# What about the Runt?



## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I have often wondered about the tales told about the runt of a litter............from years ago when the runt was disposed of soon after birth to the runt being the one with all the health issues to the runt being the one with the attitude that needed adjusted and so forth. 

When I was 17 years old I had the opportunity to breed rough collies. My female had 13 champion sired pups. When it came time to sell them everyone expected a discount on the "runt" of the litter. How absurd! Never the less,...an older gentleman came to purchase a pup and being a long time farmer took the runt specifically because he said "In all my years of experience the runt always makes the best dog because they always turn out to be very intelligent". 

I have often wondered what the real truth of the matter is about the "poor little runt" from all the wives tales. 

Does anyone have a "runt" story or anything they would like to share on the subject?

This could be interesting I hope!? I own a runt myself......who thinks he is human.....Honest!


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

My dog was the runt of his litter. We got him at 10 weeks and he didn't look especially small or anything so I'd never known of his runt status had I not been told. I don't know how his littermates have fared, but my boy is 16" (one inch taller than US beagle standards) and 31lbs and has a very nice build and a wonderful personality. So I do not think being a runt puts one behind, they catch up fast in most cases.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 4, 2011)

I am getting my new puppy on Friady and she and her brother were the runts of that litter. While the other three puppies weighed in at 2 lbs when they were 4 weeks old mine was 1.1 lbs. I'll come back in a few months and let you know how she is doing. If I am remembering correctly my other JRT was the runt of her litter and lived to be almost 14 yesr old with no health problems until she started getting older. I am a fan of the runt!


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

Willow was very visibly the runt, MUCH smaller than the rest of the litter. She is still very small for a Golden, 55lbs. I had no training or temperament issues with her. She has been healthy her whole life until now. She has cancer, but her 13th birthday is in a couple weeks. This is a good lifespan for a retriever.
I am told that Jack was the runt. His size caught up to a normal size for a short-legged JRT though he is overweight now. (Terry gives in to too many requests for treats). His health is pretty good. He gets a bit of skin and allergy issues in bad seasons. His hind end is getting quite arthritic, but he is a low-rider and has previously broken a leg and injured his hip. His temperament is great for a JRT. He is alert and busy, but never destructive or excessively yappy.

My experience with runts have been positive ones.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Obi was the runt, but I suspect it's because he's a different mix than his 3 sisters. They were all twice the size of him at 6 weeks. So I'm not sure you could really call him the runt, but rather just a different mix.

Obi is an awesome dog. He does have luxating patellas and is reactive, but overall he's one of the best dogs you could ever meet.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

vnairp11 said:


> Here is a pic of my puppy http://pitbullmixed.com/doggy-pictures/cane-corso-puppy-4-months-old.html can you believe she was the smallest lol  but it is a cane corso so they are genetically big shes turning 4 months this july 25th and weighs in 38 pounds.


Wow! What big paws! What a cutie! I am a fan of the runts too. I purposely set out to get the runt. And mine is just so smart. He really tries to communicate by moving his mouth open and shut when you talk to him. lol! He also is able to mimic the word "out" when he needs to go potty. These posts are interesting. Thanks everyone!


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

I think it depends on the individual dog. I've seen runts that stayed small their whole lives, and I've seen some that outgrew their littermates by the time they matured. I've known some who were healthy,others who were not. So I wouldn't say there is a strict "standard" per se on how runts will grow and behave.


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## SpiderGirl (Dec 27, 2009)

Haven't any of you read Clifford the Big Red Dog? Mystery solved.

Anyways, not dogs but I recently bottle fed a litter of four homless, three weeks old kittens. One of them was half the size of her siblings, even once they were big enough to run and play she could still sit in you hand with room to spare. They are now about four months old, and she's still noticeably smaller then her siblings, but boy does she have attitude. This cat never stops running unless she's asleep, and spends most of her time wrestling and pouncing on my 15lb miniature schnauzer.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

vnairp11 said:


> Thanks that's awesome :0) wow how did you teach that potty trick any tips lol


Have no clue! lol! He just did it by himself and I just kept it going by making a big fuss over him..and of course ........."treats"......every dogs best friend! LOL!



SpiderGirl said:


> Haven't any of you read Clifford the Big Red Dog? Mystery solved.
> 
> Anyways, not dogs but I recently bottle fed a litter of four homless, three weeks old kittens. One of them was half the size of her siblings, even once they were big enough to run and play she could still sit in you hand with room to spare. They are now about four months old, and she's still noticeably smaller then her siblings, but boy does she have attitude. This cat never stops running unless she's asleep, and spends most of her time wrestling and pouncing on my 15lb miniature schnauzer.


