How to Prepare a Cheap and Easy to Clean Whelping Area

When you whelp puppies, it is imperative that you keep the temperature warm so as to prevent illness and death of the newborn puppies. It is also imperative that you be able to keep the area clean and that it is a place that is easy to disinfect.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2 cheap plastic wading pools
• electric blanket
• several old blankets
• bleach and water
• room thermometer
• baby gate

1. Select a suitable spot in your home for the whelping area. The room should be barricaded off with a baby gate or should have a door that closes.

2. Clean the room out so that there will be nothing that can harm your female as she whelps. Make sure that she can have access to fresh water and that the flooring is easy to keep clean. (preferably NOT a carpeted area)

3. Put one plastic wading pool down on the floor, lay the electric blanket inside and place the second baby pool down inside the first, with the electric blanket in between.

4. Place a clean blanket in the top pool when the female gets close to he time to whelp the puppies. Keep several clean blankets handy so that they can be replaced as needed during the whelping process.

5. 
   A ROYALAIR German shepherd in her whelping

   Once the puppies are born, turn on the electric blanket, on low or medium, check the temperature with your hand. The room temperature should bekept at around 75 degrees if possible, but if this is not possible, the electric blanket underneath the wading pool will keep the puppies warm.

6. Clean the wading pool daily with bleach and water, mixed 32 tsps bleach to one gallon water. Replace blanket daily. The puppies can grow up in the wading pool until they are about three weeks old, depending on the breed and size of the puppies.

Tips & Warnings

• Clean the puppy area daily
• If at all possible, keep the female in a quiet area of the home so she can rest quietly with her babies and not be disturbed by people walking in and out, or other dogs.
• Puppies sicken quickly if they get cold, their internal body "thermometers" don't kick in until they are about two weeks old, and they must be kept warm with external temperatures.
• Keep a room thermometer handy and watch that the temperature in the room stays warm for at least two weeks
• keep the room gated so that other dogs don't get in and people don't disturb your momma dog.
• put the puppies into a crate or box lined with a warm towel while you clean the puppy whelping area.

Resources

• puppy care and training
• dog breeds

[Walkaboutangel]

on 1/18/2009 Just make sure the electric blanket is of recent vintage... some of the older ones could not be placed under anything or folded... there was danger of electrical shock or fire.... you could not put it under your sheet or even under your other blankets.... It had to be the top item on the bed...

Your momma dog is absolutely gorgeous....

Angel

[showpup]

on 1/18/2009 Really good advice. And that GSD female is gorgeous. 5 stars

[Vanessa22]

on 1/14/2009 Great info! Thanks a bunch. :) 5*

[sharingideas]

on 11/14/2008 This is great information on how to prepare a puppy whelping area. Just what I was looking for, thanks