Consuming the placenta

This seems to be another area that causes great discussions (or arguments !) amongst breeders hence I felt it warranted a separate post. Like many other whelping lore, both arguments for and against are very subjective and not confirmed by research.

In the wild, the purpose of the afterbirths was to provide enough food and energy for a few days before she could go hunting again.  Obviously in the modern home this is not required but a number of breeders claim other benefits such as
- More copious milk production
- Earlier uterine emptying
- Subsequent pups to be delivered faster and with fewer complications

All sounds very positive so what are the arguments against ?  As far as I have heard/read it is limited to
- Bitch vomiting back some of the placenta
- Copious, fluid, dark bowel movements

This is no doubt because of the richness of the placenta. They are blood filled and very nutritious and consuming too many is probably an overload for some.

So in my opinion the summary is
- Possible benefits, while not proved by any scientific research, are steadfastly held to by some breeders and all sound very positive and exactly what you would want for the bitch
- Possible problems are vomiting and messy bowel movements

My philosophy throughout the whole process is to interfere as little as possible. Possible mess seems to be far outweighed by the possible gains in my opinion.  Once again, Dan Rice is his book "The complete book of dog breeding" sums it up well

"I would far rather see a bitch allowed to eat all placental tissues than to see someone interfere with her normal maternal processes by grasping the placentas from her reach and taking them from her. Moderation is the key. If the whelping process allows you to retrieve and destroy some of the placentas, you will see less of the undesirable side effects. But use discretion, don't interfere ! Let the dam's natural, maternal instincts prevail"

Well said Dan :)