Whelping Box Foundations with Dr. Marty Greer

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Dr. Marty Greer to discuss whelping box foundational elements. From heat sources to bedding to disinfecting, this is “must have” information for all breeders.

“All whelping boxes will have a heat source and a surface that's easy to keep clean and disinfected,” Greer said. “We’ve used the whelping nest as a heat source. There's other companies now that make them and if you don't have electricity they make them propane powered. They make them powered on DC batteries so you can get alternative sources and it might not be a bad idea to have that as an alternative source if you normally have electricity but you're in an area that may have frequent outages and you're expecting puppies.”

The heat source should NOT be a heat lamp due not only to fire danger but to the inherent dryness of the environment they create, which can reduce necessary hydration for the puppies.

“You want to make sure that you're disinfecting,” Greer said, “and you're using the right disinfectant with the right dilution or concentration. If it's required to be rinsed that you rinse. So read the label directions and don't mix Clorox with anything else. Don't mix your stuff.

“So first you're going to have this surface that's heated and you're going to have a disinfectant surface and then you need something absorbent. Because even when the female is cleaning up after the puppies, puppies still will have urine, they'll have stool. And so you need something absorbent, especially in the first 3 or 4 weeks.

“If I cannot tell you anything else, please, no newspaper, no shredded paper. Traction. There's nice fleeces that you can put in the box, those work well. I like the absorbency of the repeat pads, and they're a lot easier to launder than the big fleeces. The fleeces, you have to go to the laundromat if they're really huge, because they won't fit in your typical washer and dryer. And then what I put on top of those is I'll put an absorbent material down, like the Repeat pads that Revival has. And then I put down bath mats.”