Question about whelping box
 

Hi!

Well 3 weeks ago today Harley gave birth to 3 beautiful puppies!
I used to show GSD in conformation and had a few litters, at three weeks I would start weaning and the whelping box no longer needed to be kept 80+ degrees. But obviously they are a different breed with different developmental stages.

The puppies are definitely not ready to be weaned... I think I will start at 4 weeks( if ready), but when do you all start to lower the heat in their whelping box? I actually have the entire room set at 83-86 degrees at all times. They are starting to walk around, play with each other by growling and barking with little lunges - gosh they are so cute!!!

Thanks so much!
Karen

At 4 weeks and with your room temperature set at what you have it, a heating pad is no longer needed. Just a nice comfy bed with some blankets placed away from any possible drafts. I usually use "mom" as the key in deciding when to start the weaning process, which is normally around 5 or 6 weeks but the pups are usually not totally weaned until 7-8 weeks.

Congrats on your litter......enjoy them, they don't stay little for long. :)

Your puppies are about ready to start the weaning process. Usually when the pups are around 3 1/2 to 4 weeks I will grind up some dry puppy food in a blender until it is very fine with no big chunks. I use a small double sided bowl to put the ground food in and I place it in the pen with the pups. The pups will start going over to lick the food. I also put a separate little double sided bowl of water in the pen. Your pups will need more room. I usually remove the whelping box and just use a small exercise pen for the pups. I have a board on one end of the x-pen so the mom can go in and out. The weaning process is slow. Most of my moms will continue to let the pups nurse until they are 8 to 10 weeks old. The mom may want to eat the ground up food to but that is okay. She is just teaching the pups to eat and the food is good for her. Some people like to wean by making a mush using the soaked dry food and puppy formula but I have found that my method works best for me. When my pups are around 5 weeks I will start mixing a little canned Pedigree Healthy Digestion in with the ground up dry food and I feed them that on a separate little plate twice a day.

Good luck with your babies.

Also, in regards to the room temperature. I use a heating pad when they are first born. When the pups are around two weeks old I remove the heating pad. I keep the room temperature around 75 to 78. You never want to make the room to hot for the momma because that will slow down her milk production.

Luckylady and bjh,

Thank you so much for your info...like I said I had GSDs and I also showed cardigans, but only had one litter and it was a c-section singleton, so totally different.

My whelping box consisted of a large rubbermade bin, which I cut out a large window of one side and then used cute little duck tape (Hello Kitty) to line the cut area. I then purchased a popup playpen at Amazon. I have a very large master bath, so I put the popup pen down on a blanket, then lined it with the flooring it came with plus a blankets and the washable pee pads, then the whelping box inside of the pen. I also put her fuzzy day bed in there so she could watch her pups if she wanted. This way Harley could come and go as she wanted, it there was no draft because of the rubbermaid sides and the playpen. I didn't use a heating pad, instead I purchased the microwavable Snugglesafe heating pads. I felt I could control the temperature better that way. I heated it up for less time than recommended and used a infrared thermometer to check it often. I purchased two so I could easily switch them out when needed. I use a space heater to keep the room warm (which I have turned down so we are keeping a constant 76 degrees now!)

The last day or so I have been watching the little rascals crawling out of the whelping box... I had a 4 inch wall, which I thought would be enough..but no way!! So today I am going to expand their living area. Momma is being a bit of a stinker...we have a webcam up on them and I watch whenever I can't be home. When we are gone, she is the best momma...she will stay with them the entire time. If my I am home..she wants to be with me and will check on them, but will cry and cry to come out of the bathroom, she will run to the bed, crawl under the covers and then back out... just gotta check that all is well in her world! Her place is still there!! At first I was worried they were not being fed enough, but they are growing consistently with the charts and are totally linear with the weights listed...so obviously they are doing well!

Thank you both for your info on the timing of weaning...I started thinking..my last litter of puppies was 12 years ago!! I can't believe that my singleton is 12! I still have her and her parents. Baha and Donner are now 14.5yrs and Sammie is 12...unbelievable how time goes! That's why I don't show, I couldn't place my show prospects that didn't develop or place my retired CH. My daughter loves my yorkies and their personalities and wanted one of theirs. I told her I would only breed them if she found 2 other approved homes(so I had enough homes to pick from depending on how many in the litter)... and she did! I know the future yorkie parents and they will be an excellent home. My daughter will get first pick, my husband and I will keep one and then one will go to the home we have picked for him/her. However my husband commented last night if they stayed just like they are right now forever he would keep all 3 of them!! OH MY!!!

Thank you again!
Karen