animals Article A National Census of Birth Weight in Purebred Dogs in Italy Debora Groppetti 1,*, Alessandro Pecile 1, Clara Palestrini 1, Stefano P. Marelli 1 and Patrizia Boracchi 2 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +39-02-503-18151 Academic Editor: Clive J. C. Phillips Received: 23 March 2017; Accepted: 27 May 2017; Published: 30 May 2017 Simple Summary: Birth weight is a key factor for neonatal mortality and morbidity in most mammalian species. The great morphological variability in size, body weight and breed, as well as in skeletal and cranial conformation makes it challenging to define birth weight standards in dogs. A total of 3293 purebred pups were surveyed to study which maternal aspects can determine birth weight considering head and body shape, size, body weight and breed in bitches, as well as litter size and sex in pups. In our sample, multivariate analysis outcomes suggested that birth weight and litter size were directly proportional to maternal size. The maternal body shape influenced both birth weight and litter size, whereas the maternal head shape had impact only on birth weight. Sex differences in birth weight were found. Birth weight and litter size also varied among breeds.