What do you all use to clean your whelping box if wood from litter to the next litter ? And do you think over years it should just be replaced ?

If I had a wood whelping box I would line the floor with linolium (sp?) making it a breeze to keep clean. I would think wood would need to be replaced from time to time as I would expect the momma dog or her pups to do some chewing of the sides. Wood is porus (sp?) and breeds bacertia very well, especially when damp or warm, that's why I've chosen to use the Giant midwest drop pin crates (the ones made for mastifts, danes, and wolf hounds) for my whelping area. You can replace pans when you need to, you can be sure mom stays with her pups, and it's easy to clean. You can even make your own side panels around the boarders to make sure mom can't roll onto her pups. Has worked great for me!

My whelping box is pine but has no floor. I just put a warm blanket with a tarp over it and then I put the replaceable/washable blankets over that. The blankets overlap the whelping box so pups can't get under them.

Because of bacteria issues with the wood, we just slightly sand the whelping box before every use. Then we clean it with Clorox (let it soak in). After is is fully dried and aired out, it is as good as new.

Thanks all, and Mark that is how my box is built. It is just years old. I do clean it with clorox water and let it sit in the sun. It is just the side that the puppy touch I think about. It does get some staining during whelping. The blankets/towels get changed and washed twice a day after they are born. No one has ever chewed on the wood. Still in good shape.

We have always used a wood whelping box, mine last many many years. We paint the with a kitchen enamal paint, very washable and appear to be sealed very well. We just wash the walls and bottom with bleach water we also seal the joints with a vinyl caulk. We usually have linoleum in the bottom and just replace that when it gets scratched up and starts to look worn.

You can glue formica or linoleum to the wood. It can be cleaned easily. Inbetween litters, the clorox bath is a good thing.

I also have a wooden whelping box that was finished with heavy-duty varnish...easy to clean with a bleach-spray and it's been used several times over the past 12 years without any sanitation problems. I've never had an issue, either, with pups chewing on it; maybe the varnish has a nasty "taste".

You need to do something with the raw wood. Very hard to clean. Paint, Varnish, or finish it with something that is cleanable. Bleach is what I clean with inbetween litters.

Because the wood is hard to clean, we built ours without a floor and just replace the tarp every time. The sides do get a little dirty like Southland Breeder mentioned but we just sand it every time (and then bleach it). We purposely don't paint or seal because we figured sanding it was the way to go. I did not know how long we could keep sanding it but it is 13 years old with a litter most years and is still fine.

In the past when I used a wooden whelping box I painted it white with 3 coats of "Baby Enamel" paint. That way I knew it was safe and non-toxic for puppies, and it cleaned up like a dream with soapy water then clorox.