Hi,
We have a litter of 11 large breed puppies that have just turned 5 weeks old. Normally I use newspaper for their toilet area in an enclosed pen. The problem I am facing is that no sooner is the paper down then it is absolutely sodden with so many poops and pees...not to mention how it is first thing in the morning!!
I am considering constructing an extra large ' litter tray' that will sit within the perimeter of the pen and using a layer of fine woodshavings ( the same that we use for horses) as it is incredibly absorbent and will help with the 'tsunami'.
My question is has anybody ever done anything similar or does anyone think that the shavings could pose a problem for the puppies?
all comments and advice appreciated.

Many hears ago when we got our Leo pup, thats what his breeder had.  A large box like a litter box with shavings in it, she had 13 pups...
As they are 5 weeks they are well big enough now i would have thought not to have any problems with shavings, although it does go everywhere too...
Good luck and enjoy them :)

You can get litter which is recycled paper, I was going to gIve it a go but with only 3 mini pups I managed with newspaper or pads.

I would use paper bedding I shred my own but you can buy it for horses and other animals bedding (with the dust removed).

I would not use shavings as these can irritate and cause respiratory and/or eye problems.

When I kennelled my pups outside from about 5 weeks (no longer do this, they stay in the house, but I did it for my first 4 litters) I used wood shavings. It does work to keep it very clean (although the area I used was 14' x 8' with a fairly deep layer -about 4 inches) BUT you will get it in puppies' eyes and noses and I found they often ate some initially. I don't think there is any way you could use shavings indoors as it tracks everywhere. If your breed does not have a short coat they pups will soon be covered themselves as well. These days I just use newspapers indoors but don't confine pups at night to a pen (or at all) as that is what makes it so wet (having all in a small area), they need an entire room. My litters are usually 9 or 10 pups.

I would never go down the shavings route after the one time I used them on recommendation I had a pup with a bit in his eye. With a big litter I much preferred the shredded tea bag material, pups kept clean & it didn't smell.

managed 10 flatcoat babies on newspaper scrounged from the recycle centre and friends and vetbeds, the pups soon learnt to walk off the bedding and go on the paper in their big whelping box.Shredded teabag stuff good , but shavings present allergies and dangers with spikes in it  etc.

Someone posted a new sort of litter - I can't remember anything about it except that I clicked the link and it looked excellent.  I think it was like compressed paper pellets - ring a bell anyone?

There is one I used for the horse called Aubiose its a natural fibre that expands with water and makes quite a compact bed.

I'm not sure it would be feasible to use indoors with puppies though?

I'd be concerned about puppies swallowing anything that expanded when wet. :-(

Hi the best thing to use is shredded paper. This is the link to it.  http://www.lawsonanimalfeeds.co.uk/bedding/136-white-shredded-paper-beddig.html
the bales are really compact, and it lasts a long time. We put it in quite thick and the pups absolutly love it. it soaks everything up and the pups stay incredibly clean and dry, and it doesnt need to be changed everyday. Hope this helps. karen

It doesnt expand to any great degree just enough to stick it to the next grain if you see what I mean. Then it dries out and its less fly away.

This was a really good thread on the subject

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/132908.html#fp

On the last page is where I discussed over a few posts how we do it with inco pads and a litter tray with wood pellets.

This worked really well for our first litter of 4 so we used it for our recent litter of 7 and it was amazing.  Friends who watched our online puppycam were amazed and have been converted.

Hope this helps.

thanks for the comments...I have used a dust extracted woodchip bedding which, so far, is working a treat. The bedding draws the moisture down which leaves dry litter on top. Any poos ...even the sloppy ones can easily be fished out with a litter scoop.
no evidence of any puppies eating the bedding which is good. As the perimeter of the pen is higher than the level of the bedding they can roll around and kick it about and it stays in the pen.
we don't even seem to be getting the lovely aroma that you get with newspaper either from the bedding or the puppies themselves ( which was loively when they'd rolled around on soiled paper!!)

I'd be very interested to hear more or see pictures, our last litter had the awful newspaper aroma :( PM me with pics if you can :)

can't work out how to put a photo in a pm but the bedding is called lay-soft...worth looking at...we buy it in bulk for the 40 or so horses but I'm sure if you asked they'd tell you who stocks it locally to you.

Ok great, what have you got underneath it?

its painted floorboards so have laid sticky plastic...it's the stuff you buy from B&Q to go over carpet when painting..comes on a roll ( 1 roll has seen 2 litters with three moves of position in both as the pups grow.

Brilliant thank you :)

With our last litter, we purchased a bale of horse bedding (cut up cardboard pieces) for about £5 which lasted absolutley ages!

I had two grow bag trays positioned in different parts of the puppy room and after initially putting pups in there when they were about to "go" they quickly cottoned on and were stopping play to go and wee/poo in the trays! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it!

Having two trays was particularly helpful as I could stagger which one was cleaned out. The pups would all crowd in to the newly cleaned trays and spread the contents everywhere! However, it was very easy to sweep up & put back in. They did have a nibble or two but didn't cause any problems. The cardboard was very absorbent & more importantly cheap.

Would use this method again, as it worked so well & helped the pups housetrain really quickly.

Tanya

I found the same with the shredded paper (shredded by my own fair hand), hardly any smell the wet areas and poo clump and are easily removed, and poo free pups.

So I am shredding and storing for the next time we have a litter.  I also hand shred newspaper to mix in with the small shredded stuff.