Once our pups start eating solid food, mom stops cleaning up after the pups and the pen becomes a poop fest, especially with a large litter if you don't clean 24/7 and stay on guard with a spray bottle of disinfectant and a roll of paper towels. Of course another option would be to use puppy pee pads or a litter box with some sort of absorbent material. One of the main reasons that we do not use the puppy pads here is that at the same time pups are old enough to start pad/litter training, they also become more rambunctious and they love to chew and tear up the pads. Since the material inside of the pads contain a material that absorbs and expands, the risk of puppies ingesting and choking or getting an intestinal blockage plus the mess that shredded pads make just make it no for us! Instead, we bought several rabbit hutch pans that are large enough to hold a good amount of absorbent material yet shallow enough for the small pups to be able to climb into it easily. We bought them from Tractor Supply, along with 40lb bags of pine horse stall pellets to fill them. When considered the litter material one has to consider a number of pros and cons to each. Including: price and how much you will need for the 4 or more weeks that you will be using a litter box, which leads into how often you will need to change/refresh the litter. Disposal is another consideration- can you compost it or do you need to place the used litter in the trash? Another consideration is how well the litter keeps down any odor, or do you have to add baking soda, lime, or other deodorizer. If using shavings or pressed wood pellets, some things to watch for are skin and eye irritants due to pine/cedar fumes/oils that can cause tearing and rashes. Dust from pellets and shavings will also permeate through out your house, entering the duct system so be prepared! Puppies tend to want to potty on areas that feel "different" and are away from the bedding/feeding area if given a choice. This is why a puppy, during house training, will potty on your rug or carpet vs the tile and easy to clean surfaces! Our adult dogs will go into the taller edges of the yard or next to our flower borders to potty as well as to "mark" their territory. Both males and females will do this! Other materials that could be used are: Playground sand Pea gravel Sod Plain dirt pelleted newspaper shredded newspaper pelleted alfalfa Other litter boxes could be made from: water heater catch pans mechanics oil drip pans baby wading pools (will need a "door" cut out) box made from painted 2 x 4's with water proof bottom bottom half of x-large plastic dog crate Be creative and just keep in mind that the box will have to be cleaned of solid waste at least twice a day, and material replaced at least once a week at first and then more often as the pups get larger and are urinating more. The box should be sanitized between each litter removal/replacement using diluted bleach, or other anti bacterial/virulent such as a Wysi-wash system or other disinfectant and sanitizer. A great degreaser and general cleaner that is safe with young puppies is Simple Green. That should be followed up with a spritz or 2 of diluted bleach and then wiped completely dry. You should NOT use the adage "if a little bit is good, then a bit more is great!" with bleach! Too much (you should never have a lingering odor of bleach smell) and you run the risk of severely irritating the eyes, nose, lungs, and skin of your puppies! Bleach is very caustic and can burn so make sure that you dilute to proper proportions. Start by measuring the water, then use a measuring cup or measuring spoons to add the correct amount of bleach. You need the correct ratio of bleach and water to kill germs.
Use the 1500 ppm solution for general disinfection of many organisms (such as MRSA, E. coli, Staph, Salmonella + SARS-CoV-2, HIV-1, Rhinovirus, Rotavirus).
Use the 2000 ppm solution to kill additional germs (such as Strep, Bordetella, Listeria + Herpes, MERS, Ebola + Athletes Foot Fungus).
Apply the bleach solution
When you know you have the correct solution, prewash or wipe the surface first, then sponge, mop or spray the bleach and water solution on. Let stand for the required amount of contact time, then rinse with clean water and allow to air dry. It’s that easy!
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