No, not us personally.  I’m referring to Indy and her sweet babies. 😉

It was high time we moved them from their large, cozy crate to the small puppy pen.

All set and ready for the new residents.

The puppy pen is in the same spot in the living room where the big crate was that the puppies were born in. It’s a cozy spot between the couch and the wood stove. We still have some cool weather so the wood stove still burns most days and nights to keep us all cozy. Plus, I will put a big blanket over the pen once the top is closed to make it cozy and private for Indy and her girls. The babies will stay in the living room until they are about five weeks old, when they’ll move upstairs to the puppy room. At that age they’ll need more room again and start being introduced to many more things.

They’re a little lost and confused at first since it such a big area for them. And mom was outside on a potty break.

But soon they’ll get used to it and enjoy the extra space. This is a great time to introduce them to the litter box too. If you’re new here, we litter box train our puppies to make things easier and cleaner during the puppy raising process. As they get older they will start going outside for potty breaks too (weather permitting). But the litter box is also a good option for those families in apartments where they don’t have access to a yard. I do not like using potty pads or newspaper. To me, that simulates a rug or the floor too much and gets puppy too comfortable with pottying in the house. The litter box is a specific object they are using to relive themselves in.

And at this age, puppies don’t normally like to soil where they sleep. With the small puppy pen set-up the bed takes up about half of the floor space and the litter box (this is a commercial one called a UGO-dog) takes up the other half of the floor. So when puppies toddle off their bed to relieve themselves, they end up on the litter box because it’s about the same level as the bed. It’s an easy way to introduce them to the litter box.

We only use the UGO-dog for the first week or so though. Once they get the idea then we transition them to a plastic rubbermaid-type container with one side cut down for easy access. The bottom has a layer of wood pellets to absorb the urine and poop is easily scooped out with a cat litter scoop.