If you've ever whelped puppies before, you probably know about a whelping box.  The best, most easily cleaned whelping box starts with the bottom of a size 400 or 500 airline crate.  But alone, that sort of box is not tall enough for both mother and pups, so you will want to build a 3-wall plywood box about the height of the fully assembled crate (24 inches for Schips) and just large enough to slide the crate bottom snugly into the box opening (inside dimensions about 1/2 larger than crate bottom).  Then using a small piece of plywood, as shown, close the rectangle only at the top.  Use a towel to cover the opening and place the opening against the wall.  After the pups are about three weeks old, you can simply turn the box around so that Mom can get out using the open area.

Click on any picture to see its full-size image.

                                     
Finished plywood box in process of painting          Plywood box holding crate bottom

Then cut a piece of foam to fit in the bottom of the 400 airline crate your going to use (if a 500, make it fit that bottom). Make sure it's flat and doesn't bunch up anywhere.

  
Foam pad

Place the heating pad ON the foam. Make sure the cord will pass outside under the edge of the plywood box for minimum exposure to chewing moms.

Heating pad on foam

Next cut a plywood board to fit into the crate OVER the board. (its slightly bigger than the true bottom as the sides flare.) PAINT the board to seal it as it will get peed on, and we want it washable.

Painted board

Now find a towel or some textured cloth large enough to wrap around the board to meet on the bottom. If needed, use duck tape to hold it as you place the board back into the crate to cover the foam AND the heating pad. The towel will help puppies stay warm, the pad heats the whole board when set on high heat, and the puppies walk earlier as it gives them extra traction to move about(newspapers are slippery.)

                                              
Bottom of towel-wrapped board              Towel-wrapped board on top of heating pad

One of the important reason for the LONG size towel is to keep mom from pulling it up and covering her puppies. Same with shredded newspapers.

Schips often try to bury the pups to hide them. Then they lay on them or step on them and kill or injure them.

I use a cut piece of cardboard on one end to prevent them from falling through the opening where the door should be (I sometimes have to tape it as mom will pull it off).  I place the crate inside the plywood box.  This way, she can't get out, and I can handle, watch and care for the pups with ease.

Cardboard end covering

When first born, I often cover 3/4 of the top of the box with a blanket or another large towel. It keeps the box warm and prevents drafts on the newborns. I use clothes pins to hold it in place is needed.

I discovered by accident that if you set the door on its side, it fits in the box between the crate and plywood and holds her water dish. It will also hold a food dish if you need to leave her some dry quibble. (I was trying to "store" it out of the way..LOL)

Crate door with water dish

I keep the heating pad on high for the first week. WATCH in hot weather, it might be TOO warm. After that (2nd week), I put it on medium until they open their eyes. And then for about 3 or 4 days I keep it on low.  Once they open their eyes, they can regulate their own body temps.  I remove the heating pad totally from the crate so growing puppies won't chew the cord.

I change the towel everyday - first while mom is still discharging and cleaning herself - then as the puppies get older and pee on the towel. Its important to keep it very clean to prevent bacterial infections. You can at that time, add a layer of newspapers UNDER the towel and on the board (it absorbs liquid easier).

At about 4 weeks they are ready for a larger box where they have a sleeping end and a bathroom end. Exercise pens can work, but many pups can go right through the wires or even get caught in the wire and get hurt.  Make sure any spaces between wires are narrower than a nose. Place bedding at one end and newspapers at the other. Crate training begins early. I also need the room as they will be eating now.

Once I have moved them, I place them in the noise and bustle of the kitchen for socialization and pack inclusion - anywhere there is lots of coming and going, where people touch and talk to them. 

Mom doesn't spend every minute with the puppies. At first she will not leave them except to go to the bathroom. She will be aggressive with other dogs and strangers.  At about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks she will need longer time out of the crate, but away from the other dogs in the house.

Mom and the puppies should be in a different room during the first 3 weeks. This is because mom might hurt the puppies if she becomes aggressive about the other dogs. In jumping around, they step on and tromp puppies.

Now I know most of you have these facts, but you can save it to pass on if needed.

Supplies for delivering the litter.

Sissors

Hemostats (clamps for the umbilical cord)

Thread or dental floss to tie a bleeding cord if necessary.

Ear or baby bulb to suck out the nose and throat after birth.

2 towels per pup...in other words LOTS. Use to dry off the puppies as they are born.

A milk supplement such as "New Born" or even Hartz milk replacement (I use it right away to give them a jump start. A drop at a time, I give HALF a ML/CC to each puppy as they are born)

Rice, baby cereal to mix with the milk (easier to feed and they don't inhale it into their lungs if you have to feed them for any length of time)