should a bitch have a litter of pups for health reasons?

Hi all
alot of my friends that have dogs keep asking me is it good for the health of a bitch to have at least one litter of pups so i thought id see what every ones opinions are on here?



what do you think should you let a bitch have at leest one litter of pups or dus it not realy matter? (ie dus it not effect there helth?)

No, no, no.

Thats not a good reason for having pups. I have had bitches that have not had pups and they were perfectly healthy.

Definately NOT this is an old wife's tale.

No NO NOO and did I say NOOO


Health wise there is NO reason why a bitch should have a litter of pups.. its certainly not good for their internal organs to be squashed by pups!(does that mean that every woman should have a baby as its good for their organs?? No thats why lots of women are hospitalised before they even have their babies)
It won't make your pet healthier..in fact she could die through problems with the birth etc..

Pets should NOT be bred from at all.. If they are shown and/or worked and prove to be good specimens then yes they should be bred from to give the breed further good dogs..but if a pet is purely just a pet..then thats what it should remain..

ditto what everyone else has said

its grait to get feed back from you all plz dont get anoyed with this thead i just want to see what every ones opinions where with this matter. thank you all again and keep ur opinions comeing.

no, it doesn't make a blind bit of difference. Are women who have had babies healthier than childless ones?!

And what about the risk to the bitch from having pups. Complications could arise, you never know. Would I risk it with my bitch just because someone said it's good for her to have a litter? No way. You also have to consider where the pups will end up. If she whelped say, six bitches, then would they all have to have a litter too? Where does it end? With lots of dog being needlessly put down I'm afraid!

The most dangerous time in a bitch's life is when she is pregnant. The drain on her body caused by carrying the puppies is immense, her organs are supporting not one life but several & have to work at their maximum capacity, especially in the last couple of weeks. It is the same for any pregnant animal(humans included) & if the only reason for the animal to be pregnant is allegedly for the"good of it's health"it is certaimnly not & is completely the opposite in fact !

Absolutely not.

In fact I'd be really surprised if anyone posts on this thread to say 'yes they should have one litter' (and I'd want to see their explanation as to why!)

Good question though Phil - as you say, its something that a lot of people seem to think for some reason, so the more of these people we can make understand that this is just an old wives tale, the better.

Just think, if you persuade even 3 owners that their bitches shouldn't have even one litter, you could be saving up to 30 puppies from potentially being unwanted and ending up in rescue (or possibly being put to sleep).

No, No, NO, and no again, unless you are a breeder who knows exactly what they are doing, why they are breeding, etc. etc. etc. Can you imagine how many more dogs would end up in the pound if everyone took this attitude??? Whoever started this old wive's tale needs their head examined imo!