Bedding Considerations

We want our puppies very first exposure to the crate to be a happy one.At the beginning of Lesson 1 you will be removing your puppies from the whelping box and moving them to the first version of the weaning pen. They have never seen a crate before, and we want their first exposure to the crate to be a pleasant and memorable experience. This is our first chance to use classical conditioning. By making sure our puppies first exposure to the crate is pleasurable, we are using classical conditioning (pairing a pleasurable experience with a neutral experience) to craft a positive emotional response (+CER) to the crate. Building positive emotional responses will be something we work on throughout the course, like adding money to a bank account, small deposits made regularly over time add up.For safety reasons in the whelping box the puppies either experienced no ‘real’ bed, or at the most a thin crate pad type bed or a bumper type bed, but due to safety concerns not a really plush bed. When we introduce the crates we will introduce very comfortable beds at the same time, and we will have no bedding outside of the crates (whelping mats to soak up pee are fine of course). You will install the crates and put the beds inside at the same time, so the puppies very first exposure to the crate is one of a really wonderful and comfortable place to rest.What bed you choose for each crate is a bit breed dependent. My GSD puppies like padded and soft beds, but only if they are not hot. Since their wooly puppy coat means my puppies are rarely cold like a hairless puppy might be, I don’t need to worry about their bedding being very warm and cozy. However, my puppies can get too warm and choose to lay down outside the crate on the cooler cement floor. Since I want to “make the right thing really easy” I will put a soft fluffy bed in three of my crates, and a “cooling” type bed in one of my crates.

In the summer, when overall the house is warmer, I might not put any cozy or warm bedding in the crates and use only cooling mats, Primo Pads, or even a piece of cool ceramic tile. During the coldest part of the winter I might choose different options because my puppies may find warm bedding appealing then. It’s important to consider the Puppy’s Point Of View when making choices. I do not use any supplemental heat for puppies over 7-10 days, just the ambient temperature of my home but I know some breeders keep puppies in very warm temperatures for much longer and in this case the puppies may actively seek cool places to rest. Always consider the temperature of the room, the coat type of the litter, and your observations of them, when deciding what type of beds will most attract your puppies to the crates. For a cooling type bed, you could choose one of the many commercially available cooling mats. Some of these have a cooling gel, and others you soak in water to activate. These work extremely well and many different types of puppies with thick wooly puppy coat will appreciate one of these cooling mats and choose to lay in that crate. However, some puppies may be tempted to chew or ingest material from this type of bed. So consider putting a cover (such as a Molly Mutt) on the bed, or even placing it under the crate itself. Always consider your litters safety first.Another option is to freeze a fleece type bed, or a towel, either dry or slightly damp, and then place it inside the crate as a cool option. Some breeders of cold hardy breeds will wrap ice packs or frozen water bottles and place them right inside the crate. If none of these are a great option for you, consider using a Primo Pad. These are easy to sanitize, marine-grade vinyl crate pads that fit very snugly in the crate, so they are hard for even adult dogs to damage. With their cool slick surface, these are good option for hot-natured puppies. Since warm puppies will often lay in the litter box, having one or more cool type crate can help prevent that. How cool your cooling crate is will depend on your puppies coat, single coated or hairless breeds might be great with a Primo pad, while a Malamute puppy might like a blanket covered cold pack. The season and climate is also important to consider. If your house is warm because it’s summer, you may find only cooling bedding to be appealing to your puppies, if it’s very cold, only warming beds. Observe your puppies and change based on their behavior.By giving your puppy both cozy and cool options you decrease the likelihood that puppies will choose to rest in the litter box. This is important, as we want our puppies to seek CLEAN resting areas, and not get desensitized to resting in urine or feces - even clean a litter box will have these residual odors.When choosing fabric type bedding look for thick bedding that:1.Has little or no stuffing. The polyester stuffing inside many beds presents risk of impaction if ingested. If you must get one with stuffing, get one that is highly chew resistant - especially if the mother or nannies have access.2.Is easy to sanitize and launder. More filling/nap means more surface area to hold contaminates, parasites, and pathogens. If you plan on using beds for more than a single litter, durability during washing and ease of sanitation are considerations. 3.Fits snugly in the crate. This will often discourage chewing on the edges of the bed or pad.REMEMBER, WHEN WE CREATE OUR ENVIRONMENT SUCH THAT THE PUPPY ASSOCIATES GOOD THINGS WITH THE CRATE, WE ARE USING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING TO CREATE A HAPPY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO THE CRATE ITSELF.

Bedding Considerations (Core)