Favorite whelping room/dog supply room design? - Page 1

I am building one and am including a dog wash station, a deep sink, MW, washer/dryer, fridge, dishwasher, a whelping area with probably a dura whelp box and my door entrances are to the outside and also a kennel area. Anyone have any photos of their favorite designs or ideas on must have's or wish I had done??
Cat

No HD wide screen?

I guess if it was on your wish list...

I built such a room in my kennel in CA and am planning one in our new building here in PA, and I do have some suggestions, gleaned the hard way, as usual... It took me three tries (read-tear out and start over) to get it right. My old set up was in a converted pole barn originally intended for horses, but it was VERY well-built, with 1 1/4" play walls throughout, so easy to convert.

First- don't combine your whelping room with your feed/bathing room. Mom and whelps need peace and quiet. An agitated or nervous mother can step on whelps. Better two smaller rooms with an insulated wall and solid door between them. Arrange things so you don't have to go through the whleping room to get to anything else if possible.

The better things about my third attempt at creating a good working arrangement were-

• Climate control HVAC. I placed a window A/C unit high in a wall and pointed the vents towards the ceiling to avoid drafts directly on the whelps (It was very hot in summer in the Sacramento Valley) I used an electric oil-filled radiator for heat (to about 70F) because they are quite safe. I had a puppy-pen, reinforced with plywood around the whelping box, with a rest area for mom and her food & water, and a gate for entry exit into the room.
• I also had a dog door to a private kennel run, but there was a half wall infront of the opening to avoid drafts. Insulate ceiling, floor and walls for sound and energy efficiency, and a full-size door leading to just outside the fence of the private run for me.
• Sink in whelping room with small electric (later on-demand) water heater, small under counter fridge. Very handy. I got a used medical exam room counter unit with cabinets over and under, small sink already installed at a used medical supply warehouse.
• Sofa long enough to nap on waiting for whelps, and a TV with a VCR mounted on a wall in a corner. I had a radio too. The mother doesn't seem to care what you watch...
• Easy to clean flooring and on walls half-way up.
• All electric outlets high on walls, with covered exterior outlets and GFI's
• Plenty of light, (Natural and artificial)
• A shelf on the wall over the whelping area for whelping supplies with a couple handy baskets on it (towels, aspirator, etc)
• Phone.

Things I did wrong-

• At 12' x 12' It was barely  big enough because I had feed and supplies, equipment for 20 dogs in the same room, and my 4 x 5 whelping box and the pen around it took up most of the room. The small hot water heater ended up in the attic over the sink to save space, with a switch to turn it on and off on the wall.
• I had single pane windows that weren't quite level, didn't seal, and rattled in the wind because I installed them so badly. (the many-shim method) Looking at non-level windows drove me nuts till I tore them out and re-installed them right.
• At first I only had one light fixture, mounted in the middle of the ceiling. Not good enough. I ended up with an adjustible-arm lamp over the whelping box and lighting over the feed prep area/sink too.
• The sheetrock walls didn't last long, let alone the cheap non-gloss wall paint. (chomp, scratch, chomp)  Ditto the cheap vinyl flooring in the whelping area. Mommies in labor like to tear things up. (rip, shred, tear)
• Ran a 200' 12 gauge electric line from the house to the building... burned up the first fridge and nearly the whole barn (Read- "line loss") Amazing how well my power saw worked when I installed seperate service into a 100 amp box later!
• No floor drain.
• No remote on the first A/C unit, so I had to go into the whelping pen to change the settings.

Hope this helps.
SS

WOW!! Thank you!! this should really help me. I am remodeling after living in my house for over 20 years, kids, college, business etc and finally I get to remodel.  A lot of the items I will use in the dog room will be my old existing appliances etc as I can add new to my kitchen. I have an idea of what I want but your experience will help me a ton (and perhaps someone else too) so thank you for taking the time to write it down for me. I was trying to figure out the whelping area in relationship to the dog supply room so you suggestions about keeping it separate helps with the design I am doing.

I am also making a inside house area where the dogs can come in and not trapse through the entire house. It will have a crate area and beds but they will be right next to the kitchen so can be where we are just not walking everywhere when I don't want them to. Its going to be so cool I am excited.
Thank you so much,
Cathie

I lived in Citrus Heights. My first daughter was born there a milion zillion years ago. It was beautiful then, rolling hills and farm/ag areas.

LOL Cat  I am in the progress of renovating  :) house and dog areas  now that the kids have gone .
I am just about finished with the basement whelping area . This time I framed it in with 6 foot walls  all arounf except the entry to the whelping box  . I was going to tile the entire  area but instead used  a very good quality vinyl floor  on the walls and flooring of the whelping box.

