Weigh often, and read the body as well as the scales
Through the first eighteen months your young dog is building bone, joint surfaces, and muscle that must last a lifetime, so growth checks are about steadiness, not speed. Weigh on a consistent rhythm — frequently while your dog is small and changing weekly, then at regular intervals as growth slows — using the same scales and time of day where you can. Always pair the number with hands-on body condition: ribs should be felt easily under a thin fat cover without hard pressing, a waist should show from above, and the tummy should tuck up from the side. A weight that looks right for the breed average can still be wrong for your individual dog's frame, which is why the hands-on check matters every single time.
Plotting the curve and feeding to it
Single weights mean little; the curve means a lot. Record each weight with the date, current food and portion, treats and chews in rough terms, and activity level, then look at the trend. Steady gain that gradually levels as your dog approaches adult size is the healthy shape. Sudden acceleration often traces to portion creep, generous training treats nobody counted, or a household where two people each feed a full meal. Sudden flattening or loss alongside normal appetite deserves attention rather than simply feeding more. Feed for the dog in front of you and adjust in small steps, rechecking after a couple of weeks, instead of chasing the bag's maximum guide amount — those guides assume an average dog who may be nothing like yours, particularly across the huge size range within young dogs.
Joints, limbs and exercise as part of growth checks
Growth is not only about weight. Watch how your young dog moves after play and after rest: stiffness that warms out, reluctance to climb, bunny-hopping, or favouring one leg repeatedly should be noted with dates and what activity preceded it. Large and fast-growing youngsters are especially vulnerable to growth that outpaces joint development, and overfeeding that pushes rapid gain adds load those joints do not need. Keep exercise age-appropriate and build duration gradually, favouring many moderate outings over occasional exhausting ones, and avoid repetitive jumping and stair pounding while growth plates are still closing. Note appetite for exercise as carefully as appetite for food; a young dog who gradually does less is giving you growth information too.
Vet checkpoints and the questions to bring
Use scheduled visits through the first eighteen months to compare your home curve against your vet's assessment, and bring the record rather than a summary from memory. Ask whether growth rate suits your dog's expected adult size, whether body condition matches the scale reading, and when to transition from puppy feeding to adult feeding — a change timed by development, not by the calendar alone. Contact your vet between visits if growth stalls across successive checks, if ribs become hard to find under fat despite careful portions, if a limb concern keeps recurring, or if weight changes arrive with thirst, stool, coat, or energy changes. Those combinations can signal more than feeding error, and your dated notes help the vet separate a simple portion problem from something medical.
One growth record, kept where you will actually use it
Growth checks fail when weights live on a wall calendar, vet notes live in an email, and portion changes live in nobody's memory. Keep the whole thread — weights, body condition notes, movement observations, food changes, vet answers — as a single running record you can open at every appointment and share with anyone caring for your dog. Holding that thread in KinsLe Pet Passport means your young dog's records sit together in one portable packet, ready for vet visits across the full eighteen months and easy to hand over if a boarder or new vet needs the growth story at short notice.