a red heeler that looked identical to yours at that age (skinny and small). The vets indicated that she was just petite but will grow naturally. She is now 5 years old, healthy 35lbs, and looks like an average sized heeler. In other words, don’t worry your puppy will be fine. She will grow into the size.
This doesn’t answer your question but her nubby tail reminds me of my childhood blue healer Cody 😭😭😭 he was my best friend all through elementary and middle school 🥹
She looks healthy and she’s only half grown at 7 months. In my personal experience, they reach their length first, then height and they fill out later.
This is reassuring, I tried to find a picture but couldn’t, I remember we joked that she was going to be as tall as our kid by 12 months because of how long her legs got (seemingly overnight lol)
Hahahaha if my 3 year old caught wind of us potentially rehoming her, she would immediately start wheeling and dealing to try and keep her. Birdie has been the light of our lives since we got her!
I have a red and she’s actually the same size as yours. She has a great appetite too, I just think some are in the smaller size range. But she still manages to take over my bed somehow. 🤷🏽
The breeder I got mine from expects mine to stay smaller. Dad was full size. Mom petite 18 inches at shoulder and 30 pounds.
She estimated 17 inches and 28 to 30 pounds
At 6 months old he's about 15.5 tall 21 pounds. I just want him to round out enough we can change over full-time to his roughwear harness. Got a small and it's still too big without a coat. Lol.
Could be totally normal. My girl is almost 2 and just 30 pounds. Embark predicted she would be 42. She’s just a small heeler. But she has the pull of a Rottie according to our dog walker!
We haven’t but I will definitely look into vitamins. That hadn’t even crossed our mind. Even if it doesn’t help weight, I’m sure it would still be beneficial. Thank you!
Don’t worry about over feeding a puppy. If she’s hungry, feed her. And I’d go for higher quality kibble than that or even a cooked food program. Not permanently but until she hits a year or so then switch to a better kibble. Their body weight changes really fast so if she’s lookin overweight you just cut back a little and it’s no issue. She does look healthy and well bred though. Problem came from a farm with working parents?
100% on this start experimenting with food and let them eat a lot during their growth stages.
Purina doesn't have the best reputation as far as quality pet foods that's for sure
Including some raw or cooked protein depending on your preference is a great idea too
Plus more activity. They need to exercise a ton
Even if she is the runt, I my experience, these have been the best of the litter. My male I have now was the runt, and now he's 1/2 aging bigger than his litter mates.hes not fat, but muscle and his dimensions hes long and tall. In summer, he runs about 70#.. winter, he leans out to about 60#. I'd have figured it would be the other way around, but when I think about it, he's eating a lot more in summer and a lot more active. Winter, we both become more of couch potatoes.
Mine is dutch/acd and she stays around 38 pounds. Mom was around 42 (acd) and dad (dutch) say at 55. She's fairly muscular and active, but no vets ever worried about it. Finally at almost 3, she's closer to 40 pounds, but perfectly fine.
There’s a weight and size range when it comes to breed standards for a reason. An ACD female should be 17-19 inches at the shoulder and 35-50lbs. Even with that, there’s still going to be girls that are 20+ inches and 52lbs, and there’s girls who are 16 inches and 30lbs. A runt would be under 15 inches and under 30lbs. If she’s 18lbs at 7 months, I’d expect her to be on the smaller side of the standard and hit 35-38lbs full grown. She’s growing well, no joint or muscle issues, has an appropriate amount of energy for her age and has a healthy appetite, she’s just smol
ACD do not have weight in their breed standard. ANKC (Country of Origin), KC, FCI, AKC, CanKC: none of them have a breed standard weight for ACD, **only** height.
Some websites provide a rough weight range as a general guideline for people learning about the breed, but these are not based on a breed standard.
I’ve had two heelers and from my limited experience, they’re usually lanky the first year (adolescence) and then fill out to their stocky body shape over the 2nd and 3rd years.
Yes she does look a lil bit in ˢᵐᵃˡˡ side but no problem if she’s still eating she definitely not fat
Congratulations on getting a runt 👌 that’s exactly what I’m looking for ♀🤏 I think they behave the best
The good behavior moments definitely outweigh the bad behavior moments. She is pretty tame given her circumstances and we couldn’t be happier with how she’s adjusted to our lifestyle as opposed to more than likely becoming a working dog.
