Responsible breeding practices that prioritise maternal and neonatal welfare reduce suffering during whelping and in the neonatal period, with breed-specific challenges requiring tailored management approaches.
Dystocia causes acute suffering in both dam and pups; intervention at appropriate intervals reduces the duration of suffering. Neonatal pup deaths, while often unavoidable, cause distress to dams that are highly motivated to care for all offspring. The high caesarean section rates in brachycephalic breeds represent a direct welfare cost of extreme conformation selection. Responsible breeding that selects against conformational dystocia, monitors litter size, and provides skilled whelping supervision substantially reduces maternal and neonatal suffering.