MORPHOMETRIC AND REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN SHEPHERD DOG BREED UNDER DIFFERENT HOUSING CONDITIONS

Abstract

The article reflects the results of the studies on the Central Asian Shepherd dog breed. The dog assessment data on the main measurements, body indices, and certain characteristics of reproduction in various housing systems are considered. The objects of the research were adult dogs of the Central Asian Shepherd breed born in 2012 - 2017, 51 heads were kept by amateurs in Kherson city. It was established that only 39.22 % of the total number was kept under apartment conditions, while the owners preferred males - their specific weight was from 58.06 % to 75 % of the total number. The vast majority (87.50 %) of the dogs, regardless of the conditions of housing, were never used in reproduction. The intensity of the use of the female dogs was associated with the conditions of housing – under of the aviary housing, at least once in their life they received offspring of 46.15 % of female dogs, under apartment housing – only 16.67 %. The average number of healthy puppies in the offspring was 8.29 heads. The speed of realization of the puppies was influenced by their gender. At the age of 4 to 8 weeks, 63.79 % of the young animals were sold, of which 73.33 % were males and only 53.57 % were females. Regardless of the system of dog housing, pronounced sexual dimorphism was observed by the measurements (3.98 - 8.78 cm). Relative to the minimum size, the female dogs had an advantage at the level of 11.86 %, males - at 10.46 %. Thus, the female dogs were relatively larger than the males. The apartment housing did not affect the size of the dogs negatively. For most measurements, the advantage of the apartment kept dogs ranged from 2.09 to 5.54 %. The live weight variability was greater than the measurements (variation coefficients ranged between 6.82 - 10.21 %), sexual dimorphism was quite pronounced – the males were 5.98 - 6.21 % heavier than the female dogs. As in the measurements, the female dogs had higher rates exceeding the minimum requirements for standard live weight than the males (31.75 % and 17.59 %). The apartment kept dogs had an advantage in live weight compared to the aviary kept dogs from 4.70 % to 5.73 %. All dogs under study had a moderately stretched format, the value of the format index ranged from 102.67 to 106.44 units with the severity of sexual dimorphism at the level of 1.58 - 1.91 %. The aviary kept dogs had a longer format, the excess was from 1.74 % (female dogs) to 2.08 % (males), they had a lower density index than the dogs of the apartment housing (difference of 3.09 - 3.39 %). According to the mass index, there were no significant differences between the dogs, which were kept by the compared systems.