The postnatal skeletal and body weight growth of the beagle

Growth of beagles is described on the basis of body weight and 14 bone meas ures. Eighteen male and 19 female dogs were investigated at 14 different ag es from birth to the 13th month of life. Characteristics of the growth curv es were evaluated using the modified Janoschek growth curve. For the classi fication into dwarfish, low, normal, big and gigantic growth, the growth cu rves are presented with percentiles. The arithmetic means and standard devi ations for both sexes are presented in tables. Additionally, the degrees of maturity at birth (relative proportion of final weight or bone measure), t he point of inflection for the growth curve, the times to grow to 50 and 95 % of the final measures, and the asymptotic measures are also presented in tables. Sex differences in growth for the body weight and bone measures are discussed. Growth differences between large and small dog breeds are consi dered. The conclusion is drawn that the feeding of dogs has to be adapted t o the growth course.