 What a cute story. I'll bet she is cute! I like cats also,.but unfortunately my eyes swell shut and my throat,.....not to mention the hives when I am around felines. That is too bad for me.....They make nice companions indoors.



lil_fuzzy said:


> Obi was the runt, but I suspect it's because he's a different mix than his 3 sisters. They were all twice the size of him at 6 weeks. So I'm not sure you could really call him the runt, but rather just a different mix.
> 
> Obi is an awesome dog. He does have luxating patellas and is reactive, but overall he's one of the best dogs you could ever meet.


You forgot to mention how cute too! lol!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I suspect that a lot of breeders will tell you a puppy was the runt to make you feel sorry for him so you'll buy the puppy. I'm not sure that every litter has a true runt, although of course someone has to be the smallest.


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## melaka (Mar 31, 2010)

Buffy was the runt. She was only slightly smaller than the one dog, but the third was significantly bigger than them both (maybe had a different dad). I didn't choose her because she was the runt - I chose her because she was the calmest, but still very friendly. The other two were climbing all over her, but she wasn't timid or put off by it. I also adored her tiny little ears.

Since she was a rescue, I have no way of knowing how the other two turned out. Unfortunately the other adopters don't update the rescue with their info like I do.

I used to have a pic of the three of them from Petfinder, but lost it when my laptop crashed. Here is her Petfinder pic and then one of the other two:

















It's hard to see the size difference with that perspective, but that one on the left was way bigger than the other two. And you can tell that Buff's ears are smaller overall.

She's only just about 1.5 years old, but so far she seems OK. Though, if she was the calmest one, I can't imagine how much energy the others have.


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

vnairp11 said:


> Yes they may catch up but they are no where in size compared to some of their better litter mates, I have compared my puppy from her litter and those cane corso pups were huge compared to her. Maggie Why do you say your dog was the runt?


The lady who gave him to us told us he was. He was smallest according to her. However, he's had no issues in development or health... he was just the little guy


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

IMO the runt of the litter is not the runt because of his size but because of his health at birth, often the poor health leads to slow growth however but the runt might not nessisarily be the smallest puppy. And just because a litter has one very small puppy doesn't make that puppy a runt if it's perfectly healthy, it may be that the smaller puppy was concieved two or three days after the larger ones so is actually younger.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

LOL Squash was the "runt" of his litter in that he was the smallest and scrawniest... now he's the biggest. So agree with Keechak, don't judge by size only.


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## Maggie Girl (Feb 27, 2011)

I've heard it defined both ways (poor health and/or smallest in size). Maybe b/c a lot of people assume smallest always means least healthy/strong, ??, but of course that's not true in all cases.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Jenn~n~Luke said:


> I think it depends on the individual dog. I've seen runts that stayed small their whole lives, and I've seen some that outgrew their littermates by the time they matured. I've known some who were healthy,others who were not. So I wouldn't say there is a strict "standard" per se on how runts will grow and behave.





> LOL Squash was the "runt" of his litter in that he was the smallest and scrawniest... now he's the biggest. So agree with Keechak, don't judge by size only.


What Jenn/Sass/Keechak says pretty much covers it all. Do not believe old wives tales.


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## lisaj1354 (Feb 23, 2008)

The dog of my childhood was a runt. He ended up being larger than his siblings. He was a wonderful dog, and being a terrier, we expected him to be a basic Terrier Terror - however, he was calm and mellow.


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## Trillian (Jan 17, 2011)

When we fostered Jetta's litter Estella was the 'runt'. Perfectly healthy but super small especially compared to their biggest brother Frankie (WHO WAS HUGE!) However she was the boldest, the loudest and the roughest one here. Was the first pup to learn how to 'big girl bark', was the first one to do anything and everything really.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Some very interesting stuff folks. Thanks for all the info. My first litter of pups from my rough collie just happened to have the very last pup born being the smallest. I was with her the whole time she was whelping and weighing them as they were born. Since the last pup turned out to be the smallest I have always assumed that the last was always called the runt! I guess that's why they say to never "assume" anything. All these years! Wow! The internet has sure made a world of knowledge available hasn't it? 

