I never thought raising a litter of puppies could be so easy to keep clean and convenient as I have made it for myself lately!

I am really excited to share what I have learned raising litters for the last 8 years through some trial and error and maybe help out some other breeders or newbies to set up an affordable and convenient way to raise your puppies!

From the day the puppies are born until the day they go to their homes, I utilize this custom whelping box. It is large enough and tall enough that the puppies have plenty of room and cannot escape. You can find this box at Costco as a raised composting vinyl garden bed called “Keyhole 6ft x 6ft Composting garden bed” for $219.99.

I have this set up in a 5ft x 8ft configuration in the upstairs bedroom while the puppies are young for privacy for the mothers and to hold the heat in the whelping area better. Young puppies need to stay warm the first 2-3 weeks.

I have a heavy duty tarp that I place down underneath the walls of the box then I place 2 of the largest size of the EZ Whelp Laminated underpad blankets. They are waterproof and perfect for floor mats, human incontinence, animal incontinence, or general animal care. They are extremely absorbent in my experience and don’t let anything through the bottom. They are stain resistant on the brown top part of the blanket. They are lightweight and very easy to wash on sanitary and dry for perfectly new blankets when they need changing. I have 4 so I rotate 2 clean while 2 are dirty. I leave one of the top boards of the whelping box un secured so that I can lift it out of place and offer an easy entry for mom.

When the puppies are 3 weeks old I start offering some finely ground balanced raw diet to the puppies watered down, and start including the short tray with litter for potty training.