First, I took a few more cute shots of the puppies the other day and have added them to the 3 week gallery. Here is a teaser of uber-cute #9 boy who is vying for the cutest puppy ever award.
I shot some video of the new puppy pen set-up, which has a section filled with shavings in which the puppies go potty. After my first litter, when I swore I would never use newspapers again, I did something different with my second litter, and was so thrilled with the results I can’t imagine raising puppies any other way.
This time, I put the shavings in about a week earlier than I did last time, and I’m pleased to say that even with the puppies only 3-1/2 weeks old, after just two days of practicing the new arrangement they are about 90% reliable about pottying in the shavings and not anywhere else. Since I put the shavings in on Saturday I have not seen a single poop anywhere else, and am only finding a few pee accidents on the potty pads, or at the edge of the crate near the opening as if they weren’t quite able to get all the way out into the shavings before they couldn’t hold it anymore. I am confident that by the end of the week they’ll be 100% reliable.
Love this set-up! The puppies and the puppy pen stay so clean, they don’t smear and track poop everywhere, the shavings absorb and contain the mess and are so easy to replace as needed.
Oh in the video I had a momentary lapse of reason and said the pen is 9′x9′ but really it is only 6′x6′.
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great pen setup! thanks
What brand of shavings do you use?
Hi Sonya, I’ve used several, just depending on what my local feed store has available. One was Gem, another, if I remember correctly, is Rosebud or something like that?