Hi, I am all set to mate my bitch in december, between now and then we are turning our spare room into a whelping room.  So far I have come up with these ideas.......a hand basin with hot and cold water (this bedroom was once a bathroom and a smaller bedroom but has been knocked together so the pumbing is still there) I'm having laminate floor down but I thought getting a cheap cut of lino to fit over the top for the duration might be a good idea or would this be too slippy for the pups?  I'm getting one of those bunk beds with a sofa underneath so we have somewhere comfy to sit and a big cupboard to store all our eqipment in.  There are two big radiators and I'm getting a wall thermometer.  Any other ideas of what I could include to add to my list?  I want to get it all ready and Shaun is pretty handy so we can do most of the work ourselves!!  Also I don't quite know what to do about the whelping box, do we go for a cardboard box as suggested in 'The book of the bitch' or shall shaun build one out of wood?  (It would be burned after no chance of it being used again.)  The spare room is a complete shell at the moment so we are starting totally from scratch, any ideas would be most welcome!! Thanks Sue

Hi Sue, I envy you and your girl - this is obviously going to be a five star whelping room! Mine is normally a big storeroom but it has a H&C hand basin plumbed in (not vital IMO, but very handy). The floor is quarry tiles but I get a cheap lino off-cut when pups are expected. It might well be too slippery for the pups when they first come out of the whelping box but by then it's always covered with newspaper (you can not have enough newspaper, especially broadsheets). The disadvantages of lino are that as the pups get older they invariably manage to get an edge up to nibble and tear, and despite best efforts some urine always finds it's way under the lino eventually. Nevertheless I find cleaning easier with it than without it, and it can be chucked after the litter. I don't have a bed in the whelpin room, just an old mattress and sleeping bag that moves in when the bitch & I do. If the bitch decides to deliver her first pup on your bunk - and in my experience she may well! - the bunk could end up very messy. An old mattress will have gone to the dump before the pups are coming out of the box they have more floor space to play on than they would with a fixed bed. On the other hand mum will probably appreciate iyour bed as a refuge from the pups by that stage.

I have fluorescent strip lighting just in case things go wrong as well as an ordinary 40 watt ceiling light that is nice and dim when all is well. One of the handiest things I have is a bright anglepoise type lamp that has a flexible stem with a strong clamp on the end of the stem. It can be clamped to the side of the whelping box or wherever and the stem twisted to illuminate whatever area I need lit. I can't remember where I got it but it has sometimes been as valuable as an extra pair of hands. I envy you your big cupboard, but it may not be where you want it to be when the whelping happens. I find it comforting to have the essential whelping bits & bobs on a metal tray with sides so that it can come right into the whelping box with me if required. I use a retired hospital instrument tray but a big baking tray would do just as well. A clean towel placed in the bottom keeps things from rattling around.

One modification to the whelping room that I've found very useful is a wire mesh half door. This is hinged inside the wooden door and is high enough to keep the pups in even when they are ready to go to their new homes, but low enough to let me step over the top with a stretch. Once the pups are out of the whelping box and the room temperature is no longer important the room door is left open and although the pups are contained, they can see the world and the adult dogs go by and mum can hear & see the pups without being in with them. She can also hop out herself if she wants away from them, though I try to teach her not to jump in. I just step over I want to go in to the puppies with having all of them race out. Also when the pups are older and going out to their outdoor play area / coming into the kitchen to play & socialise, it takes them a while to work out when you want them to go back into the whelping room. That probably doesn't matter in breeds with small litters, but I promise you that herding a dozen lively puppies back into a whelping room with a normal door is no fun at all! With the mesh half door they can be easily be captured individually and lifted over.

I have a wooden whelping box designed so that the floor and sides all come apart. It has a ramp at the front which can be closed (to keep pups in when cleaning the floor etc) and a groove behind the ramp where increasingly high front boards can be slid in as the pups grow bigger. That keeps the bedding it place but allows mum and later the pups to hop over After a litter it is taken apart, scrubbed, disinfected and left in the sun (if there is any!) for a bit. Then it gets a couple of extra layers of ship's varnish and is stored flat. I've replaced the floor twice and the front boards, which are usually nibbled, each time. If you have a smaller breed I don't see any reason not to use a Book of the Bitch cardboard box method, though I've always fancied a Snowsilk whelping box if they were made in a big enough size.

HTH - and best of luck!

Hi thanks for your reply! Yes we are lucky to have such a good room and no children to put in it!!  Good point about the bed have to have a rethink and maybe find some way of blocking it off.  Poppy is a bulldog so I don't personally think a cardboard box would be sufficient and I would like some strong pig rails!!  I'm going to modify a baby gate some how to make a secure yet see through door.  I might be able to get some of that plastic stuff you stick on the floor before you decorate which is totally inpenetrable so that could be good.  I'll have my whelping kit to hand on a hospital tray (being a nurse does have some perks....lol) and stuff like vet bed, blankets and provisions in the big cupboard!!  The whole street is collecting papers for me so should be no problems there.  Also a kettle, the phone and biscuits...  I'm thinking of getting a telly in there, Poppy self whelped her last litter and basically was left to it, but I will want to be there to make sure she doesn't roll on her pups for the first few weeks.  I will also have my best friend and mentor on hand to rush round to help!  I thought I might as well have the hand basin shouldn't take too long to wire in and will be a nice addition to what will eventually be the guest room and even more eventually the first born childs room........Anyway I am very excited about this, will probably end up costing a fortune but never mind at least we can do most of the work ourselves!

Many thanks Sue

<<<<<<<<<<Also a kettle>>>>>>>>>>>
Make sure you have coffee (tea bags) and UHT milk just in case you cant get to shops, and no one else has chance to!!!!!!!!!!
Lea :)