10/05/2026
Let’s talk about canine motherhood.
We hear a lot of anti-breeder rhetoric about how allowing dogs to mate and be mothers is degrading or abusive.
Breeders are accused of:
“Using your dog’s uterus for profit”
“Forced breeding”
“Pumping out puppies”
Former breeding dogs after spay are described as “finally able to just be a dog”
Because parenting isn’t part of being a dog?
We have controlled and manipulated dog reproduction so much over the last 200 years that many of the dogs we prize as breeding candidates are incapable of mating or whelping naturally.
CDP’s husbandry standards are rooted in dog welfare not just the human interest in obtaining the perfect puppy. From the standards:
“Natural mating is encouraged for each dog’s first breeding; ability to mate naturally should be considered.”
“Successful unassisted whelping and natural maternal care are breeding goals; inability should be considered in future breeding decisions.”
A dog routinely subjected to C-sections is not just having a medical procedure. She is experiencing pain and fear. She has elevated cortisol that impacts how she raises her puppies. She is being sedated, handled by strangers, robbed of the oxytocin that labor produces naturally. She is being robbed of an experience that, under the right conditions, can be a positive one.
The best way to prevent c-sections and difficult whelping is to breed dogs with the genetics for easy whelping.
Again, from CDP standards:
“Breeding females in whelp should be attended throughout by a known and competent attendant, provided with a safe sheltered space isolated from other dogs, have access to water and nutrition, the ability to move about freely, and uninterrupted free access to their puppies for at least four weeks.”
Online we see people fostering pregnant rescue dogs. Seeing the stress and anxiety most of these dogs suffer one might assume that all dogs hate being a mother, or that they only perceive it as a burden.
No. That stress is because she wasn’t selectively bred for mothering skills, she doesn’t know the humans, and she’s being forced to whelp in the middle of this strangers living room without the proper set up. That’s why she’s stressed out. Not by motherhood. By being poorly bred then trapped in a place she doesn’t feel safe with people she doesn’t trust.
CDP’s standards, rooted in the Five Domains of animal welfare (Mellor, et al 2020), also require that dogs have:
“Opportunities to choose and engage in a diversity of canine specific behavior (e.g., chewing, wrestling, digging, chasing, swimming, retrieving, etc.)”
Many people recognize that a dog who cannot express natural behavior is a dog whose welfare is compromised.
But we don’t extend the same thinking to reproduction. Digging, chasing, swimming are accepted as needs. Reproduction is treated as nothing but a problem to be prevented.
It’s more complicated than that.
Today, on Mother’s Day, let’s acknowledge all the breeder handlers who have coached and supported their female dogs through successful, enriching, wonderful experiences of motherhood and puppy raising.
Let’s celebrate the breeders who respect and honor a dam’s intuition in birthing and caring for her puppies.
To all the breeders who have chosen to breed dogs that find joy in motherhood over dogs that struggle with it; to all the dog lovers willing to engage with these complicated ethical questions for the benefit of the canine species we are responsible for:
Happy Mother’s Day
Video of a relaxed mother dog tending to her 5 day old puppies. (These puppies are now 6 years old)
