I have been receiving some advice from a Canadian breeder on the use of wood shavings in the whelping box once the puppies are 3 - 4 weeks old. She uses a wooden box and trains the pups to go in there to go toilet. I'd like to try and set this up to see if it works, we're expecting our first litter in 2 weeks.

I wondered if anyone with experience of using wood shavings could recommend a good brand/type which is suitable for use with puppies. Would the kind used for horses be ok, or should dust extracted shavings always be used?

Thanks

IME pups naturally move away from their sleeping area to toilet - even much sooner than you've mentioned - it's instinctive.

Personally I wouldn't use wood shavings, even dust free varities, as I'd be worried about pups eating them and causing a blockage in their tiny and delicate tums.  Mine had vet bed in around half of their whelping box in the early days and by 3 weeks the area for them was extended substantially by adding on a double puppy pen for a play area which had sheets of newspaper over linoleum and where they also toiletted (plus a large enclosure in the garden on fine days - even then I noticed they had a preferred corner  :) )

regards, Teri

Hi , i wouldnt use wood shavings "ever" ive read about a breeder that had to take 3 pups out of 7 for an emergancy opp to remove loads of it from their tums ,the pups realy deid , now maybe this isnt a comon thing to happen but would you want to risk it with your litter ? i know i wouldnt :( ....i do as terri does add a puppy pen and loads of newpaper ..pups do eat and chew it at times but it is easy to get rid of out the other end :) .

I would never use wood shavings in case they were ingested.  I buy fish and chip paper from wholesalers ... it is brilliant basically newspaper without the print on it!

I would never use it again, the first & only time one pup got some of it under his eyelid. For a big litter in the winter I used shredded tissue (think it was teabag) which worked well & no ill effects.

my post should of said nearly deid not really ( sorry lack of sleep ) pups going at the weekend ,im sad but my goodness i really need some sleep :( .....

We have found that shredded paper in the toilet area helps soak things up and doesn't slide around like sheets can do, though ti does get around a bit.

I would never contenplate using wood shavings, I prefer vetbed one end and newspapers the other this works equally well with less chance of choking or injesting particles of shavings.

Thanks for that everyone, I will probably not use shavings, maybe something else instead.

I'd just add though that my breeder uses wood shavings and has been doing so for many years. I'm sure there may be issues with using it, which is why I asked for comments. I thought at the time it could be a problem.

Better get a move on with the newspaper saving then, although I like the idea of unprinted paper... I wonder how much that costs??

I personally would not use shavings. I kept vet bed in the whelping box and took the side off. My puppies always went to news paper on the floor from 4 weeks. They used to get out of the box and go to the paper. This was also helpful for the new owners .

Denese

I have always felt uncomfortable when I have seen a photo of a litter sitting in wood shavings .... not sure exactly why, maybe because it is something I associate with a rabbit hutch. I have also noticed that those large outlets that sell puppies that have been bred on puppy farms often use them :-( Vet bedding and newspaper for the toileting area has always worked well for me.