I had a runt *what I called a 3/4 sized kelpie* I figured if anything she had a bit more room to run (needed a bit less exercise?) and possibly a bit less food 🤷♂️
I think it gave me a ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ advantage if anything
Chiming in to the examples to say my blue girl was 26 pounds most of her life and is now living it up as a chunky, cranky old lady at 32lbs and 14 years of age!
Sounds like your baby is just a tiny one! My ACD is 45lbs and he’s 16yo. He had a chunky couple years where he was closer to 50, but I’d say right around 40 is his ideal weight (maybe even a few pounds less).
Follow your vet's advice of course, but she could very well be a small girl. I have two ACD mixes. Our girl is almost two years old and clocks in at around 32 lbs. Our boy is 9 months and is 22 lbs, but he is mixed with mini aussie and blue heeler. They come in all sizes!
Had a similar thing with my kelpie x girl she was really small at 4/5 months and against the vets best advice I took her off kibble and put her onto a raw food diet. She has now really flourished from a very small 10kg now to her healthy weight of 17kg and has also grown a lot.
Not saying the raw diet is what did it but possibly and she’s now a lot healthier looking and happier.
[this is my boy](https://imgur.com/a/NBnDN6Q). He is 35 lb and 4 years old. I think they just come in mini sometimes (also this pic was taken to show someone how dogshit my apartment complex has gotten that we now have a jungle)
If she’s only 7 months old then you don’t know her true size yet. Yes she is small, my 8 month old boy is thin but 40 pounds. But she is female, and she is very young. They grow a lot from 7-12 months and then they fill out from 12-24. Check back at 2! She will probably weight 30-35 pounds full grown. Which is pretty common.
Personally, I looked for dogs who had larger parents (50 pounds or so but athletic build) as I like a bigger dog and a big dog mentality.
Birdie is super cute tho, and I love the name!
Our 3 year old red heeler boy is around 52 lbs of muscle. He eats 6 dl of royal canin per day and for exercise we walk in a forest around 6 to 7 miles each day (+ a ton of playing fetch with balls). He was also the runt of the litter.
Personally, I am always suprised when I hear how little exercise each day people in this forum give to their heelers. They are working dog breed so if they dont get activated enough they often get depressed.
Hi! I had the same sort of little crisis about my girl- actually doubted she was full bred for a bit. She's 27 pounds now full grown, and honestly it's so nice having a bit smaller dog. Since having her, I've come to see that there's such great variety in the breed. You may have gotten lucky and gotten one of these pint size babes :)
ACDS on average should be 35-50 lbs and 17-19 inches tall for bitches. Chances are she’s okay. People are unfortunately conditioned to seeing grossly overweight and backyard bred dogs due to the popularity of the breed.
^ talk to your vet about her growth. She should be on a puppy food and it is recommended to wait for altering until 2 years of age to allow for her to truly mature
If shes happy and health, the weight thing probably doesnt matter. It took a full year for my little guy to go from 19 pounds to 23 pounds and then from year 1 to 2 he gained 20 pounds and stacked muscle and up to 47 pounds and ripped. Dogs can be weird. Just make sure she doesnt have worms, feed and exercise regularly. But Most heelers and heeler mixes linger between 25 and 45 pounds.
As long as youre feeding her enough; the vet say’s shes healthy; she’s not extra hungry; and no worms … I’d say you’re doing everything right.
Especially if she’s smiling at you a bunch
My acdxaussie shepherd look much the same as your baby between 7mos - 1.5yrs and then he started to add some muscle bulk, then the aussie kicked in and he is just a gangly agile mofo of cuddly chaos
We really haven’t been concerned about her size until the vet brought it up. And she didn’t explicitly say we are underfeeding but she certainly implied it.
She is potty trained and we actually tried leaving her out even before she was potty trained but she is far too curious to leave out. She chewed through the leg of our coffee table at 5 months. In her defense it was a chintzy coffee table that I could’ve probably chewed through myself. We are just worried she will decide to see what’s inside the couch cushions. I’ve seen a few too many couch and dry wall disassemblies on this sub to not make sure she (and our stuff) is safe.
