I dont use a whelping box with the railings....I did loose a baby one time because momma laid on top of it...but she was in the middle of the box, not up against the sides, so a rail would not have helped anyway. I start about 3 weeks before the babies are due...I bring the momma into my bedroom/master bath, and get her used to the whelping box, which I set up in my master bath....put her whelping box where she will sleep in it from now on...she will get used to it by the time the babies arrive. Put the box where it is going to be after she has her babies so you dont stress her out rearranging the position of the box and the babies, etc. NO DRAFTS on the box, and if you use a heating pad, I put mine UNDER THE ENTIRE WHELPING BOX SO THAT THERE IS NO CHANCE OF A BABY GETTING ON THE PAD.....I dont use a heating pad much any more since I let momma whelp in the huge master bath...I have her over in the "sitting area" with the whelping box under the heat lamp that is over that area...it keeps the area nice and warm for the babies, and doesnt dehydrate momma and the babies. NO JUMPING, NO ROUGH HOUSING with the other dogs....and 2 weeks before she is due, momma is in isolation....just her and me...in the yard, by ourselves, no running, no jumping, no vigorous exercise...just kind of lolly-gagging around, taking it easy, I bathe and massage her, I shave her tummy and rear end.....a week before they are due, we go for our ultrasound/abd. xray, so I will know EXACTLY how many babies to expect.....and that last week, she is kept pretty much inside the house, isolated from everyone....playing soft music on the Uverse TV station in the bathroom....she and babies will be in that area until they are 8 weeks old, at which time they will move to the nursery. |