Is it bad for a female dog to have puppies if she is well looked after? Does it do any harm?

It’s not bad for a dog to be bred under the right circumstances, but there are many benefits to desexing:

• Firstly, female dogs that are spayed do not have the continual strain of litters depleting their bodies of essential nutrients.
• Secondly, desexed dogs do not roam the streets as much as undesexed dogs. This is because male and female dogs in season generally roam the streets in search of romance. During such neighbourhood jaunts, wandering dogs can be baited, shot, hit by cars or become lost. Because desexed dogs are less likely to roam the streets, they are less likely to suffer these problems.
• Thirdly, male dogs are generally less aggressive if desexed and therefore less likely to suffer wounds from fighting. Desexed female dogs are much less likely to develop the dog equivalent of breast cancer and both sexes avoid cancers of the reproductive tract and the prostate problems are reduced significantly in males.

You can learn more about desexing on the Desexing Your Pet page.

Considerations before breeding a companion animal

There are many things to consider before breeding companion animals. The most important thing is to be a responsible breeder as well as meet adequate animal welfare standards.

A responsible companion animal breeder will:

1. Conscientiously attempt to match the demand of animals with the supply - in this way they proactively avoid creating an oversupply of animals. Breeding too many animals would mean that some of them may be euthanased or end up at a shelter as an unwanted animal and responsible breeders try to avoid this as they have the animals welfare at heart.
2. Provide a high standard of care and living conditions for their animals - animals are kept in a clean environment with adequate high quality food and water and are given the opportunity to exercise, play and lead a normal life.
3. Demonstrate a genuine concern for the animals in their care - they tend to ask prospective buyers many questions and ensure that the new owner and the animal will be a good match. e.g. a working dog is only sold to a person who can provide this type of active dog with enough mental and physical activity.
4. Be open and transparent and provides a complete history of the animal - the breeder will provide you with documentation relating to the animal and its parents, grandparents etc.
5. Will be aware of any known inherited disorders for their particular breed and take active steps to reduce the incidence of that disorder in future offspring – the breeder screens breeding animals using available tests and avoids mating animals that are likely to produce sick offspring. They also avoid mating closely related animals.
6. Provide ongoing support and information to the new owner - the breeder will give their full contact details and encourage you to call them if you have any questions of concerns.
7. Will generally provide a guarantee (timeframes may vary) - the most responsible breeders will often ask you to bring the puppy back to them if it doesn’t work out in order to avoid the puppy ending up at a shelter as an unwanted animal.
8. Provide references on request - the breeder provides you with references form reputable sources such as their veterinarian or people who have purchased puppied form them in the past.
9. Comply with the relevant local and state/territory legislation and codes of practice including any registration and licensing requirements.

Legal requirements of companion animal breeders

It is also important to be aware of any laws that require companion animal breeders to meet certain standards of care. Laws relating to the welfare of animals vary from state to state. In some states breeders have to meet certain standards of care but in other states no such standards exist. There are also voluntary standards that apply to breeders who are members of their breed association, but these do not apply to all companion animal breeders.

RSPCA Australia’s Policy on Breeding of Companion Animals

RSPCA Australia is opposed to uncontrolled breeding of companion animals because this inevitably leads to the euthanasia of fit and healthy animals. You can learn more about RSPCA Australia’s Policy on Breeding of companion animals at the following link:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/RSPCA-Policy-A05-Breeding-of-companion-animals_157.html