ok, so i have a question. i bought 2 bits of vetbed at a show a few weeks ago and
i started using it when the pups were 3weeks and i love it. the only thing is mum isnt cleaning up after the pups now and i have just been washing the vetbed every 2 days and putting the other sheet in and doing it like that. but now shes stopped cleaning up i dont know what to do. i seem to spend half the day picking up about 50 poos!! i was wondering what everyone else does? do you just clean up after them all the time? or just shove it in the washing machine poo and all? or should i get more vetbed? i dont want to stop using the vet bed and start using old blankets or whatever because i love it its just so absorbent and warm :) any help would be fantastic.

Noooooooooooooooooo Nancy - don't put poo in the washing machine :-D

Pick it up, flush it and then wash the vet bed when poo free.

My house, jeep and garage are full of vet bed - it's cracking stuff!  However, I'd say having 4 suitable sized bits at least is best with a litter just to save excess work for us and always have enough spare :)   I found that by the time mum had stopped cleaning up the pups would make their way off the fleece and onto the paper in their pen.  Do you have the vet bed covering the entire area they are on?  If so, extend their allowed area and have lots of thick sheets of paper down for them to go on and I'd expect that like mine you'd find that very soon the vet bed only needed changing because of them dragging their food onto it or after overnight if some had 'leaked' a little in sleep :)

HTH, regards Teri

haha i couldnt help laughing at the 'dont put poo in the washing machine' hahaha am still giggling. :) i will get another few bits of it i think. i will also put papers down for them and see what happens. :)

spend half the day picking up about 50 poos!! i was wondering what everyone else does?

We spend half the day picking up poo :-D :-D

Wait till the get older and you will be washing it daily. :-)

From a reasonable age you can start training them to go to the corner of the pen with paper down.  Keep with the vet bed( but pick off all the poo as Teri has advised :-D )

It may be worth picking up another few sheets of it. It is handy to give with the puppies also.

By the time my pups are 2-3 weeks old we have vet bedding one side of the pen, newspaper the other and the pups have always moved away from their vet bedding to use the paper, even before their eyes are open.

I change the vet bedding twice a day from birth to 3 weeks, then 3 or 4 times from then onwards, but I also have absolutely loads of the stuff, you can never have too much when you have a litter.

The dogs have their own washing machine, so it's not clogging up mine......just a shame they don't know how to use it yet ;)

Poo.. who mentioned poo :-)   I can't use paper.. 9pups and 80 odd poos per day... a nightmare.. a couple of years ago.. I (and PLEASE dont laugh) put sawdust and woodshaving down on the kitchen floor.. it was brilliant.. worked very well, however 2 years later, I am still hovering it up ...

This time I have vet bed on one side of the pen (sleeping area) and HUGE old bathtowl on the other side... and I simply hang over a makeshift rack and sluice them down with the hose outside before putting into the washing machine.. have to say though.. I am doing this around 5 times perday.. and the pups have now started going outside, so during the day, its not so bad.. just the overnight towel that gets really mucky..

Nora (11weeks) has found a novel way to widdle .. she quatted over her breakfast bowl in her crate this morning.. (after eating her breakfast lol)

> she quatted over her breakfast bowl in her crate this morning.. (after eating her breakfast lol)

:-D  Mucky madam! :-D

I found the cheapest way to buy Vetbed is to buy the largest piece you can find and then cut it yourself to the size needed ;-) that way you can buy loads cheaply :)

At least 4 pieces for pups (small litter) and changed and washed at least 2x a day at first and then 3x a day by about 2 weeks ;)  I alway have half newspaper and half vetbed from the time the pups start crawling, then they naturally crawl to the paper to wee and poo :-D

As for picking up poo, I never counted how many times a day, it just got picked up as it was done, that way they can't walk thru it, then when they're older they avoid walking thru it too ;)

I brought a 5 metre roll off ebay and it was under £50 with postage included, I have so much of the stuff not sure what to do with it, but it is fab!! I would look it up on ebay as this seemed to be pretty cheap to me

Me too.I just bought 2 rolls off Ebay and he only chagred the delivery of one. Wont need to buy anymore for ages now.

> The dogs have their own washing machine, so it's not clogging up mine......just a shame they don't know how to use it yet ;-)

Still smiling at that one.  Same as most, I have half vet bedding and half newspaper, and find that pups do tend to crawl off the vet bed quite early on.  I bought a humungous piece of vet bed at Cruft's a couple of years back, and cut it up myself, I have dozens of pieces, so it doesn't matter how often it needs washing.  If it is difficult to pick off pieces of dried on grub, I put the vet bed in a zip up duvet cover to save bunging up my machine.

You would all be jealous of my newspaper supply though!  I have a friend who works at an aircraft factory, he once told me that the blokes leave their papers behind and they all get ditched.  I only mentioned that I could do with a few!  He goes round after every shift and drops off boxfuls regularly.  I can't tell him that it's enough for Battersea Dogs Home, as I don't want to lose my supply when I really need it!  :-)  :-)  :-)

> The dogs have their own washing machine, so it's not clogging up mine......just a shame they don't know how to use it yet ;-)

Oh how I dream of a 'dogs only' washer lol. One day I might finally have the room for one!

'Til then I can only dream... :-P

This is the answer to washing your vet bed in your washing machine

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=302&pf_id=8248

Its absolutely BRILLIANT. since I've been using it the machine is no longer clogged with dog hair :-)

I quickly brush my vetbed with a slicker brush before putting it in the washing machine.

Thank you, thank you I have ordered 1 for vet bed, towells and other doggie bits.

Your very welcome :-)

Yvonne.

Noooooooooooooooooo Nancy  - don't put poo in the washing machine Hehehe!!

By 3 weeks - vet bed one side and paper the other.  Paper then gets put into bin bags a few times a day ... paper is collected from friends and neighbours and usually gets delivered when it's not required, ie no pups!
Also, lots of vet bed, you can never have enough vet bed!
I endorse the no poo in washing machine!

Love that bag!  I love using vet bed for my two fully grown dogs, but (don't shout) throw it away when it gets too dirty! as I can't stand the thought of it in the washing machine with my clothes....I know not literally with my clothes as I would wash it alone but urgghh just a pet hate of mine, I'll try that bag see how it goes.