PONE-D-20-33064

Association between birth weight and risk of overweight at adulthood in Labrador dogs

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Mugnier,

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Simon Clegg, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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"This study was partially funded by Royal Canin SAS (Aimargues, France). AAL, JL

and JF participated in the analyses of the data and in the reviewing of the paper."

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Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: This manuscript is about the association between birth weight and overweight in Labrador dogs.

The manuscript is well written, the statistical analysis seems appropriate to me as well as the conclusions, according to the results. However, the work has some limitations and needs some clarification.

1) Since the age of the included dogs ranged from 1 to 9 years of age, it is assumed that this is a retrospective study. Authors are asked to explain how puppies were raised under similar environmental conditions over such a long period of time

2) Body fat was estimated only by BCS. Despite the fact that BCS may correlate well with more accurate methods, this is a limitation of the study

3) Authors have mentioned other limitations of the study, including the number of dogs, the lack of information about their health status and lifestyle, and the fact that dogs belonged to a single breed

4) Potential correlation between low weight at birth and overweight in adulthood is nicely discussed but none of the mentioned hypotheses has been verified in the present study

5) In my opinion, Figure 1 may be deleted and BCS distribution of dogs may be reported in the text

Reviewer #2: The manuscript is well written and the results and conclusions are interesting. The overall presentation is sound.

Please add % behind the numbers in parenthesis in Table 1 "Neonatal and adult characteristics of overweight and not-overweight Labradors"

Please change "racial predisposition" in line 166 into "breed predisposition"

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Association between birth weight and risk of overweight at adulthood in Labrador dogs

PONE-D-20-33064R1

Dear Dr. Mugnier,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Simon Clegg, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments:

Many thanks for resubmitting your manuscript to PLOS One

As you have addressed all the reviewer points, and the manuscript reads well, I have recommended it for publication

You should hear from the Editorial Office soon

It was a pleasure working with you and I wish you all the best for the future

Hope you are keeping safe and well in these difficult times

Thanks

Simon