Creating a Safe Space for Nursing Dog Moms

Photo by Oliver Keitel on Unsplash

If you are responsible for caring for a nursing dog mom, then there are several things you will want to do in order to keep your dog mom as healthy and as happy as possible. After all, the healthier the mother dog is, the better off the puppies will be.

It is also important that your dog mom has a safe space of her own during this time so that she can focus on nursing and caring for her new pups.

The biggest thing to keep in mind when choosing a space for your nursing dog mom, is that you need to find an area where she can be comfortable, protected and separate from other animals in, or on, your property. This space should also be separated from any major traffic flow of people as well. Even the most friendly and playful of dogs can start to get agitated or overly protected when they are nursing puppies.

In order to keep your dog, other people, and other animals as safe as possible, finding this protected area is of the utmost importance. Here are a few other tips that will help you create the right safe space for any nursing dog mom, so she can focus on feeding, caring for and raising her new pups in comfort.

Creating The Right Environment

Photo courtesy of @sophiakunkel via Unsplash.

It should come as no surprise to you that caring for newborns can be stressful, even for puppies. This is why a quiet and secluded space is so important. Your nursing dog’s area should feel like a quiet sanctuary for your dog and should be completely private.

Experts recommend that you set up your dog’s whelping box before birth in an area that is separate from busy household traffic. The whelping box is important for the early dog nursing days. Here’s what to keep in mind when establishing a whelping box:

  • The whelping box should have low sides between 12-18 inches and have a cut-out portion for the mom dog to easily enter and exit. It can be made out of cardboard or wood
  • The whelping box should be large enough for the mother dog to turn around in without potentially stepping on or harming her pups.
  • The whelping box should be big enough for a mom dog to lie on her side too nurse, but not too big, otherwise it may prevent little pups from getting the extra body heat they need.

Once you have the right whelping box inside a covered kennel or room in your home, make sure you outfit it with towels and blankets. You will likely need to clean and refresh these towels and blankets frequently to keep the area comfortable and sanitary.

Make Sure Your Mom Dog Has Plenty of Food and Water

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This safe space for your nursing dog should have an allocated area for food and water, where they can conveniently access these extra nutrients without having to go far from the whelping box. As puppies start to get older, you will want to make sure that this food and water is in a tall bowl that puppies will stay out of.

Remember, your nursing dog is going to be expelling a lot more energy than normal to feed her new puppies, so she will need more food and water than normal to keep up. According to the American Kennel Club, your dog will need about two times her normal amount of food before and immediately after the whelping. Between weeks 4-6, she will need even more—plan on feeding her three times her usual amount during this two-week period.

If you have questions about how much more to feed your nursing dog, make sure to ask your vet. Dehydration is also common among nursing moms, so check her water even more regularly to make sure that she can stay super hydrated during this time in her life.

Help Your Nursing Mom Get Some Space

Photo by Steve Sewell on Unsplash

For the first two weeks, your nursing mom is going to be all hands-on deck when taking care of her new pups. During this time, you should let your mom stay in her own space undisturbed and take care of business. Check in on your dog mom to make sure she looks happy and healthy and plenty of food and water. Other than that, she is going to take care of business.

However, after those first two weeks, your nursing pup will need a little more time to herself. Either remove the pups and leave your dog mom in her space or let your dog mom out for some fresh air. When the mom dog is ready to get back to nursing and her puppies, she will let you know.

During this time when you are letting your nursing dog out, make sure that you are checking on her overall condition, weight and energy levels. You should also check on her nipples. If they are chapped and sore than you can try putting petroleum jelly on them. If they look pussy or infected, then you should take your dog to the vet for a prescription antibiotic cream.

This is a great opportunity to give your nursing dog some extra care and attention or some companionship. After all, your dog may miss spending this extra time with their owner. This little bit of time away can really do wonders for your dog and help them during their nursing experience.

Of course, the key to creating any type of safe space for a nursing dog or any pup that needs some peace and quiet—is the right structure. Whether this is a large outdoor kennel with an enclosed dog bog, a doghouse or a secure cage, the right structure is paramount.

