2010-05-21

Thanks again for taking the time to post the plans on how to build a whelping box! I made a few modifications: used 1/2" plywood and reinforced the corners, made a fold down access panel as opposed to adjustable and in the spirit of take-a-part-ability added a removeable floor. I covered 3/8" plywood with vinyl flooring and placed strapping underneath every 8" to give the floor some give. The box sits on top of the floor which is cut 1" wider all around than the box. The box is held in place on the floor by a frame of 1" nailing strips all around the perimeter of the box. It makes for easy cleaning and the box is just lifted off, reducing weight. This is our first litter so we wanted to be prepared. Your website helped greatly! We had 6 puppies - 4 males, 2 females - all brindle.

Thanks again!

Nikki & Sharon King

Kingstone Reg'd Great Danes
Sound Minds, Sound Bodies
Beiseker, Alberta

http://kingstonegreatdanes.com

2010-05-17

I just wanted to say thank you for posting your whelping box design. My Mastiff Lily really likes it. We are now prepared for what lies ahead.

Thanks

Jolene

2010-05-03

Greetings from San Jose, Costa Rica. Many thanks for posting your whelping box plans. I looked at several designs and yours are the best I've seen.

I particularly appreciated your detailed instructions and explanations. Using them, I built my whelping box over a single weekend. With minor changes, it took me about 12 hours of actual construction time including finishing with two coats of water-based 3-in-1 polyurethane sealer-stain-varnish.

I made the following changes, based on my needs, tools and budget:

1. I made my box 4' x 5' with 18" high sides. This is a generous size for my golden retriever and the 18" sides are plenty high enough for her pups. Doing so allowed all four side panels to be pre-cut at the building supply store from single sheet of 1/2" plywood.

2. This left me with a 1'x5' remainder which I used to make the removable access panel and two triangular seats. I cut two more triangular seats from the scrap cut out from the access panel. Instead of using tee nuts, I screwed all four seats to the corner braces from below with the wood screws that came packaged with the braces. This was faster and gave me a neater finish.

3. I made my pig rails from 1x4's with mitered corners, instead of the rabbited joints you used. I then took four of the triangular end scraps and screwed them to the corner braces from below, using the wood screws that came packaged with the corner braces. I attached the pig rails to the triangular pieces from above with 1 1/2 inch wood screws which I was able to recess into the rails by simply tightening them without boring countersink holes. This made for a very fast, neat installation which was plenty sturdy enough for the intended use.

4. Instead of 4" corner braces, I used 3" corner braces under the seats and 2" corner braces under the pig rails. Again, they were plenty sturdy enough and less expensive. However, if I had it to do over again I'd use 3" braces under the pig rails as well simply because there's more clearance for tightening the bolts and screws.

5. I used 1/4x20 tee nuts and standard zinc-plated hex head bolts. These are inexpensive and readily available in any hardware store, even here in Costa Rica, and can be tightened with a simple end wrench or a socket and ratcheting nut driver. I found it much easier to fully press the tee nuts into the plywood before assembly. Since I didn't have a drill press, I used an ordinary c-clamp which works fine.

6. With the plywood pre-cut at the building supply store, I found that I didn't really need a table saw or a router and made all remaining cuts with a power miter saw (not necessary but faster and neater) and with a saber saw which I used for cutting the access panel and hand holes.

7. I used a 1/4 sheet finish sander to smooth my cuts, round the edges and prepare the plywood for finishing, followed up with hand sanding the hand holes and all of the rounded edges.

The project turned out great. The pups were born last week and the box is working out fine. I'll send photos soon. Thanks again

Jim

Hey there,

Love the design, built ours this weekend... only a 4x4 though for our lab. :)

Here are some photos for your site .. after the pups are here I'll probably write up a little something about my experience of building the box for my site www.fourpaw.com.

Mike

2010-01-27 Oak Whelping Box

Thank You so much for your whelping box plan, it was so easy to follow and the hardware is perfect.

I made mine out of Oak 3/4 plywood and put three coats of gloss polyurethane on it.

It turned out great, everybody that has seen it so far asked me where did you buy that because it looks so great.

I did downsize mine down to 4x4 and used only one sheet of plywood, which did leave me with two less seats. I will make them soon out of just a solid oak board.

Sincere Thanks,

Kevin
www.bigmuddycreeklabs.com 

2010-01-24 Three pictures for you from Hawaii

Mahalo for all your help with our whelping box.  I have standard poodles and we opted to make our whelping box 4 x 4. We lowered the pig rails. 

Although our home floors are concrete, I opted to use my husband's weight lifting floor mat and a piece of scrap linoleum from Home Depot for the flooring of the box.

We still have one more step and that is to finish it with a non-toxic varnish.

Mahalo nui loa.

Lehua  

2009-12-23 McEmn Mark III Whelping Box

2008-01-11

I found your site and loved the plans for the whelping box.

I didn't need one quite so large, as we breed medium size American Staffordshire Terriers. I took the plans and made them fit a 4' x 4' box for our needs.

I had to adjust the pig rail height and the length of all the sides. It worked well and the seats really do not interfere with the handles. We only used handles on the front and back as we will not need to disassemble it often, just move it here to there.

We used cabinet grade plywood and gave it two coats of satin polyurethane. I loved the way it came out and decided to say thank you and send you some pictures. Let me know what you think!

Al

www.retrostaffs.com

2008-05-05

Good Morning,

My husband recently built a whelping box per your design. He surprised me by having the name of our kennel routered into it. We named the kennel after my dad – so it is a very sentimental name.

I hope you enjoy the photos and feel free to use them on your web site if you’d like. Our dogs are Wirehaired Pointing Griffons and we expect our first litter this coming weekend.

Mary

Harborfront Interiors

2007-10-10

Alan modified the design to have channels that accomodate drop-in slats rather than a screwed-on access panel.

2006-11-26

Colleen sent us several photos of the whelping box they built from hardwood plywood for their Samantha X Travis litter.