How do you keep them clean?

[qt2168]

I have 6 little 4 week old puppies and it seems like they are pooping EVERYWHERE in their whelping box. And then they role around in it! Does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep them clean?

[WV~Yorkies]

No advice here.. Only thing I can add is change them often. Puppies can be a full time job. I was lucky mom kept mine really clean until they started walking then they would get out of the bed to go potty.

How do you have your area set up? Is mom still nursing?

[qt2168]

Mom is still nursing but not cleaning them at all. I have half of the whelping box as the clean side where I lay fresh stuff down as soon as I see poo or pee and the other half is what I call the dirty side where they should be going to the bathroom. If anyone has visited misty trails havanese I am trying to kind of use her method. The problem is they LAY in the dirty side instead of the nice clean side and track poo everywhere. Your right this is a full time job! Just thought mabye someone had the super secret breeder hint that would solve this problem

[carmen in nj]

Originally Posted by qt2168

I have 6 little 4 week old puppies and it seems like they are pooping EVERYWHERE in their whelping box. And then they role around in it! Does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep them clean?

I have 5 little ones and I call them the pooping, peeing machines... I spend most of my day picking up poop and washing pads. I do one large load a day of washable pads, and pick up a grocery bag of poop.. oh and they also have to eat 4 small meals a day so the rest of the day goes into mixing food for them.... Life is Good , if they are eating and pooping means they are Very healthy...

[bjh]

When my pups are about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old I take them out of the whelping box. They need a lot more room at that age. If they have more room they will usually walk away from their sleeping area to do their business. At this age I start putting down the finely ground up dry puppy food and a small bowl of water. I cover the entire x-pen with sheets and bedding. I have the x-pen setup where momma can go in and out. I have attached a picture of the setup I use starting when the pups are around 4 weeks old. As they get older I move the board to give them more room.

[yorkiemama1986]

Mine are almost 9 weeks old and yes it's a full time job, but i have just now been able to put down one pad for them in their pen instead of 4. They now know they should poo/pee on their pads. I put a clean pad down every morning, after lunch, dinner and before bed and i usually check sometime in the middle of the night. If there is no pee and just poo i usually take papertowels or wipes and clean up the poo if it's solid and wait until they have soiled it. Good luck! It gets better once they are older

[Breny]

Originally Posted by qt2168

I have 6 little 4 week old puppies and it seems like they are pooping EVERYWHERE in their whelping box. And then they role around in it! Does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep them clean?

My moms are still taking care of that for me at 4 weeks. is mom not with the babies?
I change out my washable pee pads often with my litters and am doing about 4-5 loads of laundry a day as I am anal about keeping everything clean and smelling fresh

[qt2168]

Moms with the babies but it seems like she just does not have the intrest to clean them. She will feed them though! Thank gosh. I like that setup by the way and have changed mine to reflect yours more. I think that might help.

[gloriajean]

i use a huge cage and I bought a floor grid from JB wholesale to fit the cage, they come in different sizes. It keeps the puppies up out of their mess. It really works!! kinda of expensive if you have a huge cage like mine but so worth every penny. I work so I'm not home to change out pee pee pads and bedding every few hours so this has been a great big help. I put newspapers down in the plastic tray and their mess fall thru the grid on to the newsaprers and I just pull the tray out and change the papers I use lysol claener to clean the tray and the grid when needed. The grid is black plastic coated so it doesn't hurt their feet, they run and play and have their bed at one end and food and water at the other end.

[JeanieK]

They usually start to move around and play a little at 3 weeks. At that time I take them out of the whelping box and put down a pee pad for them. I still find them rolling around on the pee pad, but they eventually learn to play in the play area.

[tortoisekeeper]

Originally Posted by bjh

When my pups are about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old I take them out of the whelping box. They need a lot more room at that age. If they have more room they will usually walk away from their sleeping area to do their business. At this age I start putting down the finely ground up dry puppy food and a small bowl of water. I cover the entire x-pen with sheets and bedding. I have the x-pen setup where momma can go in and out. I have attached a picture of the setup I use starting when the pups are around 4 weeks old. As they get older I move the board to give them more room.

Is that dive weights that you are using to hold the pad down? My DH is home with my puppies 27/7 and he wants to use dive weights to hold the pads down but I was afraid because of them being lead.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by tortoisekeeper

Is that dive weights that you are using to hold the pad down? My DH is home with my puppies 27/7 and he wants to use dive weights to hold the pads down but I was afraid because of them being lead.

I am not sure what you are seeing in the pictures. I have food and water bowls down but the bedding is spread out so it is tucked under the exercise pen. As they get older I remove the sheets and place the washable pee pads in the x-pen but I have the edge of the x-pen sitting on them so the pups don't drag them around.

[tortoisekeeper]

Originally Posted by bjh

I am not sure what you are seeing in the pictures. I have food and water bowls down but the bedding is spread out so it is tucked under the exercise pen. As they get older I remove the sheets and place the washable pee pads in the x-pen but I have the edge of the x-pen sitting on them so the pups don't drag them around.

Sorry I see now that it is 2 double bowls in the bedding area. I use a litter box type container with a section cut out so the puppies can get in to use the potty pad. They use it most of the time but I can't keep them from tearing the potty pads up.

[qt2168]

Do they go into the litter box on their own?

[tortoisekeeper]

Yes it is cut out in the front so they can just step in.