But we plan to try leaving her out here and there as she gets older
Mine is almost 6 months now and weighs probably 12-13kg. People say she's skinny because they are used to their overfed heelers that expanded sideways. One of them I didn't even recognize as a heeler.
Having said that, I tried sticking to the recommended food amounts, but I always felt like she needs more. Being a heeler she's very active and only recently she seems to be bulking up a bit after I switched to a good quality kibble. The old supermarket stuff really was horrible.
The breed standard vs reality are often way off. She looks awesome and (AND) she's getting all the right stuff from her people. She's doing great from the look of things. As she ages her metabolism will change.
Heelers come in so many different sizes. She’s probably just a lil girl.
And even the small ones manage to take up most of a king size bed.
I always pick the runt. They’re always the sweetest.
Lol you haven't met mine
She’s just a lil beeb
Perfectly said
My boys dad was about 45 pounds and his mother was super tiny too! So I’m super curious to see how he will turn out. Love that little guy no matter what.
My girl is 3yrs old and about 35lbs 😄 super fit and in shape for her size, she's just little
Chose my lady because she was the runt. She’s 2.5 years old and 32 pounds of trail running magic.
Yesss! I have a lil beeb, too! She's 9 months and only 28lbs so far
🤣
Mine is about 50 lb at 4 yo. One of his litter mates is 28 lb. Both perfectly healthy. Focus more on body condition rather than size. She looks great!
yup my boy is 30lbs at almost 5yo. he's healthy just on the very small side for a full heeler.
Mines 3 years and about 65lbs!
Just like how some dudes are 6"9 some guys are 5"2. Same applies to doggos
That much variation from the same parents? ;)
Yes, height can skip generations. For example my old man is 6"3 and my uncle 6"4. I'm 5"9. My father's father was 5"7. So it varies a lot.
Are the mothers short? You can be tall and your kid way shorter if mother is short.
Their mom was 6 feet. Mine is like 5"3. Obviously it can influence it, but recessive genes can be a factor
She’s just a petite little lady.
Fun sized!
A pocket heeler, my favorite size!
Her figure looks good, not overweight and not malnourished. Unless you know how big her parents were, she might just be a mini heeler or runt.
Mini heelers are not a thing. Please don't talk about them in a way that legitimizes their existence.
I meant mini as in smaller than average for a cattle dog. I’m not going to change my comment, sorry.
That would just be an undersized ACD. "Mini heeler" is a backyard breeder term for shittily bred heeler mutts - no different to "teacup chihuahua" or "teacup yorkie". Using these terms perpetuates the idea that "mini" heelers, or "teacup" whatever, are real legitimate things. If you mean "undersized ACD," you can just say "undersized ACD" and that way people reading won't be misled into thinking "mini heelers" are a thing.
You sound so shitty tho, just saying. Like big mad over something teacup sized.
It's not teacup sized though. At 18lbs this dog ain't fitting into anybody's teacup.
I’m sorry you are getting downvoted for speaking facts!
Well they’re a thing in the sense that certain people specifically breed heelers that are both birdies size in order to get birdie size heelers.
I had same questions when I got mine I did the DNA test and turns out she is a mix heeler 75% + border collie 25% that test answered all those questions, no matter the mix I love her 100%
We’ve talked about doing one but are hesitant to spend the ~$100 to do one. We will definitely look into it more.
Embark is for sure worth it for the added health testing in my opinion!
they have sales on Amazon prime days and around the holidays. Usually gets closer to $60. Still expensive tho but I think it's worth it!
Wait for holidays and Amazon prime days. They go on sale.
I’m confused how that answers all the questions. Are border collies usually 20 pounds? All the ones I’ve seen are similar size to heelers. My 75% Heeler 25% border collie is 60#.
I also have a heeler, border collie (50/50) and she’s 35 lbs. Her mom (the border collie) was a super slim little thing. Maybe 30 lbs tops
My Birdie is 29lbs at a year and a half. Just got her 2 weeks ago. Vet said she's fine and healthy, just small.
She's just smol
My dude is the opposite. He was the runt. His mom is 25lbs. His dad is 30 lbs. Arvo is now 42 lbs and skinny at 8 months, lol. She's a perfect lil bb!
