Runt of the litter?

I know that there are a few dog experts here. Assuming that it checks out as healthy, is there any reason to avoid choosing the runt of the litter?

Can't say I'm a dog expert, but the beat dog I've ever had was the runt of his litter. He actually grew to be rather tall for a border collie, and had no health issues, living an active life till his last few months.

I picked the runt of the litter by choice and she was the most loyal, caring dog ever.

The best dog I've ever known was the runt. Lived a looong time for a golden retriever too.

In my experience they have been good.

No issues that I know of. Our most recent litter runts have been a male Pug, and a female Pug (two years apart, un-related litters) and both are pefectly healthy. FYI, do NOT assume a litter runt is going to remain undersized. About 14 years ago, we took what appeared to be (compared to the rest of the litter at 8 weeks age) the runt. That litter was the result of moment of inattetiveness by the respective human owners at an AKC show, between a short-hair Saint Bernard mother, and a Rotweiler father. Well, two years later, that little girl was a 110 lb muscle-bound monster who loved children and hated bad guys (twice over her life she convinced would-be robbers with her blood curdling bellow that it would not be wise to enter our house). She was awesome

I'll echo what everyone else has said … take the runt

if it's a breeder, they'll usually discount the runt, it's almost like they're paying you to take it

runts are usually that way because they are not as aggressive as their litter mates. They get shoved out of the way when feeding, so they wind up being the "runt" due to a lack of food compared to the others.

they do make good dogs because of that

Americans love underdogs (no pun intended.) The runt always wins.

I watched Marley and Me once and the runt of the litter turned out to be a lot of work. I don't think this is of any real value to you, but there ya have it

If it wiggles in the middle when you talk, take it.

I had a female German Shepard that was the runt and was sweet as could be and had no health problems. I would have no issue taking another.

One of our cats is runt of the litter and no issues. A little weird but nothing else.

I'd actually prefer to take the runt, so that's why I asked.

Wilbur was the runt of the litter, and he turned out pretty swell.

One of the most viscous dogs I've ever seen, as in one of two I can think of that it would be a toss-up on and the other was half wolf and half chow, was a runt. He grew up pretty big too. Not saying the runt would be viscous, just that being the runt did not hold him back any. He was 5/8ths pit bull and grew up in a junk yard.

Another word for bitch, rhymes with bunt.

Runt

Dr. Hess wrote: One of the most viscous dogs I've ever seen...

So, this dog was like, really thick and sticky like? I'm confused.

OHSCrifle wrote: Another word for bitch, rhymes with bunt. Runt

Oh, no you didn't!

1988RedT2 wrote:

Dr. Hess wrote: One of the most viscous dogs I've ever seen...

So, this dog was like, really thick and sticky like? I'm confused.

it was probably pretty slow too

Underdog Theme

Appleseed wrote:

Americans love underdogs (no pun intended.) The runt always wins.

You guys, pickin' on my spell checker.... You wouldn't want to pick on that dog, though.

Here's a story of a runt that everyone should know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Stubby

Years ago, I used to raise and sell Poodles (yes, I know, I'm partially responsible for the downward spiral of mankind) and, in that instance, you DEFINITELY didn't want the runt. My sister actually ended up taking a couple of them and they were TERRIBLE dogs. Significant health problems, cranky, mean, snarky, you name it. My experience is that this primarily applies to small breed dogs, though. A runt from a litter of labs is probably fine, but a species that is all ready "bred down" for size, runts can be problematic.

And I'm sorry about the Poodles, I was just a high school kid trying to make a few bucks.

My Malamute was the runt. Turned out to be a bear strain (genetic variation), he grew to 150lbs of muscle and fur. Great with kids and always behaved. Unless he didn't like you, then all bets were off. Like pitbulls they can lock thier jaws. But, mostly he was a sweetheart.