Hello,
My bitch is on day 27 and Im just getting nervous! (It's her and my first litter).
I was wondering if anyone could tell me the best way to introduce her to her whelping box?
I was planning to give it to her at about 7 weeks so that she gets used to it. Is this the right time? She's very fond of her usual bed. Should I put it inside the whelping box, put the bedding from it in the box or remove it entirely? I want her to be as comfortable as possible, obviously. What does everyone else do?
I'd be eternally grateful for any suggestions:)!

how do you know she,s pregnant at this stage.I to have a first time bitch on day 27/28 day but i,m onsure if she is i look at her teats and sometimes i think YES then other times OH...IS SHE? people and books tell me should see a change about 5/6 weeks i just can,t tell at the moment

I'm not entirely sure all of the time either. Her tummy's gotten a lot bigger and her teats are swollen so I'm pretty certain, but I could be wrong. It still a bit early and some days I'm certain but others not so sure. Even if she's not this time [ :( ] I thought I'd ask because I'd breed from her in the summer instead. 

i plan to let her have access to the box around 10 days before, ill put her bedding in and put her own bed in the same room, i will not let my other dogs in there incase they think its theres!! if she doesnt like it i wont panic, ill probably feed her in there, but once shes given birth and the pups are in the whelping box she will want to be with them , so i wouldnt worry to much, even if she wont whelp in the box you can move the pups in after, hope this helps, good luck x

Hi, how you going with your bitch and the whelping box? I wouldnt worry too much, my bitches wont pay any attention to the whelping box till they start to feel the need to shred. The they jump in the box (which has lots of newspaper in there) and shgred like mad. I did have one bitch that wouldnt go in there full stop! she had her pups in the next room which was MY bedroom.. but when she had whelped three of the pups I transferred them to the box and she was fine, had the rest of her pups in there without any fuss. a lot of bitches wont use the box till they are ready. ohh and I have my box indoors from when they are mated just to acclimatise it to the room. its usually on its side to keep space to a minimum.. then I lay it down and fill with papers the week before due date.. hope this helps. One of my girls was mated on 12th december. maiden bitch and I am seeing no signs yet.. might get her scanned to be sure coz she was a funny one to mate.
            Madison

i have a bitch thats on day 46,she loves hers cause shes so big she can actually stretch out in it,shes been in there for 5 days now,i placed her own bedding in there,with some paper,feeding her in there has also helped,this is our 1st time also and she most defently is in whelp,good luck Julia and Megan

hi on reading your comments tess my bitch has just had 7 puppies she was so fond of her bed i let her have her puppies there , but firstly her bed is big and has plenty of room to have a litter in, so when it was time she felt sorry for herself alot of panting then went to bed she had no problems giving birth and had them all in her bed with 15 mins between them all so this as i thought was best for tess and worked a treat shirley  

She will have the puppies in a place that suits her not you! simply let her have the puppies where she wants them and move them to the box later.

If you keep her in one place that should help.  We had our Bitch at the back of the sette with a board up to keep her there.  And make sure there is no draft, give her something to lay on like an old blanket, and make sure she's got food and water down at all times.

We had our whelping box set up a week beforehand and she still tried to have them on my sofa.  If I hadnt actually seen her waters break she would almost definately have them there.  She showed no interest in the whelping box whatsoever but when the time came we put her there and she decided maybe we were right after all!!!