New digs

Last night, the puppies spent their first night outside of their whelping box, in a different pen.  It's a wire crate specifically designed for puppies with a grate floor that they can pee through into pans and a wire roof so they can't climb out. Since Mr Blue and then the rest of the pups have already demonstrated their climbing skills, the roof will be especially valuable when they are bigger and older. I purchased this pen in the US about 15 years ago, probably for our second litter. I've forgotten how much I paid at the time but do recall it was pretty expensive.  It's very well constructed with 2 pans that slide out at the bottom. It's been worth every penny.

It was also the first night that mom didn't get access to her babies to feed them - not that she wants to do that much any more.  Puppies slept soundly until about 6:15 AM which is excellent for their first night in a different environment and without a feeding from mom.  This wasn't the very first time they had been in this new pen; they had spent several hours on different occasions during the day so at least were used to it. The pen is set up close to our patio slider so now I can try to herd the puppies straight outdoors when they wake up. They are still a little too small to jump over the bottom of the door so I lift them out & then toss (ha, ha!) them outdoors where they can pee and poop!  The real start of their house training.  That's why having a litter in good weather is so wonderful!!!