Thanks again.............no more wives tales for me..........from now on it's search, search, search!

And maybe my littlest guy really isn't the runt after all. He was maybe just the little guy nobody else wanted. He was the last left from a litter I went to see. He was the frog who turned into a prince. I win! They lose! lol!


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## Sparrow (Jul 17, 2011)

Many years ago I went to look at some pups. Was looking for a big dog for the farm. Didn't really know what I wanted in breed but was more than familiar with what the breeder had to offer. I got there & my husband just loved their German Shepherds. We looked at the litter. This one tiny pup was just baying at the moon to get to us, it was the runt of the litter & smaller than the rest. I had a couple of females picked out & said offhanded, "too bad the little runt there isn't a female, she's got some pep to her." The woman frowned & said, "wait." While I was running some of my own assessment tests the breeder checked the pup & let her out. The runt was a female. Next thing I know, half-pint-Rin Tin Tin comes out & puts some kung fu moves on her sisters & drives them off. While I was talking to the breeder the pup climbed my leg like a cat up a tree. When she got waist high, I told my husband to write the check.

We brought Dutch home & I've had no regrets. She lived past her 12 birthdate & passed away having never had any illness or physical issues. That's pretty amazing as so many GSD's aren't that lucky. What I noticed from her was a few pushy issues. Such as if you rubbed her neck while she was eating, she would attempt to push you out of her bowl. Her first response was to WIN. With training, consistency & patience she turned out to be a life saver & she certainly was NOT smaller as an adult. 85 pounds in her prime working weight. I wouldn't have traded my runt for $10,000 but would not have taken her had she been weak or ill. For a farm dog a pup that's not strong is not safe when working cattle or horses & such. But when our home was broken into, Dutch treed the bad guy & kept him there over night - according to the bad guy who turned out to be one of our neighbors adult sons!


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Yes indeed if just half of Sparrow's reply is true, being the internet sometimes things are stretched to the limit. But with just half it absolutely blows the runt's wives tales program out of the water and if all of reply is correct Sparrow indeed had a marvelous to die for dog and the body growth (85 lbs) happens much more than you would think.

Dogs like Dutch (I think) are whelped and then paired up with the proper owners that bring out the very best in these animals. They seem to go above and beyond what is expected of a dog. (loved the neighbors adult son getting caught with hands in the till)


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

wvasko said:


> Yes indeed if just half of Sparrow's reply is true, being the internet sometimes things are stretched to the limit. But with just half it absolutely blows the runt's wives tales program out of the water and if all of reply is correct Sparrow indeed had a marvelous to die for dog and the body growth (85 lbs) happens much more than you would think.
> 
> Dogs like Dutch (I think) are whelped and then paired up with the proper owners that bring out the very best in these animals. They seem to go above and beyond what is expected of a dog. (loved the neighbors adult son getting caught with hands in the till)


You are absolutely correct with all you say here. And Sparrow is very lucky to have had her gsd as long as she did. Just as I said about my little Leeo,.he was the one everybody put back because he was so scrawny and less hairy and his tail looked to be docked too short.................but he turned out to be the diamond in the rough.The only real health issue he faces on a regular basis is that of impacted anal glands. But I am working on some new solutions for that issue.

Sparrow......what a wonderful story!


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## OliveSheprador (Jul 14, 2011)

My Dad seemed to think all our family dogs were the "runts". I don't know about that. You really don't know unless you saw the litter or knew the breeder.


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## emxz (Jul 19, 2011)

I got 2 dogs that where the runt of the litter.

my rough collie is different from everybody else in the litter he had one white paw and the rest was brown.
and my yorkshire terrier was the pup left and it was only 8weeks old when i payed for him and a couple of days later he was very sick, i think the last person had him did not look after him right but i love my two dogs.;


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

The first family dog in my life was a runt dachshund. She looked like a miniature dachshund, but her parents and siblings were all standard size.

She was a good-looking weiner dog who lived five years. I don't know if her short life was a consequence of her runtness or a coincidence, but it was heart-breaking.


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## TheBearCat (Jun 5, 2010)

Our first Rottie was the "runt" of his litter and grew up to be the largest-too large in fact. Aggravated his arthritis, but otherwise he was relatively healthy. Passed from liver failure at 12 after eating what we think was tainted dog food.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

RonE said:


> The first family dog in my life was a runt dachshund. She looked like a miniature dachshund, but her parents and siblings were all standard size.
> 
> She was a good-looking weiner dog who lived five years. I don't know if her short life was a consequence of her runtness or a coincidence, but it was heart-breaking.