Here are Horizon Structures, we are truly passionate about caring for all animals that need a safe space to call their own. This is why you will find our structures are made entirely out of premium-grade materials and durable designs that are meant to last. After all, your new dog mom has a lot to worry about with her new puppies. A safe space to stay protected from the elements, should be the last thing she has to worry about.

Which Kennel Size is Right for Your Business?

Whether you’re just launching a new kennel or are upgrading and expanding, it can feel overwhelming to make a final decision on which kennel size will be right for you. What if you build a kennel that’s too small? What if it’s too big and difficult to maintain? These are both real concerns that you’ll have to balance during your build phase.

Luckily, we’re here to help! We’ve built hundreds of structures throughout North America and have seen how successful kennel businesses around the country weigh these factors. Here are a few tips for picking the right size kennel for you.

Plan for What You’ll Need

While we hope you’ll become the next Martha Stewart of kennels and create your own empire, it’s best to start out choosing a kennel size that will best accommodate your immediate surroundings.

Take into account the amount of space you’ll need not only for housing your boarding guests but also the space you’ll need for storage, your employees, and playtime for the dogs when they’re out of the kennels.

In addition, you should also take into account the demographics of the area you serve and how many clients you can realistically expect. If you live in a small town with a few hundred residents, then it’s safe to say you can stick with something like our 14×30 size. If, however, you serve a large city where you have the potential to a dozen dogs at a time, then it’s best to start with a medium-to-large size kennel like our 24×60 kennel.

Make Sure You Can Maintain Your Kennels

Wear and tear is a regular occurrence, especially when dealing with animals, so you must consider the amount of maintenance your kennel will need. It’s best to maintain a clean, professional environment so that your clients feel safe leaving their pets in your care.

When deciding on the right size kennel, make sure you understand the maintenance requirements and can keep up with the cleaning and repairs as needed. You may need to hire additional help to maintain the larger-sized kennels. If your business isn’t yet bringing in enough profit to account for those additional costs, it may be best to start on the smaller end and upgrade as your business becomes more profitable.

Decide Which Amenities You’ll Provide for Your Boarders

Giving your boarding clients a luxury experience can help set your business apart from competitors, so it’s crucial that you consider which amenities you’ll be able to provide and what sort of space they’ll require. Dog runs, a grooming area, and even a storefront that offers treats and leashes or collars can be great additions that appeal to pet owners (that also boosts your income).

Think about your strategy for setting your business apart from other kennels. What does that look like, and what sort of space will you need to make that happen? Perhaps a kennel with an office space or a receiving area is better suited for your business than a basic structure.

What Can You Reasonably Afford?

Last, but certainly not least, is factoring the capital you have to invest in a new kennel structure. Make sure that you take into account what it will cost you to create a new kennel. How quickly can you expect a return on your investment, and what prices will you need to charge to make that happen? We’ve seen clients who run the gamut when it comes to pricing; some are upscale, luxury kennel experiences, while others are more economical. It all depends on what value you can provide your clients and the demographics that you’ll be able to serve.

Special Considerations for Breeders and Dog Handlers

If you’re using kennels for temporary boarding for your breeding or dog showing business, there are a couple of extra considerations you should take into account when deciding on a kennel size:

What sort of extra space will you need to accommodate your unique business?

Breeders and dog handlers need additional amenities that would normally be optional for a boarding facility. Consider having spaces available for grooming and basic veterinary care. Having these planned in your kennel space will make it much easier for your business to run smoothly and will show your clients the extra care taken to ensure safe spaces for dogs.

How many dogs will you care for at any given time?

Many professional breeders will opt for smaller kennel facilities as they don’t require so many rooms for their dogs. Consider the average number of dogs you’ll be working with prior to dog shows or while breeding. Will you need an expansive structure or should you instead opt for something like a 5-dog kennel that is customized to your specific needs?

Ready to Get Started?

You can receive our complete kennel price list to help give you a better idea of what your new kennel might cost, or check out our current kennels on sale if you’re ready for immediate delivery.

Whatever you decide, don’t let yourself get dragged down by the details. If you’re getting overwhelmed trying to determine what kennel size is right for your business, then give a few of these tips a try or talk to us as we’re always happy to help.

