Hey everyone,

  I have a litter of pups that were 9 weeks old last Friday. My friend helped me to construct a nice, big fence pen outside for them because they are to much to handle inside our small home. The pen is very large, enough to suite all of them. They have a nice sized igloo doghouse, plenty of food and water. It seems perfect, doesn't it? Nope. Where I live here in the states, its winter. And it has been snowing. The pups are a winter breed and absolutely love it. Instead of being in their doghouse full of warm blankets, they romp and play all day and night in the snow, biting at the snowflakes and burying their noses in the snow on the ground. They aren't having a problem with being to cold, don't worry. The problem is, they've killed off a lot of the grass in the pen itself. They seem to play in only one area, and therefore melt away all the snow. Mud is now their play area. Instead of moving around into the grassy areas and such, they roll around in the mud. At night, the ground freezes and the pups are cleaned off by Mom. But once the ground thawes, they are nasty and muddy. To make things worse, they are totally white. Two black pups, but their white legs and faces get muddy, too. But the all-white ones, goodness they look dirty. I don't know what to do to help prevent it. If I give the pups a bath, the moment they are put back into the pen after being dried off, into the mud they go.

My question is: How can I help to keep these puppies cleaner? What can I put into the pen to help cover the ground?

They are obviously cleaned before anyone comes to look at them, but I am concerned about all the days when they are just here at home with no one to come to see them? Mom gets pretty dirty, too, what with playing with them all day. If anyone can help, it'd be greatly appreciated!

-Tara

What about hay/straw or woodchips?  Not sure how these materials would react with the snow/freezing etc - it might be better to leave the pups "au natural" - as it were, and just bath them before they have visitors etc - they are obviously a healthy robust litter, living in their natural environment, and I think I would hesitate to interefere with their natural balance!

They sound as if they are having so much fun!

Regards
Margot

What about that indoor outdoor carpet? You could lay this down and once pups are gone roll up and throw away. :) Good luck

why dont you get some astroturf from your local flooring retailer, its quite cheap. and its good for non slip you can roll it up and its pretty lightweight