Oh..........so sorry her life was so short. J understand the loss of a pet. My childhood dog was a little toy terrier mix and lived 17 years.I sat and petted him until he took his last breath. SOOOOO sad!



TheBearCat said:


> Our first Rottie was the "runt" of his litter and grew up to be the largest-too large in fact. Aggravated his arthritis, but otherwise he was relatively healthy. Passed from liver failure at 12 after eating what we think was tainted dog food.


Oh my. I am so sorry for your loss! Was it due to the huge recall of 2010?


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I think there's a difference between the "runt" and a pup that just happens to be smaller than its siblings. Casper was smaller than his siblings, but not sickly or underdeveloped at all. He has grown to be the largest size of AKK. My brother's pit bull, on the other hand, was much weaker and smaller than her siblings; she had breathing issues when she was young and she is still much smaller than all of her siblings now that she's almost three.


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## TheBearCat (Jun 5, 2010)

No, it was quite a few years before that. He had gotten ill and was euthanized shortly before any announcement was made. Thank you, though.


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## Sparrow (Jul 17, 2011)

wvasco,

Yes indeed there are fair amount of people out there using the net to spin yarns to make themselves seem like bigshots. This is laughable to me as I have no one to prove myself to & no desire to impress anyone. I don't have to gain by telling a lie about my dog. She haunted that guy until he went to jail.

Here's Dutch. I was working with someone else's dog to see if they had the apptitude for retrieving. Dutch, ever the over achiever brought me a 10 pound block.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Sparrow said:


> wvasco,
> 
> Yes indeed there are fair amount of people out there using the net to spin yarns to make themselves seem like bigshots. This is laughable to me as I have no one to prove myself to & no desire to impress anyone. I don't have to gain by telling a lie about my dog. She haunted that guy until he went to jail.
> 
> Here's Dutch. I was working with someone else's dog to see if they had the apptitude for retrieving. Dutch, ever the over achiever brought me a 10 pound block.


Handsome rascal and looks large enough to get the job done properly. What I said wasn't aimed at you as much as a bunch of overachieving reply writers. In your travels I'm sure you've met a couple on or offline. 

Years ago I sold a protection trained GSD to an older gentleman whose neighborhood was going bad, 5 or 6 months later I received a call, the old gentleman called me and said he came home one day and the dog met him at the door with a good sized portion of a bloody T-Shirt. He entered his now burglar free home and found a broken window but nothing had been taken. His story, I would have liked to been a mouse in the house to witness the action.


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## BrittanieJo (Sep 23, 2010)

My parents have always favored the runts (when they weren't showing ) so I suppose I do too. I have no idea where Aggie or Leo fell, but I do know Squirt was the runt and only cost us 20 dollars (lol). She lived to 16 and didn't have any health problems (besides being a fatty and having to diet but that was my grandma spoiling her lol it was more training Grams!) till the last year of her life when she developed stomach cancer. At 16 years old and a large lab we felt she was the best 20 bucks we ever spent!


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## Sparrow (Jul 17, 2011)

wvasco,

I'm with you. I would have liked to have been a mouse in that house too  Thank you for the compliment on Dutch. We moved from our first farm back to what I call home. We bought half my family farm. This area was settled by German immigrants & there are still a good many of their offspring here. I always thought it interesting. These folks learned I had a GSD & she she was always known to them as 'german police'. I would get calls from our old neighbors saying, "Bring your german police" & then they'd tell me what was going on. We've tracked both man & beast together. And one of theworst was wen someone (I"m assuming kids) cut fences & ran about 8 herds (complete with bulls) together. This is a recipe for someone to get really badly hurt as strange cows don't cotton to one another right off much less the bulls trying to protect their cows. After that people stopped offering to pay us money, they just brought coolers of steaks & left them with a note saying they were to go ONLY to the german police dog. Dutch had a way about her that left a life long impression.

I miss her more than words can express.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Sparrow

The fun thing about Ninja was that full grown he weighed bout 60 to 65 lbs tops so actually I suppose could have been classified as a runt. What's that old saying "Not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog" Another reason to throw out "the runt bad thoughts"

Yes, there are some dogs that are truly unforgettable.



