Before we get into our list – it’s important to note that you shouldn’t purchase a dog whelping box just a few days before the mother is due to give birth; it needs to be available to the dog throughout her pregnancy so that she can get used to it and adjust. Also, no other dogs should be allowed into her area.
Here we have an excellent selection of some dog whelping pens, available in the UK, of different sizes so that you can choose the appropriate one depending on the breed of dog you have.
Disposable Whelping Box – Great Choice
#1 Petnap Cardboard Whelping Box 30”
This Petnap Dog Whelping Box is made of cardboard and the size is 30” x 30” x 15”. It’s comes complete with a water-resistant cardboard liner, which can be fitted in the bottom once the box is set up, and it also helps to avoid cross contamination between litters.
It’s disposable and can be recycled when doing so.
It also comes complete with three 21mm wooden puppy rails made of Pine Dowel. These rails prevent the puppies from harm when their mother gets up, and it also helps both the puppies and the mother to feel safer and secure.
The price of this disposable whelping box is very affordable and it even comes with a lid.
For small and medium dogs, such as Jack Russell Terriers with their pups can all fit inside with plenty of room to spare. Although, depending on the height of your dog, you might want to cut the entrance of the box a little bit if you have a very small dog, and you notice the mother having difficulty to get in and out of the box because of her little legs and large belly.
Also, it really makes it much more manageable for the dog owner to have the puppies all in one place. It’s not safe for puppies to be able to roam around the house, so it’s also protecting them. It also makes it easier to monitor the health of the puppies and the mother.
Cleaning up any messes is also easier and faster, because it’s all in one place.
Another benefit of a dog whelping pen is that it helps to maintain a warm temperature for the puppies. It keeps the puppies close together and beside their mother, which boosts their bond as well, and ensures that they stay snug. Whereas if the puppies were free to roam around, since they cannot regulate their own temperatures in the beginning, they would feel cold otherwise.
If it happens that it’s too cold for them, such as in the winter, you could add more blankets or there are also heating pads that are especially for whelping boxes.
- Disposable and Recyclable
- Great size 30”
- Water resistant
- Can’t be reused
#2 Petnap Cardboard Whelping Box 36”
Petnap’s Whelping Box is available in the size 36” x 36” x 18”. It’s disposable, made of cardboard, and recyclable.
It comes complete with a water-resistant cardboard liner, which can be fitted at the bottom once the box has been set up, and a set of three wooden puppy rails made of Pine Dowel that are 21mm in size.
The benefits of using disposable whelping pens is that it helps stop any cross contamination.
This puppy whelping box is very inexpensive, and is great for dog breeds which are similar in height to Bull Terriers – it’s the ideal size for the mother and her pups to stay comfortably.
Your pregnant dog will absolutely love this whelping pen, not only for giving birth in but even before, during her pregnancy, she will be grateful to have a place to go for privacy, during ‘nesting’, and to feel safe and secure. It’s very important to encourage your dog throughout her pregnancy to use the whelping pen.
The size of this whelping box prevents the puppies from getting out because it’s too tall for them to climb out, and it stops them from causing mischief or getting lost, and keeps them safe.
Due to the mother and puppies having a secure space, they will be relaxed and comfortable and so the mother will be less likely to act defensive, aggressive, or anxious.
Having a whelping pen also means that you can begin training your puppies from early on. When your puppies start to move around you can begin training them. If they weren’t all in one place it would be chaos, but like this you can teach them their basic tricks as a group if you’d like to, or simply remove one puppy at a time to train.
- Disposable and recyclable
- Water resistant
- 3 wooden puppy rails included
- Very inexpensive
- A little pricey
- The cardboard isn’t very thick
Puppy Whelping Box – Our Top Choice
#3 Petnap Plastic Whelping Box
This Petnap whelping box is a plastic whelping box, making it so that it’s reusable, and it comes in the colour white.
The box is 36x36x12”, and they are manufactured by Petnap in the UK.
Seeing as this whelping pen is made of plastic, it only weighs around 12kg, making it easy to carry or move around if need be.
It’s a one-piece molded whelping box and has solid, coated rails which are supplied as standard. It can be used as a pen or just as a storage container after whelping as well.
The rails are really important to ensure the protection of the puppies, so that when the mother stands up to get out, she doesn’t step on any of the puppies while doing so.
This dog whelping pen has rounded corners on the inside and out which help make it very easy to wipe away messes and keep clean.
Due to the fact that it is made of plastic, and molded as one piece, it’s guaranteed that there will be no leaks.
Although it is a little bit pricey, it’s worth it for the better quality and because it can be reused.
My Cocker Spaniel was able to lie down comfortably with six puppies with her, so I can definitely recommend this box for small and medium sized dogs.
One of the benefits of having a whelping box is that they provide safety for the newborn puppies, because otherwise, if they were allowed to roam around, they would get lost and there would be the possibility of other dogs stepping on them.
It also helps to make the puppies and the mother to feel more secure, because by being in an enclosed space they know that they are safe.
After giving birth, hormones can cause new mothers to be anxious and aggressive, but giving them their own space helps make them feel more comfortable and relaxed.
- Easy to clean
- Can be reused
- Lightweight and easy to move around
- n/a
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