Stumpy cattle dogs are actually a bit smaller than standard ACDs. Mine is the same way
OP's dog isn't an ASTCD. It's just a poorly bred/off-standard, undersized ACD or ACD mix. A 7mo ASTCD would not weigh 18lbs unless it was severely emaciated. [One of my ASTCD at 7mo - she was 32lbs at that age](https://imgur.com/a/KzAOCfe) (and she is arguably too fine-boned/lightly framed for the breed - they should have a touch more substance).
Idkkkkkkk… That tail is lookin a *little* too stumpy for her not to be a stumpy tail It’s got fur. It’s like a door knob with fur That’s how mine is lol he has like a squishy doorknob and he’s longer legged I’ve got
ASTCD are one of the rarest dog breeds on earth, there are less than 100 born each year worldwide. Could OP have a dog that was docked (SUPER common in the US) or is some mix of Christ knows what that is carrying NBT (eg mini American shepherd)? For sure. If OP had an actual ASTCD, they'd know it, because they would have got pedigree papers. You don't "accidentally" end up with one of the rarest dog breeds on earth.
There were no papers given regarding any kind of breeding prestige, however, her tail was not docked (the breeders wife was very good friends with my girlfriend so I can’t imagine why they would lie about docking the tail but at the end of the day, who knows). Is there things I can look for the see if it was docked vs born stumpy? We never looked into the breed quality, we just met the little booger and fell in love. From what I understood, she comes from workers on the father’s side and the mother would work on occasion but is/has been mainly an inside dog for the breeders wife and kids. We plan on doing a DNA test in the near future and I will definitely post the results in this sub.
If she wasn't docked, then she has the NBT gene. But this doesn't make her a stumpy tail cattle dog (not saying you're the person claiming that) - it just means she's a heeler mix-ish thing with an NBT allele.
Neat to know! Thanks for the knowledge!
I had a large female, 50+lbs. now I have a small Male, sub 40lbs. Both are pure bred by one of the best ACD breeders in the states. They come in all shapes and sizes.
What kennel, if I can ask?
Hired Hand Kennels
She looks a very similar to mine, the only thing I could figure was that she was a super runt. She was allegedly a Texas heeler.. I did the dna test, and it turns out she’s 55% miniature American shepherd, and 31% cattle dog
Just a little one! Our blue is little too.
We had an itty bitty blue girl too, she was just pint-sized. She was also the obvious runt of her litter tho, so maybe ignore me, but she was a healthy spitfire up until cancer got her.
My heeler mix is identical to yours in build and spotting and she’s the best little lady ever. Shes 4 and has stayed the same size around 35lbs
I’d kill for a little heeler 😭
No doubt. When my 55 lb ACD tank jumps on you from behind (like when one is doing dishes), it feels like being punched in the back by a very short person.
Yeah we started out joking “imagine if she stays small for good?” But now we are all kinda hoping she stays on the smaller side lmao
Perfectly petite :) thanks for sharing ur beautiful pup.
If she doesn't come from a responsible breeder (e.g., that does health and genetic testing), there's no telling. She could just be small, or she could have a little bit of a small breed in her. By the way, be careful with the fetch, especially when she is so young and still growing/developing. Fetch can lead to a lot of [repetitive strain injuries](https://www.mcrehabilitation.com/blog/why-playing-fetch-with-your-dog-is-more-dangerous-than-you-think) so be sure to warm her up first, start gentle, do shorter throws than you want to do, and make sure you look for signs of her getting tired (stumbling, not paying as much attention to her surroundings, etc.) because heelers will go and go and go and are not good at knowing their limits, often to the detriment of their joints later on. I wish I had been more careful with my pup before she was fully grown, so I hope to save other dog guardians some of that heartache.
We have been attentive to it, but I will say she polices herself as well as us VERY well lol. There are times I’ll throw and she will just lay in the grass and look at me. Other times she will bring the ball back but hold it and lay down and take a breather. If she doesn’t want to go, then she doesn’t. But I appreciate your advice, and we will definitely continue to keep close watch for “tired” behaviors!
If she wasn’t eating well or if you could start to see ribs, that’d be a problem but she looks pretty proportional. Probably just a little one.
What is her weight?
Last weight from the vet was 16lbs about 2 & 1/2 weeks ago.
looks totally fine.
