Puppy Growth by Week: Milestones and Growth Spurts Timeline (2026)

Puppies grow fastest in their first six months, and the pace depends almost entirely on adult size. Birth weight doubles by about day 9 to 13, the 28 baby teeth are in by week 5 to 6 and start falling out at 12 to 16 weeks, and the growth curve flattens at roughly 12 months for dogs under 9 kg, 18 months for 30–40 kg dogs and close to 2 years for giants, according to the WALTHAM growth charts built from about 50,000 healthy dogs. Below is puppy growth by week from birth to adult size, the growth spurts timeline by breed size, and how to tell normal variation from a problem.

Puppy growth by week: milestone table

Age	What is happening	What to track
Week 1	Born blind and deaf; crawls from day one. A small weight dip in the first day or two, then steady gain. Weight doubles by day 9–13.	Daily weight, by the breeder
Week 2	Eyes open at 10–14 days. Standing by about two weeks. First deworming at 2 weeks.	Weight, dewormer date
Week 3	Hearing works at 2–3 weeks. First wobbly walking. The socialization period begins.	Weight
Week 4	First baby teeth appear. Weaning begins as the puppy shows interest in the mother’s food. Second deworming.	Weight, first solid food
Weeks 5–6	All 28 baby teeth in. Eating solid food, play-fighting with littermates. Third deworming at 6 weeks; first DHPP vaccine between 6 and 8 weeks.	Weight, vaccine date
Weeks 7–8	Puppy classes can start at 7–8 weeks with one set of vaccines given at least 7 days before and a first deworming (AVSAB). Fourth deworming and heartworm prevention from 8 weeks. Most puppies go home at 8–10 weeks.	Weight twice a week, meals (3–4 a day)
Weeks 9–11	Second DHPP. The socialization window is wide open: AVSAB calls the first three months the period when sociability outweighs fear. A brief startle phase around this age is commonly reported; keep exposures positive.	Socialization checklist, weight
Weeks 12–14	Third DHPP; rabies at 12–16 weeks. First proper walks at around 12 weeks, after the vaccinations. Baby teeth begin to shed at 12–16 weeks and adult teeth start coming through.	Weekly weight, training (sit, name, recall)
Weeks 15–17	Final puppy booster. Teething peaks; everything is a chew toy. Appetite climbs in medium and large breeds.	Weekly weight, chew log, food portions
Months 4–6	The steepest part of the curve for medium and large breeds. Adult teeth replace baby teeth; by 6 months the baby teeth should be gone, with 42 adult teeth coming in. Switch to the adult deworming routine at 6 months.	Weekly weight, portion changes
Months 6–9	Adolescence and the start of sexual maturity. Small breeds are near adult height. Large breeds keep growing steadily from 8–9 months on. Spay or neuter conversations, timed by breed size.	Weekly weight, energy patterns
Months 9–12	Toy and small breeds (under 9 kg) reach adult weight around 1 year.	Weight every 1–2 weeks
Months 12–18	Medium and large breeds fill out in chest and muscle; 30–40 kg dogs reach adult weight at about 18 months.	Monthly weight
Months 18–24+	Giant breeds (over 40 kg) reach adult weight at nearly 2 years. Switch from puppy to adult food when your vet confirms growth is done.	Monthly weight, body condition

The vaccine timings follow our puppy vaccination schedule guide and the deworming timings follow CAPC and ESCCAP; your vet may shift them by a week or two.

Puppy growth spurts timeline, by breed size

“Growth spurt” is not a precise veterinary term, but owners recognise the pattern: a week of eating everything, sleeping more, looking lanky, then a visibly bigger dog. When it happens depends on adult size.

Breed size	Adult weight	Growth finishes around	What the spurts look like
Toy and small	Under 9 kg	About 12 months	The bulk of the growth happens in the first six months; a small dog grows to roughly 20 times its birth weight, fast
Medium	9–30 kg	12–18 months (between the small and large figures)	Steepest between 3 and 7 months, then a slow fill-out
Large	30–40 kg	About 18 months	Long adolescent ramp from 4 to 12 months; height finishes before weight
Giant	Over 40 kg	Nearly 2 years	Up to 100 times birth weight, gained slowly; chest and muscle keep developing into the second year

The finishing ages come from the WALTHAM growth charts (Salt et al., PLOS ONE 2017), which plot healthy puppies’ weight by sex and seven size categories using the same centile approach as children’s growth charts. In the first weeks, Royal Canin’s rule of thumb is a gain of about 2–4 g per day for each kilogram of expected adult weight, which is why a Labrador puppy outgrows a Yorkie puppy from the first week.

