I didn’t know the phrase “free whelping” until I was reading about some pure breed that was known for being able to give birth without medical intervention, on account of there are some breeds in which it’s fairly common to need C-sections. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that being able to give birth unaided ought to be a baseline of health for any goddamn dog in the fucking world.
That’s not even a baseline of health for people, though
Like I get what you’re saying, but if “able to give birth naturally without complications” is your base line of health for what should be allowed to exist, like a third of human women would not be included in that.
Humans are almost unique in the animal kingdom in needing C-sections, due to our overdeveloped brains being almost, and occasionally slightly, too big for our birth canals.
Wolves and most functional dog breeds give birth with no issue at all.
It’s mostly bulldogs and other wide-headed breeds that need assistance, which sounds to me like breeders going way too far on the wide head / narrow hips route of trait selection.
I didn’t know the phrase “free whelping” until I was reading about some pure breed that was known for being able to give birth without medical intervention, on account of there are some breeds in which it’s fairly common to need C-sections. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that being able to give birth unaided ought to be a baseline of health for any goddamn dog in the fucking world.
That’s not even a baseline of health for people, though
Like I get what you’re saying, but if “able to give birth naturally without complications” is your base line of health for what should be allowed to exist, like a third of human women would not be included in that.
Humans are almost unique in the animal kingdom in needing C-sections, due to our overdeveloped brains being almost, and occasionally slightly, too big for our birth canals.
Wolves and most functional dog breeds give birth with no issue at all.
It’s mostly bulldogs and other wide-headed breeds that need assistance, which sounds to me like breeders going way too far on the wide head / narrow hips route of trait selection.
Yeah, if humans were quadrupeds with small heads you could deliver while walking.
Ohh, get that, would you, Deirdre?