Everyone agrees that the growth period is the most critical period for a dog, because it has such a great effect on the optimal course of the dog's life, includes successive phases with hifh pathological risk_particularly the growth phase following weaning, which is the most intense. This is in fact a particularly delicate phase, because during this period several important, changing requirements must be met (nutritional requirements, first preventive vaccinations, behavioral development) that will affect:-growth itself (weight gain, which determines the adult weight) and the rate of growth (weight gain per unit of time);-development (acquisition of conformation and various adult characteristics) in relation to the puppy's age (i.e., the rate of development, whether the dog becomes a physiological adult at a faster or slower rate). At the beginning of this period, the puppy is also acquired by its owner and separated from its mother, which frequently leads to seveeral changes in diet, lifestyle and bonding attachments.
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