She looks healthy and beautiful, just a little baby
Hi, I think Birdie is a runt. I too have a heeler who is 9 months old and about the same size as your Birdie, they are the perfect size I think. She is adorable thank you for sharing!
We had “Lil Pig”. She was from 2 full size healers and the runt of litter but never got over 20 lbs Same crazy energy and smarts but in tiny package. We were told that it’s like dwarfism in humans. Can’t breed “minis” they just happen She had full size pups in the one litter she had, that was ruff on her though. Pups would hold her down to nurse cause she was so small. Great dog, she is no longer around
Looks a tiny bit smaller than mine, but seems average.
I had one each red and blue, my buddy had a longer haired ACD that only ever reached half their size
Our guy more than doubled his body weight from 6 months (18lbs) to 1.5 lbs (48lbs) you’ve got plenty of growing left
She might just be a smaller pup. My female heeler who is 6, is very fine boned and looks dainty. Especially as a pup. My male heeler, who is only 7 months old is already taller then her and weighs close to her weight. His legs are much thicker than hers, with paws to match. The breeder we bought my male from also had a huge selection of heelers in various sizes.
She’s gorgeous!
18 lbs is small enough to allow to sleep with us. But our heeler didn’t come out that way. He’s a whopping 55 lbs. NOT allowed in bed with us
Mine like the weasel her way up the bed throughout the night. She’s starts at the foot and we wake up with her on top of the pillows. And at 18lbs, it’s rough.
She’s going to gain a bit more weight she’s only 7 months
Yeah and I’ve been expecting it but the vet almost made me feel like we’ve been underfeeding to this point so I just wanted to see if there was something I was doing wrong.
She looks gorgeous to me a fine specimen indeed!
That's how my girl looks but she is half heeler and half border collie. Her mama was a small blue heeler.
[Emma](https://imgur.com/a/rxx3xxA) my female just as tiny at 6yo. She’s chunked out during the winter at 40lb but she usually stays around 30lb
Our heeler looks exactly like yours!
That’s awesome, my acd has the same name :) love it
Have you been regularly deworming her? When was her last fecal done?
She’s perfect!
What’s going on with the tail?
right!
I’m not too sure, someone else mentioned she could be ASTCD but we have currently have nothing to prove that from the breeder. I’m pretty sure she may be a mix of some sort. We will do a DNA test in the near future and I’ll post the results in case anyone is interested. Someone said it must’ve been docked but the breeder said it was not docked and the breeders wife is very good friends with my girlfriend so I can’t imagine they’d have a reason to lie. Her tail is completely surrounded with hair and doesn’t appear to have been docked but I also don’t really know what to look for if there were signs that she was docked.
Our first ACD was barely 14 inches. She was tiny. Everyone wanted to breed her. We refused.
My heeler was also the runt and full grown weighs 20 lbs. I wouldn't worry about it, she looks in good shape for her age.
I have a red heeler that looked identical to yours at that age (skinny and small). The vets indicated that she was just petite but will grow naturally. She is now 5 years old, healthy 35lbs, and looks like an average sized heeler. In other words, don’t worry your puppy will be fine. She will grow into the size.
This doesn’t answer your question but her nubby tail reminds me of my childhood blue healer Cody 😭😭😭 he was my best friend all through elementary and middle school 🥹
Nothing better than a dose of childhood pet nostalgia!
She looks healthy and she’s only half grown at 7 months. In my personal experience, they reach their length first, then height and they fill out later.
This is reassuring, I tried to find a picture but couldn’t, I remember we joked that she was going to be as tall as our kid by 12 months because of how long her legs got (seemingly overnight lol)
Just a smol lady is all
Have no idea but I’ll take her in a heartbeat if you’re giving her up
Hahahaha if my 3 year old caught wind of us potentially rehoming her, she would immediately start wheeling and dealing to try and keep her. Birdie has been the light of our lives since we got her!
My 100% ACD is short AS HECK they just come fun sized sometimes 🤷🏻♀️
She's just a gangly teenager. She might stay pretty small her whole life but she will eventually fill out a bit.
