Hi there, this is my first post as a newbie breeder as our bitch is due a litter at the end of January.  We have the whelping box which we will set up mid Jan, but our position options are in the kitchen, which is largish with underfloor heating and is where she usually sleeps, or we have the back of our garage converted to an office which is smaller with a radiator in it, but maybe not so easy to keep evenly warm (but not impossible).  I have read that they look for somewhere secluded, but I feel she might feel rejected if she's out in the office as she rarely goes in there normally.  There is just three of us (humans) in the house, so although it is a family home we could avoid the kitchen except for me cooking in the first two or three weeks.  A friend who breeds for the guide dogs has her litters in the kitchen and thinks its fine as the puppies are completely unfazed by noise!  What does everyone else think, please?  Thank you for any advice.

I personally do my litter in a very quiet room exclusively for the bitch and litter. I feel this is important whilst she is nursing for the first 3 weeks so I would go for your office initially then move them into the house when they are older to socialise them.We do however have a very busy kitchen with a lot of visitors and I would be very worried about disturbance and bringing in infection. I like to have more control over who goes near the pups. I do have a camp bed next to box for first 3 weeks and a cctv for when I am in the main house. I settle the bitch into the new area a good ten days before she is due and sit in there with her a lot and feed her in there.

I also worry about cooking fumes when they are tiny in the kitchen.

Good luck :)

I whelp my bitches in the living room, where we are all the time, where they are used to being, and where the radio is on all day until the TV goes on in the evening. I've never had a bitch wanting total quiet, but rather wanting to be with us. I once tried keeping one in our bedroom, and I swear she held on and did not give birth until she was finally moved to the living room.

If she is used to being in the centre of the family and you will not be having strangers disturbing her in the kitchen (as of course you would need to be close to her at al times in the early days) then the easier to keep warm kitchen would be my choice.

When my children were small I used my bedroom, and was up and down like a yo yo, as of course the bitch was torn between her maternal instincts and wanted my company, and I had to supervise.

Once my two were grown up the whelping box has been in the living room, and moved to the kitchen at 2 - 3 weeks (depending on how protective the bitch was re her fellows), where the other dogs spend most of their time, as I could have a larger pen there than in living room

As when beyond our first litter when we had mum and 2 adult males in the famiy (the puppies weren't sired by either male!), I didn't want mum in a whelping box with newborn puppies in the kitchen, we had the box in our living room (doesn't everybody?!) where it was quiet and one of us could sleep on the couch - usually my husband as he seemed to be able to cope with some loss of sleep better than I could.   This also meant no other household pets had access so mum felt safe and the litter kept free of the risk of infection. 

Once the puppies were up and moving around, at least by 3 weeks, we moved the box into the kitchen.   Our whelping box was 2 4 X 4 sections, the first having pig rails around 3 sides and a low front for mum to get in and out.   And it was that section we had in the living room before moving it into the kitchen, adding the second 4 X 4 section to make a big 8 X 4 area for the puppies and removing the low front on the original 4 X 4 section.   The second section had a hinged door for mum to go in and out.  Both sections had a floor and a 2.5 ft. sides.   And the brood lamp was hung over the top of the first section which was where the vet bed/other bedding was.    The second section floor was covered with loads of newspaper - the toilet and play end.   At that point the puppies started to be exposed to the daily noise of a household, washing machine, vacuum and so on.

For me it goes without saying that the litter needs to be away from other dogs/pets for the first two to three weeks.

Thanks for the advice.  My instinct is in the kitchen as we could put a camp bed in there quite easily and I just think she will want to be near us rather than somewhere she's not used to.  We do have another dog, but plan to move her into the conservatory area a couple of weeks before whelping and keep them separate evenings/overnight and she'll probably go to work with hubbie in the day.  With daughter at school all day, the kitchen is pretty quiet most of the time.  Well that's one thing sorted out, now just got to organise everything else