Message #184155

[uglydog]

Another method I use, because I don't like straw or shaving in my concrete kennels it gets in the drainage system and clogs up everything. If you are on dirt is okay.

But, I like to get old carpet and cut it to the size and shape of my whelping boxes, it gives the pups good traction, insulates them from the cold and makes it comfy for the momma dog to lay down with out getting elbow sores from the hard surface below.
Its usually free as people throw carpet out all the time.
So I have several peices to rotate out when it gets too dirty, I take and hang up and take the high pressure water hose to it and let it hang dry, and just keep rotating them.

There are a million plans on the internet for whelping boxes, with rails to keep momma from laying on the pups when they are real small. that are easy and cheap to build.
I use a 4X4 size box made out of 2X10 boards, its heavy enough to keep the carpet scraps in place when the carpet size is cut just a littler bigger than the box size.
You can make a puppy rail out of PVC pipe that is screwed to the 2X10 about 2-4 inches up from the floor, to give the puppies a place to rest from being layed on and suffocated.

I can also put a heating pad under the corner of one side of the carpet, or hang a heat lamp over the top of the whelping box.