Here Comes The Sun – But It’s Not Good For Everyone

Everyone loves to spend time in the great outdoors. As Spring returns, the bountiful benefits of the sun’s rays bring joy to the hearts of horses and humans, especially to the winter weary residents of colder climes.

But the sun is not good for everyone. Staying sheltered out of the heat and burning beams can be especially important for creatures great and small, especially the young, the elderly, the fair-skinned and the cancer prone. Here are some shade ideas that offer economic methods to address the issue of too much sun.

Give A Horse A Choice

The shade of the spreading chestnut tree may work in poetry for Longfellow (actually it was rather appropriately a horse chestnut tree that shaded the smithy), but it’s not so brilliant as a shelter for horses in a large open field. Even if we forget the risk of lightning strike during a storm, the presence of large trees within a pasture that are neither harmful to horses due to possible ingestion of their toxic fruit, seeds, leaves, or bark are few and far between. It’s a good idea to research the species of trees that can be safely left to grow or planted in a horse pasture.

A hedge provides almost no benefit in regard to avoidance of the sun’s rays, save for a limited period of possible shade provision early morning or at sunset, neither time being particularly helpful as these times are certainly not the hottest part of the day.

The sun climbs high in the sky during summer months, and avoiding its harsh focus is impossible without a roof under which to take sanctuary.

For the horse, the option of walking freely out of the paddock directly into a cool horse stall through a Dutch door is heaven indeed. Not only does the sun disappear from view, the incessant buzzing and biting insects usually halt at the doorway and ‘buzz off.’ A double win.

The center aisle barn with its exterior ingress/egress from stable to paddock is an extremely popular solution to the sun/shade question. Equine caregivers can work comfortably within the outdoor shade structure, while horses enjoy the freedom of choice between inside and out.

But not every horse owner enjoys the convenience of a center aisle barn. Low profile (a surprisingly excellent economic choice) or high profile design with loft space or high ceilings that offer excellent passive ventilation with the addition of gable, soffit and/or ridge venting on the roof both adeptly address the need for refuge from the sun for horse and human, but there are many other options from which to choose.

Large equine operations necessarily require large pastures for turn out and/or multiple paddocks that are not adjacent to the main barn. The provision of a run-in shed, carefully placed with its open side away from prevailing winds and away from direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day, will be a welcome retreat for the equine occupants of the field and be heavily utilized in summer as a result. Horses will actually use the shelter more in summer than in winter.

Run-in sheds should be designed wider rather than deeper for use where multiple horses share a paddock. This will mitigate the risk of a bossy horse bullying one lower in the pecking order and trapping it in the corner of the structure for intimidation/abuse.

For large herds consider adding more than one structure to avoid crowding and horses lower in the pecking order of the herd being forced to stand outside of the shelter on the periphery with no protection from the sun.

To keep annoying insects at bay, consider adding a ‘shed curtain’, and at a minimum keep the shed clean by regularly mucking it out and laying bedding such as pine shavings that will deter insects from taking up residence.

One of the cheapest methods to add shelter to any building is the addition of an overhang. The benefits of an overhang cannot be underestimated. Its presence shelters the interior of any building from the heat of direct sun, as well as driving rain or snow. If the barn access is shut off during the day, the overhang area can still provide valuable protection from the sun or inclement weather. Don’t forget the overhang!

The Dogs’ Days of Summer

Horse owners are often dog owners too. Canine care and comfort is also something to consider especially if the dog(s) are not off leash and free to choose their location.

Dogs have little protection from overheating due to their insulating coats. As their sweat glands are located in the pads of their feet and ear canals, sweating is not a major player in how canines regulate their body temperature.

Instead, a dog relies on four main methods to cool off when they become hot: Radiation; evaporation; conduction and convection. By dilation of blood vessels close to the surface of the skin and tongue the ‘hot dog’ will try to radiate the internal body heat to the outside. He will seek cold surfaces to lie down to absorb cooler temperatures (conduction) or sit in a breezy spot to transfer heat from his body to the air (convection). Panting is an effort to bring air to the upper respiratory tract to evaporate water from his mucous membranes.

