Whelping box, fits nicely in the corner of my master bedroom!

I spent Saturday building a new whelping box.  I can’t even remember the last litter that was whelped here in my home and because of that, my old whelping box has been left somewhere between military PCS moves.  With Jazz and Mocha growing into lovely ladies, I felt it was better to get this box done now, in hopes of future use.  Even though Zelda is a little Standard, I went ahead and made it 4 foot x 4 foot, the size I like for my full size Standard girls.  I’m sure Zelda won’t mind it being a bit roomy.  I used spare wood I had in the storage shed and the puppy guard rail is left over PVC from making agility equipment, zip tied to the walls.  It cost me a few dollars for “L” brackets and bolts to hold the walls together, and the 4 x 4 base I picked up in the bump and dent scrap wood section of Home Depot for the bank breaking cost of 5 dollars.  I never attach my base to the sides because I like to wrap old blankets completely around the base, so there is no fear mom can dig the blanket up and possibly cover up her babies.  I change the bedding several times a day, so being able to pick up and remove the sides is important.

The benefit to having a 4 x 4 box is that an exercise pen fits nicely around the box.  Zelda will start sleeping inside this box with the ex-pen closed.  That way if she goes into labor at night, she won’t be tempted to the upstairs closet to handle things on her own.

Overall I am pretty happy with my whelping box “On the Cheap”.  If it only last the one litter, it will be $10 dollars well spent.  Plus, I think Zelda likes it too!

~Becky