Use of Non-linear Growth Curves to Describe the Body Weight Changes in Kangal Puppies

The aim of this study was to determine the body weight changes by time period from birth to weaning in the form of several non-linear growth curves of the data from the puppies of Kangal dogs. The Gompertz, Logistic, Brody and Von Bertalanffy models were used to evaluate the best fit model. The best model was selected according to the values of the coefficient of determination (R2) and sum of squares of differences (SSD) between the observed and predicted values obtained as average live weights of dogs and the values obtained by the equation of interest for the same period of growth, respectively. The SSD were found to be 0.219 (Gompertz), 0.254 (Logistics), 4.516 (Brody) and 0.172 (Von Bertalanffy model) for male puppies, while the corresponding values for females were 0.277, 0.179, 4.774 and 0.236, respectively. For determination of the weaning weight of Kangal puppies, the best fit models seemed to be those of Von Bertalanffy, Logistic and Gompertz, respectively, while all these three models would be appropriate for use.