In the kennel building I have 2  places for pups   one being an 8 x 8 room .  this area is for older pups  can however be converted into a whelping room :)    then I have a  4 x9 area   this area is awesome   the 4x4 area can be used by the female to get away  and the 4x5 is all whelping box  I can seperate this section by dropping the door down.   no drafts  due to the set up being sideways and the outdoor acess going from the 4x4 section out . climate controlled with an AV build into the wall  of the 8x8 room .I get  un  easy    having newborns  out there so this is why I am rebuilding  my old whelping area down stairs :))  I am almost done :) better be Britt is due on the 18th lol
Some females do well with being in a building with the other dogs but new comers or new mom's may be to uneasy  in a noisey place such as a kennel building.  
SO  since we are having mayor renovations done to our house and the location of the puppy pen out doors must  be moved  I will now build a  small building  short distance from my back door   away from the kennel area just for pups and mom's  with acess to the outside  and since I am a worry worm when it comes to  infants I be using a baby monitor system  cam and sound :))  the building  . I will used  the downstairs whelping area for the inital whelping then move them to the puppy building ;)
I like to have radiant floor heating installed in the whelping boxes  instead of using the heat lights  . THis project however will probally take me a year or so to complete .  On the end I will have more room then I really need  with the small numbers of litters I have per year.  WEll most of us have to do it piece by piece  I do  if I make any money on pups it is turned over to rebuilding and building a better system for them and me. Now that the kids are gone extra money goes to the dogs  LOL.

You can build a supply section in the whelping area  but I would stay clear of a bathing area   unless you seperated and   it's own  en trance from the outside   not through the whelping area  :)) then it will work out just fine ! Remeber that bathing and drying causes high humitity  ( used to have a small grooming shop )  not good for new born babies enviroment. I had to open the door just to let some steam out  <smile >

have fun planning  and ask away  many of us learned to trail and error    :)

Pia

Pia's set up sounds super. I have closed circuit TV as well nowadays. I don't have a whelping place in my kennel building here, so I have a suite downstairs in the walk-out basement. Not the greatest, no natural light and I need a fan for ventilation in the summer, but its heated and quiet, convenient, and well away from other dogs. The girls seemed pretty happy down there last time I used it 2+ years ago. Hopefully by the time I have another litter I'll have a better set-up.

Laundry areas or mud rooms with outside access door, lage enough to partition off, are very nice for dog rooms. Too bad I don't have one here. LOL

I haven't put up the wall between the kennel area of my new building yet. I may sacrifice a couple of runs for a larger feed prep and puppy room, only put older whelps in the kennel room once they get big enough to move out of the basement and don't need Mom full time. I just wish I had unlimited funds and could put into use all the lessons hard-learned over 22+ years to build a really super dog place. I dream of having a regular kitchen in my kennel, but that's not laible to happen any time soon... For now I have to settle for "safe, clean and serviceable- no frills."

Have fun re-doing your houses and dog facilities. :-))))
SS

Thanks Pia and SS for all the good suggestions. If you have any pics I would love to see them and you can email them to be personally to catbest@charter.net. The pictures really help when I am trying to explain what I visualize to my hubby who is just wonderful helping me but a picture does speak a thousands words sometimes.

After reading all your suggestions I am sure I will make a smaller quiet room for whelping with access to the outside yard for Mom to potty on one side and on the other a door to a fenced kennel area for when the wee ones get ready to travel farther. I don't know if I can afford the heated floor but that would be nice especially in the winter, its extremely cold right now. I will probably only breed one or two litters a year depending dog health factors and how successful my donation program to SAR and LE goes. 

We actually are putting a toilet in the dog room so it will dual purpose purhaps as a mud wash room for humans coming in the house especially if the whelping room is separate. I am not sure I will be able to store dog food in there though now that you mention the humidity since I do want a dog wash. I saw some nice raised shower type things on line but I am not so sure I couldnt just build one higher. The problem is actually getting my big dogs IN the tub. Some of my dogs are pets and oversized beasties. 

Do you guys think putting my old kitchen stove in there somehow would be useful? I told my husband I didn't think I needed a stove because of space, just the MW but maybe I should must put the entire thing out there. Truthfully, there is nothing wrong with it and I don't know what else I would do with it.

Closed circuit TV to check on the pups is brilliant. I do have some baby speaker monitors I have used with all my grandbabies when they visit and they are great. Didn't have those when I whelped, whoops I mean had babies. Also Pia, your 4x9 area does sound awsome, what a cool design. Have you seen those Jonart whelping boxes? The way you describe this room sounds kind of similar.

Oh back to reality and I need to get laundry done...
Cat

Cat

As soon as the whelping area is done  downstairs  I send you pictures . I can also send you some from the ones out in the dog building . No I have not seen the Jonard Whelping boxes  I google them :)  and let ya know

SS....... the one that I am renovationg is also down in the basement  and also no  natrual daylight  of course . I do not need to use fans  in summer it stays cool in summer  warm in winter .  I keep my african tortoise down there  and bought them a natrual sunlight bulb that gives out the needed D3 vitamine they need and  I guess we could use them for the puppers too :) I do not think natrual sunlight is that important for the first few weeks of a puppies life but as soon as they can spend time outside thats when they should get plenty of it . Especially winter pups  who have to spend much more time indoors due to winter ( reason I have no or to date only had 1 winter litter )  are deprived of natrual sunlight   this is where those   reptile natrual sunlight bulbs would be a great source !!

Pia