> I think there's a difference between the "runt" and a pup that just happens to be smaller than its siblings. Casper was smaller than his siblings, but not sickly or underdeveloped at all. He has grown to be the largest size of AKK. My brother's pit bull, on the other hand, was much weaker and smaller than her siblings; she had breathing issues when she was young and she is still much smaller than all of her siblings now that she's almost three.


Agree with above.


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## Polywoggy (Mar 7, 2011)

I guess there's the idea that that every litter has a runt, and if all pups are healthy, then it must be the smallest one? 
Small and weaker/sickly are not the same thing though, and I am as of now changing Willow's status to non-runt. She's small, she was never weak or sickly.
Now with her hemangiosarcoma, the vet thought she had about 2 weeks left back in February. From what I've read, a best-case scenario that includes surgery and chemo (which I would not put her through considering she has reached a good age) is that they last 6 months. There has been a lot of wasting, muscle too, and she gets a little wobbly sometimes, but she is still happy, interactive, mobile, and has the will. The girl is little, but she is a fighter.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Sparrow said:


> wvasco,
> 
> Yes indeed there are fair amount of people out there using the net to spin yarns to make themselves seem like bigshots. This is laughable to me as I have no one to prove myself to & no desire to impress anyone. I don't have to gain by telling a lie about my dog. She haunted that guy until he went to jail.
> 
> Here's Dutch. I was working with someone else's dog to see if they had the apptitude for retrieving. Dutch, ever the over achiever brought me a 10 pound block.


Dutch was a beautiful sheperd dog........or should I say......"Police Dog"........and what a neat dog he was!


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## Sparrow (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks Abbylynn.

Wvasko, honestly I've worked big dogs & small ones. I'd rather face a big monster-size than one of those little stealthy speed demons who is in that 60 pound range. Whew! They can seem like they're everywhere at once. I knew a little Malinois once who was the runt of the litter. Most people who saw him thought he was a puppy or teenager. He was stunning on the field. Little speed demon!

I think the better question isn't to take a runt or not... it's more a matter of healthy & strong vs neither of those things.


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## harjen (Jul 19, 2011)

My Aussie, Emma, was the runt of her litter. She was born with an ectopic ureter and was going to be put down by her breeder at 6 weeks of age when that condition was finally diagnosed. She leaked urine constantly because one of her kidneys wasn't attached to her bladder.

The breeder didn't stay for the euthanasia, and it never happened. The kindly doctor from whom I adopted her removed her kidney, and the situation eventually resolved. She's now on incontinence medication, but the condition is under control. As she gets older, there is some concern that it will get more difficult to manage, but I say, "One day at a time."

Her biggest problem is food (we think) allergies. She has terrible recurrent ear infections. The food that seems to work the best for her is HUGELY expensive. Plus, I have two other dogs, so I have to be very careful about treats and her getting into their food, etc.

As far as size, she's on the larger end of the Aussie scale. She was, though, the smallest of her litter according to the information I received.

She's an awesome girl, and I'm so glad she's mine


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Sparrow said:


> Thanks Abbylynn.
> 
> Wvasko, honestly I've worked big dogs & small ones. I'd rather face a big monster-size than one of those little stealthy speed demons who is in that 60 pound range. Whew! They can seem like they're everywhere at once. I knew a little Malinois once who was the runt of the litter. Most people who saw him thought he was a puppy or teenager. He was stunning on the field. Little speed demon!
> 
> I think the better question isn't to take a runt or not... it's more a matter of healthy & strong vs neither of those things.


Then add to that the actual look of the dog/pup that when watched for a while rings a bell inside you. Hard to explain and maybe some don't have the bell ringing to help them pick, of course it also helps if you have the brains that doG gave a goose when watching the rascals to also help with choosing.


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## joe_g (Jun 29, 2011)

Abbylynn said:


> I have often wondered what the real truth of the matter is about the "poor little runt" from all the wives tales.


A runt is simply a pup that is born smaller than average who would more likely not survive in the wild. Because of their small stature they were more likely to contract illness. For domesticated dogs however there's really no difference in the long run.


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## Sparrow (Jul 17, 2011)

wvasko said:


> Then add to that the actual look of the dog/pup that when watched for a while rings a bell inside you. Hard to explain and maybe some don't have the bell ringing to help them pick, of course it also helps if you have the brains that doG gave a goose when watching the rascals to also help with choosing.


Amen  LOL

I don't have a ringing bell but I know MY dog when I see it. I like it best when the pup takes their time to decide if they're my dog or not.


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