I had a personal experience once that forever changed my way of thinking. While checking on one of our first very promising litters, I noticed that something was quite wrong. A small puppy had become tangled in the mother's skirts. Alarmed by tiny cries, the mother was running frantically in circles trying to help the puppy. I believe that if I had not been there, right then, that puppy not have survived. In my concern for leaving as much hair as possible on the bitch, I had needlessly endangered the puppies. Now every bitch receives a "matron trim" before whelping. Since the bitch sheds her coat after whelping anyway, I have seen little difference in her appearance post-whelping, whether trimmed before or not.