[Saraskyblue]

I have a few questions. We had an accidental litter and I'm trying to do my absolute best to set these pups up for a great life with their new homes. But I have zero experience, this isn't something I ever planned on. They are 7 weeks old tomorrow and I will be sending them to their forever homes starting when they are 10 weeks old.

My first question is about their potty habits. The pups are in our living room on a tarp with a bendable baby gate. We had it in a rectangle when they were smaller and they designated one half for potty and the other for play and sleep. So we put their potty bedding on that side and they were very good at keeping their mess to that side. They chose to do this on their own so I thought it would be something they kept doing. But since they got bigger I changed the layout to give them way more space. I put a little barrier for them to step over in the spot I would like them to potty, it's the same area that they potty-ed before. But since changing things around they are going potty everywhere. I'm not sure how to get them to understand it's still their potty area, it's just bigger.

My other question is about a den. I want to give them a den similar to a crate for them to get used to. I can't buy a crate to put in there, would a large box with blankets work the same way? One of the pups is VERY destructive. He's determined to test every single barrier, chew up their bedding, destroy their toys, ect. I know that's how puppies are, but this one does it way more than the others. So I'm concerned about giving him a box with blankets since he will for sure try to destroy it haha.

Any advice is welcome. I've tried googling everything but most things I find are about raising a puppy after they leave the breeder and not about raising the litter.

 

[Lillith]

I would reach out to local shelters and see if they can offer any advice or provide some resources for puppy raising. They likely do it often so might have some more experienced individuals that can give you a hand, at least speaking with you for a bit.

Here is a page from AKC that contains some information on best practices. It has some articles that probably won't apply to you, but if you keep scrolling through there are a some about preparing puppies for new homes.

If you have a destroyer, he'll likely chew up the box and the bedding. You could try it, it's better than not trying at all, I suppose. Even a cheap, small wire crate will likely hold up better and be more beneficial in teaching the puppies about crates.

I have only rudimentary second hand knowledge of raising puppies, so perhaps someone who is experienced and has done it well might chime in!

 

[K9luv]

My mom was breeding for a short time, I can say what she did for the pups. She brought them out to do business in a large laundry basket. The pups had a little fence where they did their business. When they were done, they would all return to the basket. She had little crates for each pup (when they were older), but I know that's not something you are interested in purchasing, so I would guess a make shift crate could work?

Just my opinion and what my mother did. It worked well for her and my pups (I got from her) were already trained for the primary things.