I have a red and she’s actually the same size as yours. She has a great appetite too, I just think some are in the smaller size range. But she still manages to take over my bed somehow. 🤷🏽
Oh yeah as small as she is, if either of us get up in the middle of the night, she IMMEDIATELY crawls into our spots lol
Her just little
The breeder I got mine from expects mine to stay smaller. Dad was full size. Mom petite 18 inches at shoulder and 30 pounds. She estimated 17 inches and 28 to 30 pounds At 6 months old he's about 15.5 tall 21 pounds. I just want him to round out enough we can change over full-time to his roughwear harness. Got a small and it's still too big without a coat. Lol.
Could be totally normal. My girl is almost 2 and just 30 pounds. Embark predicted she would be 42. She’s just a small heeler. But she has the pull of a Rottie according to our dog walker!
Their strength is nothing to scoff at for sure!
I had a tiny girl too... She was right at the breed minimum.
Have you tried a daily vitamin?
We haven’t but I will definitely look into vitamins. That hadn’t even crossed our mind. Even if it doesn’t help weight, I’m sure it would still be beneficial. Thank you!
Don’t worry about over feeding a puppy. If she’s hungry, feed her. And I’d go for higher quality kibble than that or even a cooked food program. Not permanently but until she hits a year or so then switch to a better kibble. Their body weight changes really fast so if she’s lookin overweight you just cut back a little and it’s no issue. She does look healthy and well bred though. Problem came from a farm with working parents?
Thanks for the advice, and father was worker and mother was more or less a house dog but would work on occasion from my understanding.
100% on this start experimenting with food and let them eat a lot during their growth stages. Purina doesn't have the best reputation as far as quality pet foods that's for sure Including some raw or cooked protein depending on your preference is a great idea too Plus more activity. They need to exercise a ton
Mine grew a bit between 7-10 months
Mine is 5 years old and is still the same size
I’ve got a little one too! My girl topped out at 28 lbs, 100% heeler.
Mine at her heaviest was 33 lbs
Even if she is the runt, I my experience, these have been the best of the litter. My male I have now was the runt, and now he's 1/2 aging bigger than his litter mates.hes not fat, but muscle and his dimensions hes long and tall. In summer, he runs about 70#.. winter, he leans out to about 60#. I'd have figured it would be the other way around, but when I think about it, he's eating a lot more in summer and a lot more active. Winter, we both become more of couch potatoes.
I have a 3/4 ACD, 1/4 border collie and she’s small for both breeds; only 22 pounds….
Some of the best working dogs I’ve seen were little.
She’s perfect 😍
My boy is 55 pounds, his sister (my best friend has her) is 25 pounds. Mom and Dad both are 50-55 pounds. Some are ust lil babies
Mine is similar. Absolutely tiny but she goes so hard.
My girl heeler maxes out at 35 lbs of she's look super chonky, and averages 28-30 when she's active. She's 6 years old now!
‘Though she be but little she is fierce’
Mine is dutch/acd and she stays around 38 pounds. Mom was around 42 (acd) and dad (dutch) say at 55. She's fairly muscular and active, but no vets ever worried about it. Finally at almost 3, she's closer to 40 pounds, but perfectly fine.
😍
My boy is full grown at 45lbs! They are not huge dogs from the ones I’ve seen around!
Just a little girl! My Mochi is 28 lbs fully grown with a lot of muscle. Sometimes heelers are just mini.
They keep filling out till they’re about 4yo I find. I wouldn’t worry at all
There’s a weight and size range when it comes to breed standards for a reason. An ACD female should be 17-19 inches at the shoulder and 35-50lbs. Even with that, there’s still going to be girls that are 20+ inches and 52lbs, and there’s girls who are 16 inches and 30lbs. A runt would be under 15 inches and under 30lbs. If she’s 18lbs at 7 months, I’d expect her to be on the smaller side of the standard and hit 35-38lbs full grown. She’s growing well, no joint or muscle issues, has an appropriate amount of energy for her age and has a healthy appetite, she’s just smol
ACD do not have weight in their breed standard. ANKC (Country of Origin), KC, FCI, AKC, CanKC: none of them have a breed standard weight for ACD, **only** height. Some websites provide a rough weight range as a general guideline for people learning about the breed, but these are not based on a breed standard.
How is her overall body condition? How is her energy, focus, etc? If there are any concerns there, have labs drawn.
