my bitch is 46 days pregnant ,i was wondering where she would be better whelping . we have a very large wooden kennel and run in the garage were she stays in the daytime. i would put a heat lamp and everything she and the puppys would need, or shall i buy a whelping box and let her have them inside and put the puppys in the kennel when older.

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she definitely needs a whelping box...inside, with loads of white vet bed (and plenty standing by). Get one quick and get her used to it. make sure theres a rail around the inside so she doesn't squash any of her pups

good luck

If you can provide a quiet room on the ground floor where the flooring is suitable then rear them inside - at least for the first 4 weeks, when if the weather is suitable they can have some time outside in the kennel and run during the day - the best of both worlds for them - cosy and near you so you can observe them easily most of the time and every morning can go out to play, getting fresh air and less restricted play, while you get on with what you have to do. Its good for puppies to be seperate from you for some of the day - as those who have constant human comany 24/7 from day1 are more likley to develop seperation anxiety when left alone even for short periods. Once they get to 5 or 6 weeks they could spend the bulk of the day out there say from after breakfast to tea time as long as they have enough room to romp about.

However if you have a very noisy or busy household, with small children/lots of visitors you will need to consider her for the first couple of weeks and keep things a bit quieter. I never actually invite people round til my pups are about 10 days old, and there are absolutely no outside visitors to the whelping area/puppies for 3 weeks!! The bitch really needs to know that you will protect her from intruders to begin with, by keeping things low key and keep children and other pets away until you see how she is. The sweetest natured bitches can be very protective sometimes and can appear to change in temperament dramatically for the first few days.

The size of the whelping box should be her length at full stretch when lying down plus about 6" and the 6" wider than where her paws end when lying stretched on her side.
Try and make one side removable so you can take it off when they start exploring.
I use the oval plastic dogs beds with the entrance hole turned to the wall, lined with newspapers and vet beds. I like them as they so easy to get 100% clean, but they dont have rails. Its up to you which you prefer.

You need a whelping box in a room where you are able to sleep!! I'm sleeping downstairs with mine a few days before birth as you never know when they can appear.

I did have one who decided that there was no way that she was going to have them in the house, she just wimpered all the time, so in the end, outside, in the kennel and in the well dug garden (once she'd finished) we had them!! I was with her at all times and once she had had them all they all had to come into the house and she was fine with them. I just knew that if I had forced her to have them in the house that she would not have delived properly and that there could be problems.

I have a large whelping box next to my bed and the puppies stay in there for about3-4 weeks, I usually move themdownstairs into the kitchen when I start weaning them.
I let the bitch have the first puppy wherever she wants it within reason and then put the pup in the whelping box and most of the time the bitch has had the rest of the litter in there.
emma xxx