Watch the shape of the curve, not the speed. A steep curve in a large or giant puppy is not something to cheer. Veterinary nutrition guidance for large breeds is a large-breed puppy formula, measured portions and no calcium supplements, because rapid growth is associated with developmental joint problems. A steady curve that tracks one centile line is the goal.

When a growth pattern is actually a problem

Call your vet if you see:

• No weight gain for two or more consecutive weeks in a puppy under 6 months
• Weight loss at any point during growth
• A fall across centiles, for example from the 60th to the 20th, even if the puppy is still gaining; a steady 25th centile is fine
• Persistent potbelly with poor gain, the classic roundworm sign; check the deworming schedule alongside the vaccine dates
• Limping, a bunny-hopping gait or reluctance to move in a large-breed puppy during a growth spurt; joint development problems are far easier to treat early

The tracking setup that makes this easy

Everything in this guide reduces to logging three things on a schedule:

1. Weight — twice a week until 12 weeks, weekly to 6 months, then every one to two weeks until growth is done. Same scale, same time of day. PokiPaw stores every entry and, in Premium, draws the curve so you can see it flatten.
2. Milestones and firsts — teeth lost, training wins, the socialization checklist, the first walk after the vaccines. A dated journal entry each time; our pet diary guide shows the format.
3. Vet events — vaccines, deworming, spay or neuter, with reminders so the series never slips, and the training tracker for the commands that arrive alongside them.

Eighteen months from now you will have the complete developmental history: every weight, every shot, every first. Your vet gets a growth curve instead of a guess, and the curve is also what you will use later for adult weight management.

Puppy growth FAQ

How fast do puppies grow per week?

In the first weeks, about 2–4 g a day per kilogram of expected adult weight, so a puppy that will weigh 30 kg gains roughly 60–120 g a day, while a future 5 kg dog gains 10–20 g. After weaning the pace depends on size: small breeds are mostly grown by 6 months, large breeds keep gaining through their first year, giants into their second.

When do puppies have growth spurts?

The fastest growth is between about 3 and 7 months for most breeds. Small breeds front-load it and finish by 12 months; large and giant breeds spread it over a longer adolescent ramp and keep filling out until 18–24 months.

At what age is a puppy fully grown?

About 12 months for dogs under 9 kg, around 18 months for 30–40 kg dogs, and nearly 2 years for dogs over 40 kg, based on the WALTHAM growth charts. Height usually finishes before weight; the last months are chest and muscle.

How much should my puppy weigh at 8, 12 or 16 weeks?

There is no single number: a healthy 12-week-old can weigh 1 kg or 12 kg depending on its adult size. Ask your vet to plot the weight on a growth chart for your puppy’s sex and expected adult size. What matters is that the puppy stays on roughly the same centile line from visit to visit.

Is my puppy growing too fast?

If a large-breed puppy is jumping up centiles, ask your vet about portions and food. Oversized growth in large and giant breeds is linked to joint problems, and it is easier to slow a curve than to treat hips.

Should I weigh my puppy every week?

Yes, until growth is done. It takes thirty seconds and it is the single earliest signal of worms, under-feeding, over-feeding or illness. Weekly is enough after 12 weeks; the breeder weighs daily before that.

Sources

• WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute, Puppy Growth Charts — size categories and growth-completion ages, from about 50,000 healthy dogs
• Salt C. et al., Growth standard charts for monitoring bodyweight in dogs of different sizes, PLOS ONE, 2017 — the underlying study
• Royal Canin, Puppy development from birth to adulthood — eyes, hearing, weaning, weight doubling, daily gain
• American Kennel Club, Timeline of Puppy Teething — 28 baby teeth by weeks 5–6, shedding at 12–16 weeks, adult teeth by 6 months
• American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, Position Statement on Puppy Socialization — first three months, classes from 7–8 weeks
• Companion Animal Parasite Council, Ascarid guidelines — deworming at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks

Download PokiPaw to track your puppy’s weight curve, vaccine schedule and every milestone from the first night home to full-grown, free to start.