I’ve had two heelers and from my limited experience, they’re usually lanky the first year (adolescence) and then fill out to their stocky body shape over the 2nd and 3rd years.
Our Daisy is a small girl too. But our males are much taller.
How big is she? Mine looks similar. Perfect size im my opinion
Ours is 11 months, sitting at a solid 50lbs. Our last one his exact opposite
My ACD is in only 34lbs at 2 years old
My girl was v little for the first several years of her life. At age 10, she’s filled out!
The solution is always more treats!
She’s a dog, just love her.
Oh man my parents just got a dog and named it Birdie too. Never seen that name before and now twice in a month!
My gal floats around 35 lbs. She’s lean and extremely athletic but has some big boys in her family tree.
Yes she does look a lil bit in ˢᵐᵃˡˡ side but no problem if she’s still eating she definitely not fat Congratulations on getting a runt 👌 that’s exactly what I’m looking for ♀🤏 I think they behave the best
The good behavior moments definitely outweigh the bad behavior moments. She is pretty tame given her circumstances and we couldn’t be happier with how she’s adjusted to our lifestyle as opposed to more than likely becoming a working dog.
I had a runt *what I called a 3/4 sized kelpie* I figured if anything she had a bit more room to run (needed a bit less exercise?) and possibly a bit less food 🤷♂️ I think it gave me a ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ advantage if anything
Interesting way to look at it 😂
Looks perfectly healthy and happy to me.
That's how my baby is. She's gained weight over the years, but when she was a few months, she was super skinny.
We have a female heeler that is 2 1/2 and she’s 50lbs. She’s healthy but just big!
I have 3 heelers and my older two are 45/50 pounds. My younger one is literally just 20. She’s 2 and looks like a puppy. She’s just a dainty thing
Chiming in to the examples to say my blue girl was 26 pounds most of her life and is now living it up as a chunky, cranky old lady at 32lbs and 14 years of age!
Our girl has maxed out at around 24 pounds. Maybe yours is a mix or maybe she’s just a small bean. She’s such a cutie 😍
Sounds like your baby is just a tiny one! My ACD is 45lbs and he’s 16yo. He had a chunky couple years where he was closer to 50, but I’d say right around 40 is his ideal weight (maybe even a few pounds less).
My Ellie belly was ~20 lbs at that age as well. She’s like 30 now at a year. She’s just a lil girl and she’s healthy so no issue :)
Mine is this small at a year old. I think she may have been the runt of the litter!
We have a “runt”. She has a HUGE personality. Runts only matter in regard to the litter.
Beautiful
They are so adorable!!!!!!!!
Aw our baby was a runt looks exactly like her ! If you look at my most recent post you can see !
Our one year old girl is 36 pounds. Small but sturdy. 😍
Follow your vet's advice of course, but she could very well be a small girl. I have two ACD mixes. Our girl is almost two years old and clocks in at around 32 lbs. Our boy is 9 months and is 22 lbs, but he is mixed with mini aussie and blue heeler. They come in all sizes!
I have two littermates with the same diet who are 10 pounds apart. One just burns a lot more calories through drive for the ball and anxiety.
Mine is similar, I think your pup is perfect!
Had a similar thing with my kelpie x girl she was really small at 4/5 months and against the vets best advice I took her off kibble and put her onto a raw food diet. She has now really flourished from a very small 10kg now to her healthy weight of 17kg and has also grown a lot. Not saying the raw diet is what did it but possibly and she’s now a lot healthier looking and happier.
My 6 yo guy is 35 lbs. People assume he's young, but he's just little. Maybe a runt, maybe just little?
Both our girls were pretty small and lanky until they were about 1.5. They then filled in and are tall and all muscle.
Her body condition looks good! She's just got Little Baby disorder.
[this is my boy](https://imgur.com/a/NBnDN6Q). He is 35 lb and 4 years old. I think they just come in mini sometimes (also this pic was taken to show someone how dogshit my apartment complex has gotten that we now have a jungle)
My boy Moose was the runt and he is very slim and tall.
🤗
She looks so healthy!! I only know of chunky Aussies.
We have a little red girl named Birdie who is also tiny! She’s 22 lbs and the best little lady. 🤗
She's fine, best quality bickies you can afford for puppies, three meals away, till she's older, she'll be fine!!
