why is my golden so small?

[u/1-800-no-one-asked]

hello everyone! meet cricket. we rescued this guy last january when he was 6 months old. now being a year and a half, my guy weighs just about 40 pounds. i was wondering if anyone knew why he ended up being just a little guy?

his history is a bit of a weird one. i was scrolling through the internet looking at golden puppies, pure bred, with no real intention of adopting one. i ended up messaging a breeder asking about pricing, and when it was more than i could afford at tha moment, i politely declined. she messaged again saying she had a golden who was a bit older than all the others, who they were planning on putting down if no one adopted him. when he was still a puppy, he got trampled by a cow so he has a weird gait and some neurological issues. if no one wanted him, they didn't want him either. if absolutely broke my heart. i call him a rescue for this reason, and i gave her $100 for him. flash forward to today, he still walks funny and isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he is the biggest sweetheart. the vet says his walk is no cause for concern until he is older. i'm very curious if this is what caused his growth to be stunted. according to the breeder, he is a pure bred, but i'm not sure that is the case. i haven't gotten him DNA tested.

i don't truly care that he's small... he's my best friend!! i wouldn't have him any other way :))

[u/TotalDunce46]

Ooh, I think you have a good point there. It was neglectful of the breeder to carelessly allow a cow to basically squash these little puppies with her hoof. I agree. That can be seen as animal cruelty. You should report this to your local animal control department. The breeder may need to be placed under arrest for allowing a cow to trample a litter of puppies with her hoof. WTF, indeed! Those tiny animals could have been crushed to death! 

[u/HairTmrw → u/TotalDunce46]

She said it was just this puppy, not many of them. Still not a fan of the breeder, but if one of the pups got away and ran into the cow pen while she was trying to grab it, is totally plausible. When gathering a herd of pups to go inside, they are not fans of listening. It still sounds awful though. But there are breeders that sell their older dogs. I don't like that at all. It's so sad, because they see breeding as complete business transactions. A disabled dog is just more difficulty for them. That hurts. That just hurts my heart that people could think of dogs in that way.