title: The determination of growth performance and some morphological characteristics effective on development curves of German Shepherd puppies during the suckling period.
abstract: This study was carried out to establish the body weight, survival rate and some body measurements in German Shepherd puppies during the suckling period. The puppies were each weighed every seven days, and measured at ten different body sites every fourteen the day until weaning. The mean live weight of each puppy was measured as 776 g in the 1st week, 1750 g in the 4th week and 2614 g in the 8th week. The survival rate for the puppies was calculated at 95.2% and 83%, respectively at the end of the 4th and 8th week. Some of the body measurements of the puppies at the age when they were removed from suckling (52nd day) such as head length, head girth, body length, shoulder height, ear length, chest girth, rump height, front wrist girth, tail length and back wrist girth were found to be 14.76, 24.03, 22.97, 25.16, 5.93, 30.64, 24.16, 6.62, 15.51 and 5.99 cm, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Breeding, 15100 Burdur, Turkey. elmaz@mehmetakif.edu.tr
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Elmaz
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zonturlu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dikmen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000254:growth & development*; D004285:Dogs / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male