26/10/2026
🐕The Whelping Box🐕
What a dog/canine by instinct would do and what the human comes up with.
People who have/had litters will have observed that the mother displays "nesting behaviour" in the week prior delivery.
Storks build platforms on poles. It gives them the advantage of hight/access and inaccessibility for predators.
The Wolves dig a long tunnel leading to an underground cave. The entrance is hidden and small. To protect against predators.
The den is small and has a low ceiling. This keeps the temperature moderate and stable - even tho the pups lie on bare ground.
It is dark in the den.
The sides slope down and offer natural recesses for the pups so they dont get squashed.
This is natural instinct. The mother is with the pups for a week and only quickly leaves to relieve herself, drink water and meet the other wolves who came back with food.
She brings in bones and chews them in the den. You can find pups lying next to bones.
Canine pups are lesser developed than for instance horses or cows. They come in a litter - not a single pup. So they are born smaller and are underdeveloped. They cannot walk nor see nor hear.
The development takes place in the den - which is similar to the mothers womb. Warm and quiet. They actively feed. The rest is done by mom (toileting).
When they finally emerge - they are able to move, see and hear.
The den remains the safe heaven for them for quite a while.
And the idea to sleep in a hole will remain for life.
And here comes the human and offers them a whelping box.
A beautifully designed open air platform of enormous size similar to a storks nest.
Bright light and a heat lamp for warmth.
Also soft blankets for the wee babies.
What are we humans thinking?
An animal whose instinct it is to dig a den and have a dark and quiet sheltered area - is placed on a storks nest.
If the mother still has some instinct left in her - she will try to move the pups away from this inadequate placement. Under the couch or dig a hole outside and shift them there...Or move into a corner and huddle over the pups, trying to protect them.
The pups grow up without the peace they need. They get shifted around, "handled", put on scales, cuddled by kids ...
The neuro system in a pup is still under-developed and needs peace to grow. They sleep most of the time - for a reason.
They twitch a lot while asleep. You can see the twitches in moms belly - and when they sleep after birth.
Wild canines give birth in the dark. Light influences melatonin and this has an effect on contractions.
People who are planning to have a litter should give all this some thought and set up an arrangement which is optimal for the dog. The mother will be calmer and the pups will be able to develop naturally without stress.
A baby pup which gets picked up will be stressed.
Nature is a great example. 💚💚
[Copy paste from memories]