All dog kennel designs benefit from an inside/outside option for freedom of movement of its canine residents. When the outside run or option, is sheltered from the sun by provision of an overhang or roofline, the dog can enjoy catching the breeze without being forced to lie down on a ‘baking cookie sheet’ of wood or steel flooring. In fact a well-designed kennel offers safety and security for your pets including protection to the animal from neighboring dogs, overhead predation if the dog is small in size, and a mischief free zone for puppies whose erupting teeth and inquisitive natures may cause excessive chewing if left alone in the house.

Incidentally, dog boarding can be a neat income producing addition to an existing horse boarding business.

The Cool and Collected Human

It is human nature to become irritable and tired when overheated. Not only does a visiting grandparent deserve a comfortable, cool space to sit and watch the equestrian endeavors, friends and family, staff and clients, and importantly your hardworking self, all deserve a happy place to take respite from the damaging rays of the sun.

Outdoor living structures are not limited to placement in fancy gardens or palatial poolside property, their historical significance as gathering places for all to enjoy is more relevant today than ever. Gazebos, pergolas and pavilions, cabanas and even a design mixture of multiple types of outdoor living structures placed together all offer significant benefits to the quality of daily life, not to mention added value when it comes time for sale of the property.

Just as with horse barn designs, modern materials can make these structures virtually maintenance free and prefabricated options abound in a myriad of styles from alpine and rustic to Miami modern.

Plan on Plant Health Too

Just as all living things require individual attention to their specific needs, all plants do not thrive with an abundance of direct sun. Vegetable growers may entice a variety of greenery in their quest for fresh produce outside in the garden. The ‘Victorian’ love of glass houses as places for dining and entertainment, flower growing finery, experimental exotic plant germination and vegetable provision for their tables, made the greenhouse a fun addition to the garden.

For the “patch to plate” personages, the provision of a small, artfully designed greenhouse does not need to be a blight on the landscape, and it might just save the tomato harvest from blight of a different sort.

Divide and Conquer – Pasture Management Tips

Are you tired of looking at weedy paddocks and dusty dry pastures? Is your current pasture management up to scratch?

Attention to pasture management is huge part of equine care. Regardless of whether horses are housed and grazed at a smallholding, homestead backyard or enjoy access to huge tracts of land available on ranch land spreads, the health of every horse fundamentally includes the need for access to grass.

Whatever the horse owner has available for their horses’ dining delights, good pasture management can make all the difference to the health of their charges.

How can you improve the pasture available? It’s simpler than you might think. Divide and conquer! Here’s a few tips to help you along:

Dividing Fences Must be Safe

Division of pastures provides many benefits to the overall quality of the grazing land. However, be aware that simply adding a line of electric wire fence down the center of an existing fenced field may not offer the best solution if you intend to pasture horses on each side at the same time. Plan for future needs when you install fence lines. While you may not intend to pasture horses next to each other right now, you may wish to do in the future.

Division of pastures between equine neighbors should always offer safety first and sturdy double fencing is a sure-fired way to eliminate the endless challenges horses will dish out to each other when bored with eating grass. The old adage, “Good fences make good neighbors,” could be applied to horses as well as humans.

The initial extra expense for double fencing versus single fencing can be cheaper than the cost of treating injuries (which could be life threatening), that may ensue when horses ‘get into it’ over a shoddy fence. Damaged fences also require constant maintenance involving additional costs in labor and material.

The Nefarious Worm Population

While most horse owners deworm their horses on a regular basis, worm resistance to equine deworming products that are currently available on the market is becoming alarmingly common. This is a topic I have personally researched and written much about. There are many resources on fecal worm counts and other methods of worm control in horses and its well worth understanding the implications of the resistance to dewormers affecting our horses’ health.

The traditional idea of harrowing pastures in Spring and Fall in colder climates, to expose worms to frost in order to mitigate their life cycles is actually not the best time to harrow a pasture, if harrow it you must. Frost does not kill all worms. Cystic stage worms require moisture to survive and the heat of a summer day is the better time to harrow as the breakdown of the cysts will deny the larvae the necessary moisture to survive.

