Dog breeding and the law

Breeding a litter is a serious undertaking with legal duties attached. Rescue centres in Britain receive more dogs than they can place, and veterinary and welfare organisations advise against breeding from a pet without a clear purpose, the right health tests and homes waiting for the puppies.

When a licence is needed

In England a dog breeding licence from the local council is required by anyone who:

• breeds three or more litters in any twelve-month period and sells any of the puppies; or
• runs a business that breeds dogs and advertises them for sale, whatever the number of litters.

The council inspects the premises before granting a licence and afterwards. Licence holders must show that the dogs have suitable housing, food, water, bedding, exercise and protection from pain, injury and disease, and must keep a register of adult dogs and puppies. The licence number has to appear in every advertisement. Breeding without a required licence is a criminal offence.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own licensing rules, which also apply from three litters a year.

Rules that apply to every breeder

• Puppies must be microchipped and registered in the breeder's name by eight weeks of age.
• Puppies may not be sold before eight weeks.
• In England a puppy must be sold by the breeder in person, from the place where it was bred, and shown with its mother.
• Ear cropping is illegal throughout the United Kingdom, and tail docking is banned except for certain working dogs, where it must be done by a vet.
• Banned types of dog may not be bred from at all.
• The Animal Welfare Act 2006 applies to every dog and puppy in the breeder's care.

Income from selling puppies may be taxable.

Health testing

Most breeds have known inherited conditions, and screening schemes exist for many of them: X-ray scoring of hips and elbows, eye examinations, heart testing, DNA tests for single-gene diseases and, for flat-faced breeds, a graded assessment of breathing. The Kennel Club and the British Veterinary Association publish the tests recommended for each breed. Both parents are tested before mating, and dogs with poor results are not bred from.

Temperament is inherited too. Nervous or aggressive dogs are unsuitable parents, however good their appearance.

Registration limits

Licence conditions and Kennel Club rules restrict how young and how often a bitch may be bred, and the Kennel Club will not normally register puppies from a bitch that has already had two caesareans. Breeds that routinely cannot mate or give birth without intervention raise welfare concerns that prospective breeders are expected to weigh.

Pregnancy and birth

Pregnancy in the bitch lasts about nine weeks. A vet confirms it, advises on feeding and worming, and should be consulted about what to expect at the birth, known as whelping. A quiet, warm whelping box is prepared a couple of weeks ahead so that the bitch is used to it.

Most bitches give birth without help, but someone experienced needs to be present, with the veterinary practice's emergency number to hand. A vet is called without delay if:

• the bitch strains hard for twenty to thirty minutes without producing a puppy;
• more than about two hours pass between puppies when more are expected;
• a green or black discharge appears before the first puppy is born;
• the bitch is exhausted, in obvious pain, bleeding heavily or collapses;
• pregnancy goes beyond the expected date.

Caesarean operations are common in some breeds, and their cost, like that of any emergency at night, falls on the breeder.

Raising the litter

Puppies stay with their mother for at least eight weeks. In that time the breeder is responsible for worming, a first vaccination where it is due, microchipping, weaning onto solid food and, most important for later behaviour, daily handling and gentle exposure to household noise, different people and new surfaces.

Buyers are interviewed, given written information on feeding, health tests and the parents, and offered a contract. A responsible breeder takes back or helps to rehome any dog they have bred, at any age. What buyers are advised to look for is set out under finding a puppy or rescue dog.