Tiny Whelping Areas??? - Page 2

Don; it would indeed be grand to own such a whelping box, but one question comes to mind...WOULD YOU LET YOUR DOG SOIL SOMETHING OF THAT VALUE? LOL, talk to you soon!

Watermelon boxes I called my store and asked them to save me some.

I have a good sized comfy whelping box we built with, of course gold pig rails

Actually, mine is plywood and about 4 X 5. They never really need that much space it seems and my most recent bitch tried very hard to whelp in her crate which is much smaller and of course darker than her fancy whelping box. THEY  like the smaller and darker and safer. WE like to be there and and watch and comfort and naturally look out for the safety of the wee ones. In nature they find small ,dark places because it is most secure. Mom goes out and does what she needs to do,stretching ,hunting, business, and the tiny one's stay safe. The pups don't need much space at all, after all...they are the size of potatoes, what do they need space for?

4x4 is fine for most. Mine is 3.3'  x 5',  the extra room for ME, but has a movebale divider to form a "porch" outside the box till the pups get bigger and need more room. I move the divider to give them space. I wanted a full 4' width, but the hubby mis-read the diagram I made for him and made it too narrow. Still, its a good strong box, so I don't insist he make another one till I need a second one.

I don't know why, when plywood comes in 4 x 8 sheets, anyone would want to make a smaller box.

SS

I have a 3.5' x 4.5' box with 16" sides. This is plenty of room for a good size female to stretch out. When my bitch came into labor last time she made a nest with bath mats in the small cramped 3/4 bath off of my office. When I brought out the box she immediately jumped in, checked it out, and settled in. I use quilts and towels for bedding. They are easily laundered. News paper has its place, but is rather dirty. When I have had the welping room covered with news paper the pups paws were like little ink stamps on the clean wood floors, and I cannot immagine that the ink is healthy. Best Wishes, Jonah

I think it would be a little raw to have a bunch of customers come to my place to see the new pups that are on a list and waiting to pay a deposit on a new pup , and find them in a swimming pool...

How in the world , do you keep the mom from squashing 8,9 or 10 pups in a swimming pool? the pups in two days are already scooting half way across the 4 x 4  or nice size box , and in another week they are big and plump and yes , I keep them dark ,and private.for a while...It is important to handle them many times =everyday.....and dont the pups start crawling out the sides in just 11 days...?  as soon as eyes are open they start wanting to explore.....and if not contained , the mom starts toting them off in every direction...I use to not have containers with doors and the first litter, my bitch toted one , then two and put them under the little a/c house they were in .....I panicked and didnt know how to get them out....shovel and a neighborhood boy, with little body crawled under and brought them inside...she did the hiding incident when i left the door open to the building while she was on potty detail and I had my back turned.....

I want them in a box where she cant remove them and they have room to crawl and play and still be right with her.....they dont go outside anyway until the first shots....and then at 4 weeks they go to wire, so the mess is under them   not on them..... works for me....,

Naya's mom, I've always thought the same thing, what's with the swimming pools?!

Can you sit in the pool & help-out with whelping the litter?

I put a pic of my whelping AREA-on my site, I usually have only one litter at a time,

but this year it's different.  I was starting to freak out, two litters in the same room,

cause it's my official puppy room, but my husband & his friend whipped this up pretty quick,
I was impressed!

Oh, & pig rails are a big part of any puppy pen.  (That's funny whe're talking watermelon & potatoes!)

www.vonryansgermanshepherds.com

I didn't mean that you had a mahogony box with gold plated pig rails.

I believe I saw that box once. Al Burns built it for his Axel Lindenhalle x Delphi Haus Anja litter. It was so beautfully constructed, fit together with no hardware fasteners of any kind, finely finished furniture-quality wood (sold by the pound, not the board-foot). No gold plated pig rails, just  Honduras mahogany throughout as I recall. Never have I seen such a whelping box. Even Delphi was impressed, hardly damaged it at all. Wonder what he did with it afterwards?

SS

in our experience, the size of the whelping box should be large enough for the mother to stand up and turn around as she often does when getting ready to drop a puppy, with room for the puppies already delivered to be put to the side, out of the way.  mothers aren't always so careful with existing puppies while dealing with giving birth etc.  side rails are a must for safety of the puppies.  3" to 4" rails i find are best.  i do agree that dogs in the wild do find a small nest, but that is instinct and necessity calling.  i would probably guess that they lose puppies in each whelping due to tight spaces.  our whelping room is downstairs in the basement, where we have a 4x5 box inside a 5'x12' pen.  the pen is tented, so the bitch feels privacy, heat lamp is attached over the whelping box, but out of reach of the bitch.  she is perfectly content and at peace, with plenty of room for all.  we've found this to be the best situation and it works for us.   

Nice boxes Mirasmom, but most of my hussies would go over the partition and KILL each other.

SS

Come on Shelley--we're talking mother & daughter........then again???

No, they get along remarkably well, Bonnie's temperament is smart & low key
towards her mom, but her half sister Dana has to watch out, cause Bonnie will
try to sneak a bite out of her back-side, no more playing together for those two............