First we move the dining room table and chairs out and the couch from the living room in. The couch and the dining room table are used to block the entrance to help limit the traffic flow in and out of the room. Moving the couch into the puppy room is critical. I plan on wasting hours and hours in there watching puppies and it is important to be comfortable.
Once the room is cleared we start by building the "urine trap." Having a litter of puppies on carpet can be dangerous. To ensure the carpet's safety we have designed the urine trap. We start by building the frame out of 2 x 4s. 
Then we pull out the plastic. The first year we made the mistake of not using heavy enough plastic and when the frame slid around some of the plastic ripped. We didn't have any leakage but it is better to be safe than sorry so now we go for the heavy duty stuff.
The plastic is stretched out under the frame and then brought up and over the frame to protect the wood and stapled to the inside. Not only does this prevent the urine from leaking onto the carpet but it also allows the frame to easily slide on the floor so we can reposition it as needed.
The linoleum comes next. It is measured, cut and fit into the frame. We use small boards to hold it in place. The first year we used cheap linoleum and had some tears so now we get the heavier stuff. This remnant was from last year and held up so well we can reuse it this year.
Once the urine trap is completed we put in the whelping box (provided by Helping Paws). The puppies will stay in the box until they are big enough to start crawling out or need more room, whichever comes first. 
The scale is set up, the supplies are purchased. All we need now are the puppies.
Tiga and Mr. Duck are all ready to go. 
Tori is ready to supervise from the couch again.
2 comments:
Steve,
Beautiful craftsmanship on the " urine trap"!
Looks like you've dotted all the i's and trapped all the p's. Great job!
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