One of the most joyous times of a pet parent’s life is when their best four-legged friend becomes pregnant, but it can also be a stressful time full of uncertainty. Your dog’s instincts will do most of the work, but you have a part to play here, too. You might be aware that you’ll need a whelping box, but where do you start if you’re clueless about how to find and select the perfect one for your dog and her upcoming litter?

This article with reviews of the best dog whelping boxes might be an excellent place to start! Whether you’re a novice expecting your first litter or a seasoned dog breeder, choosing the right whelping box can make the difference between an easy whelping experience and a fraught one.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 8 Best Dog Whelping Boxes 

1. Unipaws Whelping Box for Dogs – Best Overall

Many dog whelping boxes aren’t very durable, but the Unipaws Whelping Box for Dogs earns our best overall spot with top-notch medium-density fiberboard (MDF) construction. The bottom can be lined with a soft, absorbent whelping pad you can buy separately, or you can use newspaper or puppy pads. The material is smooth, easy to clean, and doesn’t harbor as much grime or bacteria.

We also love the safety-minded integrated pig rail along the bottoms, which keeps all the puppies from getting trapped against the walls. Last but not least is the customizable door design. As the puppies grow, you can open two doors along the frame, separate them into groups, or fold the whole box away later. All in all, this box will fit all your whelping needs like a charm.

Sadly, it’s not perfect. Our main gripe is that parts like the metal arm and whelping pad are sold separately. Considering the expensive price tag, your total costs can increase more than expected.

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2. Shirley K’s Whelping Dog Box – Best Value

When your budget is a concern, we recommend Shirley K’s Whelping Dog Box as our best value whelping box. It’s not constructed of fancy wood, but the one-piece molded plastic body is crack-resistant and provides plenty of space for the mom and pups to sprawl out comfortably.

The material is smooth and nonporous, making it easy to clean and less likely to harbor nasty bacteria. Your pup will appreciate the open design that lets her come and go as she wants, but it’s perfectly capable of holding young puppies for a while.

The downside is that, depending on your dog’s breed, it won’t contain your growing puppies after the 2—to 3-week mark. However, it’s a great budget option if you’re just worried about getting through the birth and the initial few weeks.

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3. 85L Puppy Incubator With Heating and Ventilation

For litters born in the middle of the night or for general-purpose use after they’re born, this gigantic 85L Puppy Incubator with Heating and Ventilation is just what you need. It’s fully enclosed with a panoramic transparent design that allows 360-degree viewing for you and the new little pups.

The biggest selling points are the heat lamps, an electric blanket, and a thermometer to ensure a warm, safe, and comfortable environment for puppies. If needed, there are integrated ventilation ports that you can hook up to oxygen as recommended by your vet. Finally, it comes with a medicine feeder and a puppy bottle for feeding.

The downside is that this box isn’t large enough to be used for birthing, and you’ll need a different box for that. However, you’d be hard-pressed to beat this whelping box for all your litter’s needs in their early lives.

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4. PUPez Whelping Box for Dogs

Whelping requires a sanitary environment, and nothing evokes that more than this clean white whelping box from PUPez. It requires just a few minutes to assemble, including the puppy protector rail installation, and you can adjust the amount of space you have without disassembling the whole box.

The PVC body is simple to hose off when it gets soiled and doesn’t breed bacteria when maintained, but lining the bottom with newspaper can make the cleaning easier on you. Our favorite part is that this box is suitable for virtually any dog except giant breeds, and the pig rail prevents the mother from squishing her pups. It’s a solid whelping box that can take some punishment.

But because nothing is perfect, we have to mention this product’s shortcomings. The door is difficult to use due to its slot design.

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5. Artilife Whelping Box for Dogs

Many people choose plastic swimming pools as whelping boxes, and this whelping box from Artilife evokes the same simplistic, easy-to-wash design. In multiple sizes, you can set this box up as a whelping area and a shallow puppy pool for baths. When you’re done with it and give it a quick hose-off, it folds up in seconds. However, it’s so versatile that you may never want to put it away.

As always, there are some drawbacks to mention. The top one is that multiple users said that their rowdy puppies easily scratched through the bottom and that despite looking like it is, it’s not waterproof.

