We raise our occasional litters in the house.
We have tried pine shavings in the past and although they smell nice when fresh and absorb odors, they create too much of a mess in our home.
We recently had a litter and are trying the shredded paper. It's nice because it's less messy and less gets through the house, easy to pick up and fairly absorbant. However, it does not absorb odors and it stinks a few hours after it's changed.
Are there any better suggestions of what to use or maybe something to add to it to cut down on the poop smell in our house
I can only change the bedding once daily, usually in the evening so suggesting more than that will not help me.

Pine Pellets (aka Equine Fresh). Way less mess than pine shavings and works great.

Where do you get them?

How old are the puppies? Puppy stools should not smell stinky unless there's coccidia or giardia lurking about. Of course, healthy stools will have an odor but it's not offensive. If I wake up in the morning and can smell poop when I open my bedroom door, I know it's an unwanted creature taking up residence in the whelping box.

A feed store should carry the pellets. Something like Tractor Supply, Farm & Fleet (in the U.S.)

I tried the horse pellets a few litters ago and found them very dusty -- it could have just been the brand because I know a lot of breeders have fantastic experiences with the pellets from Tractor Supply (we don't have these out west). I ended up going to Petco for the pellets. Although more expensive they work so well. Liquid turns the pellets to "sawdust" which is just scooped out. When everything needed changing I just brought in the shop vac and sucked everything up! Then replace with new an inch or two deep of new. No smell, the puppies stay clean -- it is fantastic!

Johanne

I agree. Poops should not be that stinky. Are you supplementing them with something that does not quite agree with them? Stick with kibble and a little yogurt, nothing else.

Aside from that, they coccidiosis can smell bad, so be sure to check for that.

I also use Equine pellets they are wonderful and help keep the smell down. Only complaint I have is once they break down from being wet they do get dusty.
By 7 weeks I am changing two boxes twice a day to keep the dust down.

On another breeder list many folks are using cat litter the non clumping kind and are super happy with it.
I might try that next litter.

For those with helpful suggestions, thank you.
I may try the pellets in the litter box area in the back of my puppy pen.
As for the stinky poop....when have you known poop NOT to smell
It's poop! It's gonna smell and it aint gonna smell like roses! LOL
But seriously, no, there is nothing wrong with their poops, they are firm and look great! If poop can even look "great"
It's just a large litter (9) and they are 6 weeks old which = lots of poopies!!!

Going to try the pine pellets today, perfect timing for us on this post. Only question is do the pups try and eat them?Thanks

When we use pellets for the horse stalls, we lightly mist them with water (from the hose)to help with dust & also to help break them up a bit. Perhaps a spray bottle filled with water to mist the pellets would help with your dust issues there as well? Just a thought.

Good question...
Do the pups ever try to eat the pellets?
Please advise...
Thanks

Puppies have never tried but the first time I had a new mom with them she went to get a big bite full and spit them out fast lol.

my kids never bother with them much, mouth them a bit but that is it.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone else that is using non clumping cat litter, smell, dust, etc??

Too funny - reminds me of when I had to go out of town for 2 days and left my 18 yr. old son in charge of taking care of only three 9 wk old puppies. He called me a couple of hours into my trip and said "I can't take it anymore - they are living POOP MACHINES!"

BTW I like the pellets too - but wish they were less expensive.

Valerie

To keep the shavings from getting everywhere, get a kids pool, cut an opening if you need but leave a "lip" at the bottom to keep the shavings in. Secure duct tape on the cut edges to prevent any cuts/scrapes too.

How could you have a litter of pups and only change the bedding once a day?

I tried the pellets when my puppies were about 4 weeks old....I had been using newspaper. I moved the puppies to another box while I removed the newspapers and replaced the pellets in the potty area......my pups immediately started to eat the pellets.....my husband and I had all we could do to get them out of the box....it was like candy to them. So ....I got rid of the pellets and am back to newspaper. I was a nervous wreck for the next 24 hours.....worrying about what the pellets would do to their delicate digestive systems. Luckily they all survived.

For this litter, I put a product called "Stall Dry" under the wood chips. It's made for horse stalls. It absorbs urine and does a great job as a deoderizer. I've been very pleased with it.

You can purchase it at feed stores or places like tractor supply.

I take pups out every 2 hours to potty and let them out by 5:30 every morning. They go home well on their way to being trained.

If you can only change liter once a day, how are they getting adequate socialization, since you must not be around the rest of the day??

Maybe she just meant that she changes the WHOLE litter once a day. I think most of us are in there picking up after puppies all throughout the day but do one or two big cleanings (change the litter, change the bedding, change the water, etc.) just once or twice a day. I read a post awhile back about newspaper pellets and she said she puts one or two bags into the pool and that lasts two weeks. So obviously she is picking up throughout the day and changing litter way less often.

Any comments about using cat litter?

Yes would love to hear from cat litter users!

What nasty comments! I would venture to guess that most of us do have to hold down full time jobs in order to be able to even afford having a litter of puppies and the expenses that go along with them (showing, clearances, etc.).

I find it amazing that the nasties on here claim to clean 10-15 times a day. They must be indepenently wealthy or be breeding too many litters in order to make a living off them, or just have no lives!

In any case, if the only socialization your puppies get is with the pooper scooper, you are the one with a problem!!