I've found the bottom of a size 350 or 400 crate does very well for the first 3 weeks-it's easy to clean, can be heated with a single light bulb over the side and draped with a towel for more warmth and quiet. Can also be dragged around the house after you if you want to keep an eye on the little ones (can't do that with a whelping box!) I just put the door side to the wall, to block it up (more to keep the draufts down than worry about escape) and mom jumps in and out. Around weaning time, they go into a plastic kiddie pool ( $8.00 at Toys R Us, so they can be tossed afterwards if you don't have room to store )-again, very clean and easy to move. At about 4-1/2 to 5 weeks they get a portable picket fence ( about a meter high, $10.00 at the gardening store) around the pool as they learn to escape. I don't like to put them in the cocker pens until they are 7 or eight weeks, as their feet seem too tender (and small) for the grate, and they tend to chew on the wire and get their teeth stuck when they are younger. It's all very economical (except the cocker pens-however, they last forever...my oldest one is 18 years old and going strong!) and much more importantly, easy to store when not in use. I do have a proper whelping box for my goldens-3 meters by 1.5 meters, with a raised floor, divider in the middle and pig rails (essential for Goldens!). It takes up a whole (small) room, weighs over 100lbs and take an hour to set up...has to be repainted after each litter...The cavalier set up is certainly tidier! Kim Johnson Allegria Cavaliers and Gold-Rush Goldens
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