My bitch is due anytime now!

I am thinking of making a whelping box. I HAVE bought a cardboard one and shes used to sleeping in that at the moment, but now Im having 2nd thoughts, Im going to let her whelp in the cardboard one and if possible transefer them

I dont want to leave my girl as her tempreture dropped low last night. I so im hoping to get some direction of making one using the stuff I have here.

a 4X4.5 foot pond liner, cheap bed slats and some laminate flooring! I know this is souding cheap but I want something clean to put the new babies in when they are all clean and settled, and im not going to leave her, (I have pig rails in the cardboard one so can attach them to the new whelping box!)

hi there, I've never used the cardboard whelping boxes but according to their advertising they are desined to last till the babies are off to their new homes. The makers claim the boxes are strong enough to last so I should think you would be ok. I would not risk upsetting mom by making her move to a new bed to be honest.

Kind Regards

Definitely don't move the pups. Use newspaper in the box whilst the birth is going on then when finished put in vetbed as well -it gets very wet during birth. I've never used a cardboard one either as I think they cost so much and we just buy cheap chipboard and make a box each time and then burn it afterward for my large breed, but I recently visited a branch of the MOD that had bred a litter of 12 pups in one of these boxes. The pups were about 5 weeks old when I met them, had moved to a kennel by then but the box was still used for confinement now and then and it didn't even look stained.

Depending on the size of your breed many people use the bottom section of a travel box

I use melamine faced MDF from B&Q, it is wipe clean, lasts ages, is fairly strong, and I make mine so that they can be easily dismantled for storeage, then re-erected for the next time needed.  You can get the sheets cut to size in B&Q for about 25p per cut, so it saves having to cut at home.

I have also made one from UPVC cladding, but have not yet perfect the corner joints, it is a bit too easily collapsible!

I use plastic waterpipe for the pig rails, they just clip onto holders designed to  fix the pipe to walls.

We make ours with same materials as Gwen, we make it 7ft with a partition  (one side has rails so they can see out) then remove partition when they are up on thier feet. We then remove the slats in the door and put  a puppy pen around it  to give more room. This is up for the whole 7 wks.

The makers claim the boxes are strong enough to last so I should think you would be ok

Used a cardboard one about 2 years ago.....didnt whelp the pups in there but after the whelping they went in there. The box lasted 1 week before it was wet and smelly. Never again

i wouldnt ever use 1 with my breed wouldnt last a day LOL we make ours and only costs about £5 :) we go to ikea get the oddments of wood that would of been a wardrobe we cut down to size hubby makes a flap at the front for mum to step in and out ,the flap goes up when pups are older (mum can still get in and out easy) we then skip it when pups are gone! :) its the stuff that wipes down plus its heavy so mum carnt move it when she gets in and out or lays down ,would never spend lots of money again on buying a whelping box ,i like to have a new 1 for new litters.

Don't see how one cardboard whelping box would last.  I think you'd need half a dozen. 

Hi my girl is due 3weeks tomorrow and i have the wood ready to make whelping box. Any idea on size i should make for larger dog in the toy breed lol.I was also wondering whether to section off a toilet area for pups or is it better when they are able to leave the box to toilet. My partner is going to put the box together at my guidance. I n other words i have to tell him what to do. Im just not totally sure. I have  a heat lamp and a heat pad do i need both . Temp in my kitchen is 66f and that is with the heating on. Am i right in thinking it should be at least 75f?

> have  a heat lamp and a heat pad do i need both .

I would go for under bed heating every time.  I bought a very expensive over head one years ago.  And found that bitches don't like it!  With underbed, at least you can fix it just for having under half of the vetbed.  Mum can move away if heat gets too much, and pups will gravitate towards the heat they need if mum moves away.

I think that it does depend on your set up really as I am the opposite to Jean, I prefer to use the heat lamp but then I have a large breed and Jean has toys so not sure if that has any bearing on things. Because I have a large whelping area, my bitch is still able to stay in the box and not be directly under the lamp, but she does tend to like the heat anyway as my dogs are sun worshippers! I tend to be judged by the pups as to the temp as they should sleep huddled together and be settled after feeding etc as long as they are putting on weight also then they are fine as a cold puppy won't feed properly or digest milk well. If they are too hot they will be spread around the box so just be guided by the pups. I wouldn't section off a toilet area as mum will be cleaning up until after weaning starts and by that stage they will naturally move away from sleeping area to toilet...Good luck with the litter, my bitch is 59 days today so hopefully should have some pups myself soon :-)

Yes, You don't need to buy a readymade whelping box for the market. You can easily make a small whelping box out of the cardboard very easily.

This is a very simple process. Make sure after a meal you never skip to cleaning because cardboard can absorb fluid.

Im not a big breeder but the 4 bitches I have bred with have made a large box with the pig rail round but have used the dust free shavings about 4in deep  this will last 3 weeks before it needs changing you don't get no smell you are not changing covers everyday

Based on another I saw, our whelping box consisted of two sections, both 4 X 4 in size with a base and 3 ft sides.   The first section we used until the puppies were up and moving around, and it was in a room where it was possible to fit a cot for one of us to sleep on at night.  The initial section had pig rails and the front was a low piece, so mum could get out, but not the puppies (bearing in mind mine was a low to ground breed).

Once the pups were mobile, the original section was moved into the kitchen and the second section added, the low piece removed.   The second section had a hinged door for access (mum).   We always used a heat lamp as it kept the first section warm AND DRY.   If mum was too hot, we'd drape a sheet across the back for her to get under.

The pups would naturally move from the initial section, which was covered with vet-bed and where they slept, to the new section which was covered with thick newspaper (collected locally from wherever I could find it!!) to toilet.

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