how do you containe a litter
 

hi


i have 2 litters right now, and my youngest is very curious now..where he didnt care the last time i had puppies...

i have a iris kennel which is about a foot n half tall with no top
i have small crates..where one mom n her small litter is in..but will need to be moved as they grow
and the other mom is in a xl crate..we were thinking of placing locks on that..but i think they will need more space..maybe not the xl crate puppies but the small crate puppies will

where do you put yours...

i like the xpens wire and plastic but im thinking they will move too easily...??

any thoughts, ideas, suggestions..pics?

thanks

I really like using the x-pens for the puppies. I set them up in our spare bedroom. Once the pups are around 3/12 weeks old I take them out of the whelping box and putting bedding down in the x-pen. I have a small board that divides the x-pen so that mom can get away from the pups when she wants to. As soon as the pups are walking (around 4 weeks) I will put down the finely ground up dry puppy food and a small bowl of water. As the pups get older I expand the size of the x-pen.

I've whelped pups in a 3x3 puppy play pen, pupps are kept off the floor and they stay there until 8 weeks of age. I line the bottom, with exercise squares (for pups sure footing when they begin to walk) and piddle pads are on top of those. It's easy to keep sanitary and clean.. It is kept in my bedroom, has a cover to keep those prying eyes away from the litter (my moms are very protective of anyone looking at their Pups ....when it comes time to place them on the floor, after their first shots. I have now switched to a crib, sides and floor are completely lined with plexi-glass and a top that is slatted and latches....I line the bottom with pish pads, whelping box is on one side....a slot on one side for water bottle. I love it, high enough for me for easy assitance in whelping...and easy to keep very sanitary. Plenty of room for mom to get away

I have a huge x-pen (canvas with a zippered top and bottom, purchased on e-bay....I place pads and beds, water and food). Great amount of room for pups to run in and mom to keep a watchful eye on them.....

I use an xpen.

I use a playpen at first when they are small and move them to a pet yard as they grow. I like the playpen because it keeps them off the floor.:) The pet yard is nice. It's in my livingroom and the playpen is in my bedroom right next to my bed.

thanks everyone
i wish i had more space to put a BIG xpen...i have little girl and her 3 babies in a little crate in the living room
and gidget and her babies in the breakfast nook in a XL crate let me see if i have pics

this is little girls little pen..dont have any of gidgets but i will get some

This looks like the set-up I use. IT works great. When I have it in the living room (our quiet) part of the house I put a 4x4 piece of plywood down with vinyl floor covering to protect the carpet. When they are older I set them up in the family/computer room (around 6 weeks)

I use a 4x4 x pen. I put down a half sheet of plywood and covered that with some vinyl flooring. The x pen sits right around the edge of the wood.

I have it divided into 3 areas. A sleeping area, a play area and a potty area. They learn at a very early age, 3 to 4 weeks to leave the sleeping area and go to the pee pad to potty. They will occasionally pee in the play area, but at 6 weeks they do not pee in their bed.

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Nice set up Jeanie... Have you ever tried a litter box for your puppies? I wish more breeders would, I hate pee pads..LOL.. I was able to train my little chihuahua really easily to use a litter box because her breeder started them that way.

So from now on I will be using the litter box for my puppies. I use wood pellets not the dog litter pellets. the wood ones absorb ALL odor and is so easy to clean. and turns to sawdust so I can dump it in the bushes and it gets recycled that way:)

No have never used litter boxes. Don't the puppies want to drag the litter out and play with it?

I tried a litter box with one litter of pups. Cat litter boxes are too tall for them to get into, so I had to cut it down on one side. I used puppy litter, it is supposed to be non-toxic for them, but they just scattered the litter all over and ate it (yuck) so I had to go back to the old reliable pee pads.
I think litter training would be a great idea, but I haven't found a way to keep it in the litter box.:)

Audrey

jeanie, that is a nice set up!

it's very organized and sanitary.

as a person ISO a yorkie - i'm impressed!

Thank you
It is easy to keep clean, I just spray with antibacterial cleaner and wipe it up.

I think it teaches the puppies that they need to go to another room/area to potty, instead of just outside the bed. Plus they learn a little problem solving. If they lose site of each other, they have to go and look for the others.

Very good point!

Does that pen have a door on it?... or do you have to step over the sides to get into it? I have the plastic xpen and I am "how you say..... a KLUTZ!" ...
I sometimes fall in and out of it going over the top... and I am tall (no excuse).:D

you can open the pen in one spot it is held together with a thing like on a dog leash. I'm pretty klutzy too

I really like the way you've done this; sort of like a puppy apartment! :D

i litter train my pups... but i don't use an actual litter tray because they are so tall and difficult for the little ones to get in and out of (and dont want to cut down the side incase they hurt themselves) i actualy use plant potting trays... they are higher at the back and sides, but perfect puppy height at the front- it also means that the wood pellets don't go everywhere!!
you can buy them in most garden centers over here, but i'm not sure about other countries...

I have a similar setup.

I actually start the potty training as soon as they open their eyes. I put some brown wrapping paper in one side of the bed. It's amazing to see they crawl to go pee on the paper at 2 weeks.

Jeanie, I love what you've done! Very creative and effective!

In my nursery I set up xpens and put either crates with the door open or cut out tupperware inside those pens. The pups go in the crate/tupperware and moms can go into those crates to nurse, but can also have some alone time out in the xpen part and eat/drink in peace away from their babies when they want. As the puppies grow they obviously start coming out too, but by that time I let mom out of the nursery completely for a few hours at a time to have her breaks. Then I start crate training the pups at night by just shutting the door to the crate inside their xpen, and let everybody out in the morning into the big pen area to play. Once they've had first shots I start letting the pups out for a couple hours a day into the living room/kitchen/main area of the house with the adults to begin socialization, but at night they are back into their night time crate to sleep. I never hear a peep out of them because they have learned to be in that crate inside the xpen since they were newborns with their moms, and it's not a scary thing. They also know in the morning I will let them out first thing to run wild! :D

These pics are not the best with a camera phone but you get the idea.

You guys are very creative I like all the settings.

i really like this set up

I love this set-up! What a great idea! :thumbup:

omg i love your setup im going to save this page lol everyone has a unique way of doing things this is fantastic

I have used a large hard plastic childrens swimming pool in the past with our labs but this is my first litter of yorkies and they are 7 days old today. I'm thinking i will do the same so Lucy can leave the pool with no difficulties when she needs her mommy time. She delivered 2 girls and 1 boy they are all very healty and she is a terrific little Mom. I just found this site so I have been glued to my computer for 2 days now the amount of information is perfect.

A plastic pool gives them to much room to crawl around and the ability to become chilled. You also have to make sure that the bedding is pinned down so there is no change of them becoming smothered. Plastic pool is great when they are a bit older and bigger. They should be kept up from the floor and away from drafts, these wee ones have difficulty in retaining their body heat.

I'm so sorry I didn't make it clear that I used the pool after the pups were mobil and also with a piece of carpet cut to fit the bottom taped down with double sided tape. My little yorkie pups are in a whelping box my husband built the pool is for the future. I should realize just because I see it in my head doesn't mean you see the same thing if I don't describe it completly.