Hi All,
Thank you for responding,Sharing a very important information.
Thank you very much.

Drew.

a 4x8 sheet of plywood raised up off the floor with 2x2 strips. The sides were a foot high but at one end a U shape was cut out for Mom to get out of the box. In the center of the whelping box, on both sides I made slots with 2x2's that a board slid down through to cut the box in half but the board was low enough for Mom to get over to eat or drink in the other half of the box. That end of the box had a U shape cut out so she could get out of the box to pottie, ect. When the puppy's were weaned, I pulled up the center board and put the board down at the end to close off Mom's exit/entrance way so they were not able to get out..

Hi,
If my girl is pregnant (and I think she is)she also due in late May. Congratulations & good luck with your litter.

Generally a whelping box is about 4x4. You can do a google search for "whelping box" to get more information.

Personally, I use a childs hard plastic swimming pool. They come in different sizes. They're very easy to clean and they're CHEAP. My pups stayed in it from about 2-3 weeks old until they could jump out of it a 7 weeks old. I had only 2 pups in my last litter so it worked fine. It would be to small for a larger litter.

For the first couple of weeks I keep the pups seperated from the dam except for feeding & supervised socialization. My last litter I kept in a large clear Rubbermaid container. I lined the bottom with egg crate foam that I put in a garbage bag so it wouldn't get wet. On top of that I put a heating pad set on LOW to cover 1/2 of the bottom of the container (that way they can get off the heating pad if they get to warm). On top of the heating pad I put a thin blanket or towel. I covered the top of the container with another towel to avoid drafts. This set up worked like charm. Nothing fancy but it worked.

Again...good luck.

I like the pools better.They are cheap,light weight and very easy to clean.We took 2 pools -one upside down on top of the other,bolted together,cut the bottom out of the top pool.This keeps the drafts out and the pups in.When we have the ceiling fan on,I cover the pool with an old sheet held in place with Bulldog clips.This has worked real well for us.We line the pool about the same as Sue does.Good luck with your babies.I am sure you will have a few more questions as she progresses thru her pregnancy.You can really get good info here.Everyone is so helpful.

Sue and Mack the Maniac