The chunks got moved early!

Normally I leave mom and her babies in the big, cozy crate until they are about three weeks old. By then, they are needing more room and starting to crawl around.

But Poppy is a big girl and her pups are all chunks, so they needed to be moved earlier than normal for their comfort.

(For anyone wondering where the bed is, sometimes I will use a bath mat in the crate (which I had just changed before moving her) because it stays put a bit better than a bed when mom starts digging and “fixing” her bed. 😉

Normally when I move puppies to the small play pen, I put the UGOdog litter box in one half and a big bed in the other half. By three to three-and-one-half weeks they are crawling off their sleeping area to relive themselves. This set up introduces the first litter box in a very natural way; they toddle off the bed onto the potty area.

But since I moved this crew early (two weeks plus two days of age) they aren’t quite ready for the litter box introduction. So instead, I covered the bottom of the play pen with potty pads (I don’t like and rarely use potty pads) just to cover the floor grate so they could crawl  around easier. Then put the big bed in half of it.

Mom is enjoying the bigger space and even the pups are spreading out to sleep. It’s been very hot that past few days (even though we do have a little window a/c unit running).

Happy mom! Happy babies!