A Good Whelping Box
A big thanks to Ray and Pascale for sending me these pictures. Sorry I can't caption in French.
Here you can see they started with a square of carpet to protect the hardwood flooring. It should also help some warmth in. I like to use those plastic & cloth table cloths - like the ones you use on outdoor furniture. The plastic stops the cleaning liquids from getting to the floor.
The floor I believe is Melamine, which is poisonous in dog food but a good option here. They don't eat it, they can't eat it. It's perfectly safe as long as you don't grind it into a powder form and feed way too much of it. I use it because it's very easy to scrub clean. The downside, and it's a big one, is the pups can't get any traction on it and it's so slick newspapers don't like to stay put. I am going to experiment with rubber horse mats.
The walls will be tongue and groove cedar in this case (mine are pine) that stacks like a wedding cake to keep the pups inside as they grow.
Roxie thinks the 3x4 foot size will be just about right. I'm interested in seeing how it holds up to all the pups in the current litter.
Ray used blocks in the corners cut so each layer could come apart separately. Wish I'd thought of that...
I believe they screw up a single board at a time in front, leaving the sides, that's different from mine, and probably better as momma gets the security of only having to "guard" the front.
Here is a picture of my box to show the "pig rails." You need something to keep your bitch's body away from the sides. Otherwise she can smother a pup to death while nursing the rest. My rails are 3/4" copper water pipe. They have stood up way better than I expected.
Then you move your bitch into it for about a week prior to whelping. Make it the most welcoming spot in the house for her. You would not whelp with all this stuff in the box, but if it encourages her to think of it as her nest...
The kennel name in the box is a cool idea. It generally appears in every photograph. You take pride in your breeding, pride in what you do. Show some pride by showing off your name.
Here you can see they started with a square of carpet to protect the hardwood flooring. It should also help some warmth in. I like to use those plastic & cloth table cloths - like the ones you use on outdoor furniture. The plastic stops the cleaning liquids from getting to the floor.
The floor I believe is Melamine, which is poisonous in dog food but a good option here. They don't eat it, they can't eat it. It's perfectly safe as long as you don't grind it into a powder form and feed way too much of it. I use it because it's very easy to scrub clean. The downside, and it's a big one, is the pups can't get any traction on it and it's so slick newspapers don't like to stay put. I am going to experiment with rubber horse mats.
The walls will be tongue and groove cedar in this case (mine are pine) that stacks like a wedding cake to keep the pups inside as they grow.
Roxie thinks the 3x4 foot size will be just about right. I'm interested in seeing how it holds up to all the pups in the current litter.
Ray used blocks in the corners cut so each layer could come apart separately. Wish I'd thought of that...
I believe they screw up a single board at a time in front, leaving the sides, that's different from mine, and probably better as momma gets the security of only having to "guard" the front.
Here is a picture of my box to show the "pig rails." You need something to keep your bitch's body away from the sides. Otherwise she can smother a pup to death while nursing the rest. My rails are 3/4" copper water pipe. They have stood up way better than I expected.
Then you move your bitch into it for about a week prior to whelping. Make it the most welcoming spot in the house for her. You would not whelp with all this stuff in the box, but if it encourages her to think of it as her nest...
The kennel name in the box is a cool idea. It generally appears in every photograph. You take pride in your breeding, pride in what you do. Show some pride by showing off your name.
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