Well, I only have Gracie...my one breeding female. About a week before she is due to whelp, I set up the play pen next to my bed. She stays in there at night. I do not keep her seperate from Rebel (my only other dog) but he knows to leave her alone...same as my husband knows to leave me alone, too! HAHA!
Anyway, when it's time for her to whelp, I kept Rebel in a different part of the house and had the house completely quiet. Gracie has enough on her mind without having to worry about what's going on outside the bedroom door. I think that maybe next time, I'll play some classical music for her and see if she likes that.
All kids and Rebel, hubby too, are not allowed in the birthing room. The birthing room ended up being my son's room this time. I'm the only one to go in there to let Gracie out to piddle and poop and to feed her, change out padding, towels, newspapers, etc. This goes on for over a week, closer to 2 weeks. I then moved them to the kitchen area...still in the whelping box but with an x-pen to give her more freedom.
When I was going in to let Gracie out once, Rebel dashed into the bedroom. Gracie had him down in 2 seconds flat. He didn't want near that room after that! |