The effects of signalment, husbandry, activity and methodology on maintenance energy requirements (MER) in the adult dog.

1Size subjectively scored as toy, small, medium, large, and giant, using the criteria of Hawthorne et al 2004 [18] and Hosgood & Scholl 1998 [85].2P-values representative the results of comparisons amongst signalments. For most groups, activity level was classed as low (3 h/day) based upon the criteria of Butterwick and Hawthorne (1998) [7]; however, activity levels were classed as ‘resting’ when measurements were taken either when lying still in lateral recumbency or when cage rested. BW: body weight; CI: confidence interval; DLW: doubly-labelled water; F: female; FE: feeding experiment; I: intact; IC: indirect calorimetry; MER: maintenance energy requirement; M: male; Mix: study contains a mix of sexes or different neuter status; Neu: neutered; SD: standard deviation.The effects of signalment, husbandry, activity and methodology on maintenance energy requirements (MER) in the adult dog.