Well, last October when Lexie had her pups she was in bed with us all night right before having her pups in the morning, while her whelping box lay empty right there in our room. Luckily, I woke up to her whining before she delivered, and even then rather than having them in her whelping box, she chose to have them in the basement family room on the floor in between the sofa and a relciner. Hey, whatever makes them most comfortable