It should be placed in a quiet, dark area of the house that can be closed off from the rest of the household, away from any foot traffic or loud noises. This room should have good ventilation and a temperature between approximately 24 to 27°C.
Whelping Area:
Place the box in a dark, quiet area of the house. This can be a basement, a closet, or a spare bedroom with the shades drawn. Allow the mother to freely come and go from her whelping area. Keep other dogs away from her whelping area so that she knows it is her place to deliver.
A whelping or nesting box in a quiet corner of the living room is preferable to an anxious mother constantly leaving her puppies. Some dogs like the owner to be with them the whole time they are in labor. Others prefer to have their puppies in seclusion.
Ideally, the location should be quiet with the least amount of busy family activity. If you have lots of family members or small children, probably the basement, laundry room or garage is more ideal. Another consideration should be the temperature of the whelping room.
An ideal nest for dogs giving birth is a large cardboard box lined with puppy pads (in case of accidents), and filled with clean blankets, sheets or towels.
An upside down ½ of a crate will work, a large box with a small walkway cut out, a baby pool or baby gating an area off so the puppies stay close to the mother. The mother needs to be able to easily leave the area to eliminate away from her puppies and stretch her legs as necessary.
Newborn puppies can easily lose body heat and become dehydrated, so keeping the birth area at the right temperature and humidity is essential. Use bowls of water or a humidifier to keep the space at 65-70% humidity, and a radiation or infrared lamp to heat the space.
Make sure your box or crate is in a quiet space, that's warm and large enough for movement and lots of little puppies! Bedding & Lining - You'll want to line the box with clean absorbent bedding or makeshift whelping pads.
In the meantime, you will need to do your best to provide the care her mother would have. Create a warm environment for the puppy to sleep. A small box with blankets and a heating lamp is ideal. Keep the lamp at a fair distance so the environment does not overheat.
Position the box half-on half-off a heating pad (rather than placing the heating inside the box.) This way the puppy can crawl off the heat source should the pad grow too hot. Cover the floor with a towel, blanket or puppy pads.
In the wild, dogs will find a secluded whelping place, usually a dark or sheltered spot. Some mother dogs, if they feel their puppies are too exposed, may become anxious and start carrying them around the house. Placing a blanket over part of the top of the box or providing an enclosed crate may resolve the problem.
From day 29 to 49 puppies will venture away from the whelp box sleeping area. They will not go far, but they will begin to explore. At this time we expand their area to add a play and eating area in the daytime. This is the time to move them out to the kitchen and family room area, where life is happening in the home.
Floor – Whether you want or need a floor in your box will depend on the floor surface where you are whelping the litter. I whelped my litters in my basement, and while these were clean, dry cement floors in newer homes, the floors were also cold to the touch depending on the season.
Nurturing a pregnant dog's nesting instinct entails introducing her to the whelping box at least five days before her delivery date. This allows time for her to become adjusted and comfortable before the puppies are born.
Make sure the walls are high enough to keep the puppies in and prevent drafts. There should be a door or lowered area that is at a height where the mother dog can step over it. You should make sure the whelping box has rails along the sides to protect the puppies. You can also build a whelping box.
As soon as the puppies' eyes open, they rapidly mature physically. By two weeks, they should be alert and trying to stand. They should be trying to climb out of their nest or whelping box by three weeks.
Take care not to overheat the puppies; newborns cannot move away from the heat on their own. Stimulation for elimination. For the first two weeks of life, puppies are stimulated by their mother to encourage urination and defecation. In the absence of their mother, you will have to provide the stimulation.
The pups should be kept warm, free from drafts, away from other dogs, and the neighbors and their children. Healthy well-nourished pups should be quiet, eat and sleep (with some jerking during REM) 90% of the time, gain weight daily after the first 2 days, and show increasing strength and body tone.
“The neonatal period from birth to 3 days of age is a critical stage for puppies,” cautions Dr. Smith.
Cotton blankets in summer and woollen blankets in winter are the best and easiest means of covering the bottom of the whelping boxes. Have a thick layer of newspaper underneath followed by the blanket on top. A daily change of the top cover, particularly with large litters, keeps the puppies clean and dry.
The whelping box needs to be changed at least once a day at this stage, and 2-3 times a day as the puppies begin eating solids and the mother is not cleaning up after them. A large heavy paper may be laid on the bottom, several layers of newspaper over that, and a tightly stretched blanket over the newspaper.
Newborn puppies sleep about 22 hours a day, so they're really not going to be experiencing much. They also cannot walk. They will try crawling around just a bit however they won't move far from mother at all. When not sleeping, a newborn will be eating.
If the momma pup doesn't chew through each umbilical cord on her own, you will have to cut the cord. If you do, be sure to use sterilized scissors, cut about an inch from the pup's belly, and tie the cord off with the thread or dental floss 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the puppy's body.
Just like the third trimester of pregnancy, feeding during lactation is best accomplished using a highly digestible, high quality puppy food. Free-choice feeding during the first 3-4 weeks of lactation, unless she only has one or two puppies, provides many advantages.
After giving birth, your dog will be very dehydrated and exhausted. She will need plenty of water to heal and begin producing milk for her puppies. As a result, when she is breastfeeding, make sure she has access to fresh water at all times.