One of the most important steps in preparing for labor is having a whelping box ready. A whelping box is a comfortable, enclosed area where your dog can deliver her puppies and raise them in the following weeks. The whelping box should be large enough for her to lie down comfortably along with her entire litter and large enough that she can get in and out easily without stepping on her puppies. If the box is too small, she could inadvertently harm one of her puppies when moving around. And if the box is too big, a puppy could easily wander too far from his littermates and become cold.
The pigrail is a critical feature within the whelping box. The pigrail is a small, four-inch shelf along the inside of the whelping box roughly four inches from the floor. It’s designed to help prevent the puppies from getting crushed. Without the rail, puppies could get caught between the edge of the whelping box and their mother as she lies down – which could be dangerous.
You can easily buy a ready-made whelping box, though many breeders also build theirs. Wood, upcycled kiddie pools or even sturdy cardboard boxes with a hard base are all great (and affordable) options if you go the route of building.
Here are the key features of a whelping box:
- Half-door or full door that mama can easily get in and out of
- A pigrail (which protects the puppies and runs along the inside of the box just above the base)
- A large enough size for mama and her pups with some wiggle room for movement
- Waterproof lining at the base (e.g., puppy pads and newspapers)
- Lots of towels/blankets that are swapped out regularly for clean bedding (around twice per day)
She should gravitate toward the whelping box as a safe place to have her puppies, though you should also work to get her comfortable in it ahead of time if she doesn’t seem interested at first.