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6. Potlimepan Birthing Pool

With a back-to-basics approach to whelping, this birthing pool from Potlimepan lacks the bells and whistles of other whelping boxes but does the job admirably anyway. It’s made of PVC plastic, but unlike some boxes, it does include a bottom.

It can do double duty as a shallow pool that won’t leak and can withstand the rigors of puppy whelping. Any time it gets soiled, you can give it a thorough hosing and pat it dry with a towel. Some customers mentioned that it can accommodate 10+ large-breed puppies!

Once again, this birthing pool doesn’t have any features to note, but there’s one notable con: the bottom gets very wrinkly, which can impede cleaning efforts.

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7. BingoPaw Dog Whelping Box Playpen Fence

This ornately designed, wrought-iron lookalike whelping box from BingoPaw is more aesthetically pleasing than most designs. It has enough space for all but the largest breeds, a secure high fence, and an easy-to-clean waterproof liner.

The tightly interlocked panels won’t pose a threat, either. The box is more of a pen with a liner, making it easy to fold up for storage, and you can arrange the eight panels in any configuration. You can use the panels to cordon off and restrict areas.

Our main problem with this box/playpen is that it doesn’t have enough connectors to secure the pen and protect it from more determined dogs. Dogs can push out of the bottom with enough effort. Another dealbreaker is that the metal isn’t corrosion-proof and can rust if you frequently wash it, which you will.

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8. Dogelsy Dog Playpen

Last but not least is the Dogelsy Dog Playpen, which makes last place by not exactly being a whelping box. However, it has very strong metal panels that you can arrange in nearly any way you desire, which is compelling on its own. To keep escape artists contained, it has a high garden fence design with a latched gate you can open at will. With multiple sizes available, you can purchase the size you think will do the job.

On the downside, you’ll have to buy your own liner because it doesn’t come with one. If you want an all-in-one whelping solution, look elsewhere.

Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Dog Whelping Boxes

Choosing a whelping box can be tricky or overwhelming if you don’t know what you need. To narrow down the most important attributes to glance at before deciding, we’ve added a handy buyer’s guide below. We’ll discuss the size, material, and security of whelping boxes to help you select the ideal model.

Small breeds like Pomeranians don’t need the space that German Shepherds do when whelping, so you must measure your mother dog. With that measurement in mind, you can visually mark the dimensions of each product on your floor with tape to get a rough idea of how it will look and see if there’s enough space.

You need enough space for your mother dog to lie down, get up, and turn around and plenty of extra space for those beautiful pups. Depending on the whelping box’s design, it can be a wide, shallow pool, a more traditional box design, or even a customizable pen. If you’re in doubt, go a little bigger than you think you need just to be safe.

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Material

The sides of your whelping box should be sturdy enough to take a beating because whelping puppies isn’t gentle work, and even weeks later, the puppies can bite or scratch at it. Shoddy plastic that’s easy to rip is useless, which is why you often see PVC. It helps that it’s easy to clean, too.

As for your liner, you can go two routes: indestructible or disposable. Hard-bottomed pools are popular for this reason, but a tough tarp can do the job for an open pen. Some dog owners use newspapers to save cash, which works but needs to be changed out regularly. You’ll be cleaning the box frequently, so consider how easy it is to clean before making a purchase.

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Security

Puppies become mobile after just a couple of weeks and can easily escape a birthing pool, and although pens are harder to set up, they’re more secure. You’ll have to decide whether you want a whelping box to last after the newborn stage or not. If you plan on transitioning the puppies to a puppy-proofed room once they’re more independent, a pool or box could do the trick. However, metal pens last longer.

Conclusion

Whelping your first litter is a pulse-pounding experience you’re never truly prepared for, like childbirth. When you want to be prepared with the best of the best, we recommend the Unipaws Whelping Box for Dogs. On a budget, Shirley K’s Whelping Box for Dogs is a smarter choice. However, each product has pros and cons, as you can see from the reviews, so it’s worth looking at them all.

• See also: DIY Whelping Box Plans You Can Make at Home

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Featured Image Credit: Jus_Oi, Shutterstock