From Whelping Box to Puppy Pen
By
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Q: Tell me more about puppy pens! When should I move my pups into them and what should I have in mine?
A: I start litter box training at 3 weeks and by 5 weeks, I have moved my crew into their “puppy kindergarten” area, with lots of enrichment. I also set it up so Mom has regular, if not 24/7, access to them to interact with them and teach them.
Let’s start with the pen itself. I want a waterproof, easy-to-clean floor that provides the pups good traction. There will be potty accidents, so I want to make it easy to clean and disinfect. I use a large piece of linoleum as my flooring, although I know that others have successfully used G-flooring (garage flooring) . On it I set up either x-pens or baby play yard fencing for containing the puppies. Gayle uses Rover Enclosures, which she loves but they are expensive. All of these solutions allow the pups to see through them to experience the environment around them and still safely contain the pups.
I focus heavily on potty training at this early age, so I want a pen that I can easily expand and shrink. Because moving to a bigger area is part of potty training, pups have to “earn” more space by showing me that they use the litter box or potty area consistently. I might give them more room during the day, but then I make the space much much smaller at night so that they do not have to go far to use the bathroom while sleepy.
In my ‘puppy kindergarten’ area I have some great toys that I have actually found in second-hand stores, garage sales and on FB Marketplace! I love the Step2 baby toys, including the slide, the playhouse and other toys designed for 1-3 year-old children, as appropriate. I also add in a wobble board, a mirror, musical toys, and the iPlay&iLearn toys which I attach to the side of the enclosure.
A tunnel is a blast for pups, and you can use concrete forms from Home Depot as a tunnel that is pretty puppy-proof! Also, cardboard boxes make pretty great fun places that can be replaced as needed.
The other wonderful enrichment toy you can either purchase or actually make yourself is an Adventure Box, here is the link to the instructions. I swap out the hanging items as they get older, so they do not get bored but be sure to think safety first when you add things to your box. This is a cute video from Guiding Eyes for the Blind on how one of their litter uses the Adventure Box.
Good Dog hosted a Facebook Live on Puppy Pens with Gayle and Laura. You may find some good ideas and guidelines in it. Then if you google puppy play spaces you can bring up some pretty amazing examples on Pinterest as well as google images as examples of what other people have done. Enjoy your litter, and have fun with them in their new area!