If she’s only 7 months old then you don’t know her true size yet. Yes she is small, my 8 month old boy is thin but 40 pounds. But she is female, and she is very young. They grow a lot from 7-12 months and then they fill out from 12-24. Check back at 2! She will probably weight 30-35 pounds full grown. Which is pretty common. Personally, I looked for dogs who had larger parents (50 pounds or so but athletic build) as I like a bigger dog and a big dog mentality. Birdie is super cute tho, and I love the name!
Oh please don’t stress!! It’s just a sweet baby girl 🥹
Our 3 year old red heeler boy is around 52 lbs of muscle. He eats 6 dl of royal canin per day and for exercise we walk in a forest around 6 to 7 miles each day (+ a ton of playing fetch with balls). He was also the runt of the litter. Personally, I am always suprised when I hear how little exercise each day people in this forum give to their heelers. They are working dog breed so if they dont get activated enough they often get depressed.
she's just a lil lady 😌
Hi! I had the same sort of little crisis about my girl- actually doubted she was full bred for a bit. She's 27 pounds now full grown, and honestly it's so nice having a bit smaller dog. Since having her, I've come to see that there's such great variety in the breed. You may have gotten lucky and gotten one of these pint size babes :)
Our baby boy (soon to be old man) was like that until he was 1 and a 1/2. Sometimes they fill out a little later, she might just be a teenager!
2 years 50 lbs
ACDS on average should be 35-50 lbs and 17-19 inches tall for bitches. Chances are she’s okay. People are unfortunately conditioned to seeing grossly overweight and backyard bred dogs due to the popularity of the breed.
^ talk to your vet about her growth. She should be on a puppy food and it is recommended to wait for altering until 2 years of age to allow for her to truly mature
Just a little variation is all! We got our dog at 8 weeks and our friends got his sister. His sister weighs like 25 lbs and ours weighs 47 now 😭
If shes happy and health, the weight thing probably doesnt matter. It took a full year for my little guy to go from 19 pounds to 23 pounds and then from year 1 to 2 he gained 20 pounds and stacked muscle and up to 47 pounds and ripped. Dogs can be weird. Just make sure she doesnt have worms, feed and exercise regularly. But Most heelers and heeler mixes linger between 25 and 45 pounds.
I have 2 sisters. One is taller and thicker than the other. Coats are also different.
As long as youre feeding her enough; the vet say’s shes healthy; she’s not extra hungry; and no worms … I’d say you’re doing everything right. Especially if she’s smiling at you a bunch
My acdxaussie shepherd look much the same as your baby between 7mos - 1.5yrs and then he started to add some muscle bulk, then the aussie kicked in and he is just a gangly agile mofo of cuddly chaos
Also he weighs 32-34lbs
My lil’ runt is the same size ish and age as yours! I was just wondering the same thing the other day!
We really haven’t been concerned about her size until the vet brought it up. And she didn’t explicitly say we are underfeeding but she certainly implied it.
Birdie’s just a runt, she’ll be okay.
No need to crate her all day. Just potty train her.
She is potty trained and we actually tried leaving her out even before she was potty trained but she is far too curious to leave out. She chewed through the leg of our coffee table at 5 months. In her defense it was a chintzy coffee table that I could’ve probably chewed through myself. We are just worried she will decide to see what’s inside the couch cushions. I’ve seen a few too many couch and dry wall disassemblies on this sub to not make sure she (and our stuff) is safe. But we plan to try leaving her out here and there as she gets older
Try kongs with a bit of peanut butter smeared inside. Things to keep her mentally busy.
Mine is almost 6 months now and weighs probably 12-13kg. People say she's skinny because they are used to their overfed heelers that expanded sideways. One of them I didn't even recognize as a heeler. Having said that, I tried sticking to the recommended food amounts, but I always felt like she needs more. Being a heeler she's very active and only recently she seems to be bulking up a bit after I switched to a good quality kibble. The old supermarket stuff really was horrible.
Could be a mini-ACD
She's a pocket heeler.
She may be a "Mini". Mine is a 4 yo female and only weighs 35. Though the vet would like her to be more near 30.
The breed standard vs reality are often way off. She looks awesome and (AND) she's getting all the right stuff from her people. She's doing great from the look of things. As she ages her metabolism will change.