Petnap Whelping Supplies

A whelping box, also called a nesting box, is where new born  puppies  will spend the first 20 days of their life. Designing to protect puppies during birth (whelping), it keeps them safely contained, protects them from the cold, and ensures they aren't crushed by their mother. THE POINT OF A WHELPING BOX ? A whelping box or whelping  bed  is a secure zone for your dog to give birth. It is a safe and ideal place for your pregnant dog to give birth. From reusable plastic whelping boxes to cardboard options, there are lots to choose from. You will also need to keep the box warm, so it's advised to choose bedding materials that are soft, warm, have good traction, and are easily cleaned and disinfected. Avoid hay, straw or shavings that can cause eye and skin irritations.  Whelping Boxes

A  whelping box , also known as a  nesting box, whelping den ,  or  whelping pen , is designed to protect  puppies  during birth (whelping) and early life by keeping them safely contained, protected from cold, and safe from the danger of crushing or smothering by the mother. Whelping boxes vary from improvised cardboard boxes, durable high density corrugated plastic to purpose built equipment, typically made of plywood or plastic. Desirable features include ease of cleaning and sanitation, extendibility, and toughness. However, there can sometimes not be enough traction, and with the added factor of an unnaturally flat floor, often puppies can develop, and suffer from what is known as hip dysplasia. A good solution is actually a  whelping den , a new form of whelping that has struck the market for breeders that virtually erases the risk of hip dysplasia for usually less than the cost of losing a single pup. Whelping Dens are available in open, en...

  A  whelping box , also known as a birthing box,  whelping pen and nesting box is used in order to protect the puppies after the whelping process is completed and during the early stages of life when they are most vulnerable. The whelping box keeps them safely contained away from the cold, most whelping boxes also contain rails or poles around the lower edges of which we get asked all the time what these are for and the short answer is they stop the mother crushing the puppies up against the sides of the box which could cause the puppies to become suffocated as well as being crushed. At petnap we sell 2 types of nesting boxes, Disposable Cardboard and Reusable Plastic whelping boxes. Both of these boxes will cope with the duration of the whelping process normally around 6 to 8 weeks before they then move on to a more suitable environment like a play pen as they become ever more adventurous. We stock 5 sizes in both types giving you plenty of choice as als...

Whelping Box – We went down the DIY route at the start as we couldn’t find anything online to suit our budget-this was our first mistake it sounds very straight forward making a  whelping box  from wood etc but by the time we actually finished buying all the wood and screws etc we definitely could of saved money buying a purpose made one that would of certainly done a better job also. Update: Our friends really like and have recommended the plastic whelping box from Petnap and this is the box I am likely to buy next time round. Whelping Heat Mat  – You could just use a hot water bottle or heat lamp of course but both options have many draw backs so this is something that we really didn’t mind shelling out a few quid on. You can pick a heat pad up on all the usual places like the online auction sites etc but we have had one in the past I can’t remember how long ago but I certainly can’t find it these days, that too was a  Petnap  heat pad although they d...

Whether you are breeding your first litter or you are a professional breeder – as you approach the date your bitch is due to whelp you will be excited, anxious and vigilant! If you are planning to breed from your dog it is recommended to wait until they are a minimum of two years of age. A dam will have her first season around 6-9 months of age and this will repeat in a cycle every 6 months. After mating the bitch will carry the puppies for a gestation period of 63 days – you will notice during this time she becomes larger, her teats grow and towards the end she may start to “nest”. This is the process of making a bed she feels is safe to give birth to her puppies, it is an evolutionary response to the hormones caused by the pregnancy and is seen in wild dogs and wolves where they need to find a location away from predators and the elements. You can help your bitch chose a suitable area to whelp by providing a  whelping box  – this can be anything from a cardboard bo...

A  whelping box  is in short, a box of sort that is used for the bitch to give birth to her puppies in and is the puppies home for the first stage of their life. At around 7 weeks into pregnancy, we need to start thinking about the whelping box. Let’s have a look at an easy way to work out which size whelping box you’re going to need, remember you should be doing this at the 7 week point at the latest as ideally you should have the whelping box set 2 weeks prior to the due date. The advice we give when selecting the correct size whelping box is to measure from the nose to the base of tail add several inches for the incorporation of puppy rails and free room and then go for the next size whelping box up from this measurement. (This is advice only and is ultimately down to the customer to select the correct size) The puppies will remain in the whelping box usually around  4  to 6 week, this is when they become more animated and therefore need more space to get a...