The best method to keep down the worm population on a pasture is manure removal.

Obviously once the pasture has been mown down and harrowed over, the field should be not be grazed right away to avoid ingestion by the horse of grass stems contaminated with the various life cycle stages of worms.

The division of large parcels of pasture into smaller ones will facilitate the option to rest or fallow the affected area.

All Horse Farm Management Should Feature Fallow and Rotation Methods

Overgrazed land offers significant health issues to horses of all ages and not just in regard to worm counts. It can also trigger metabolic disorders, particularly when the grass becomes very short. This is especially common in older horses and certain breeds of equines prone to such health issues and the Fall season brings with it a particularly risky period for horses subject to these disorders due to the high sugar content of short grass.

Overgrazed land also gives the soil and grasses no time to recover. Bald patches of dirt will quickly become overrun with weeds that can quickly spread via rhizome activity. A horse may avoid ingestion of a toxic weed or plant if it is not dry and is in full growth, given it has access to plenty of other more palatable grazing options. But when a horse is hungry and choice of grazing is limited, the weeds or other noxious invasive flora are much more likely to be ingested.

An overgrazed, weedy pasture is not just unsightly. It can quickly turn to mud during Spring rains, and thus provide the perfect environment to encourage health issues for the equine occupants such as mud fever, pulled tendons and ligaments, not to mention a giant grooming headache.

Fields Need Feeding Too

Before the pasture becomes overwhelmed with horse traffic it is wise to rest it. Removal of the avid equine grazers to another space, soil testing and replenishment of the land by feeding it appropriate nutrients to keep it pH optimized for grass growth based on science, will keep the pasture healthy for further use.

Diligent management of the fields before bare areas of ground appear and grass becomes overgrazed is actually cheaper in the long run than waiting until the damage is done. Grass reseeding, overseeding and even weed eradication all cost considerably more than a lime or fertilizer feeding of the soil. Seek advice from your local extension office or farming cooperative for soil testing, ground preparation and horse pasture seeding and care and be prudent about what chemicals or additives you introduce and ensure there is no likelihood of lingering toxicity in the pasture that would affect the health of the horse.

Herd Management

Difficulties with herd management are easily averted with the provision of multiple paddock/pasture division options. Behaviors such as an overly zealous gelding’s attention to a mare, infighting between mares coming into season, an older horse being bullied by a younger equine etc. can all be easily managed with separation and reorganization of the herd dynamic.

Large or Small?

If you have a horse breeding operation where you are foaling out mares each year, provision of a small turnout close to the barn is a boon as it allows easy daily access and an opportunity to observe the newborns or mothers-in-waiting close by.

Smaller pastures can also be beneficial as they can limit the movement of horses that require rehabilitation from disease or injury and are useful for the turnout of new arrivals, where time is needed to acclimate to an unfamiliar environment.

Larger pastures will be required for larger herds of horses, and are often set a distance away from the barn if 24 hour turn out is provided and daily in/out handling is not needed. A minimum of an acre per horse is the general recommendation, although this all depends on the quality of the soils and pasture.

Dry lots can also be incorporated into the field design for horses with metabolic issues or diseases that require limited or no access to grazing such as laminitis, Cushing’s disease etc.

There are a multitude of products available on the market to surface the dry lot that will keep it dust and mud free throughout all weathers. This can alleviate the risk for sand colic and mitigate other health issues than can arise in a dry lot such as deep mud.

A paddock set apart from the other paddocks for quarantine purposes is also a useful adjunct to a barn pasture set up.

Weather Worries

Regions of the country that experience heavy snowfall or inclement weather provide challenges for horse care with snowbound paddocks and access for feeding.

Paddock gates set higher than ground level to facilitate opening without the need to plow, compacted gravel/stonedust surfaces in and around the entrances to the turnout space and multiple pastures fanning out from the main barn area can be helpful in providing easy ingress and egress during challenging weather.

The Need For Shelter

It should go without saying that all pastures large and small, should offer more shelter for the equine occupants than that provided by a large ‘lightening attractive’ tree or hedgerow.

Run-in sheds should be placed with their front, open side away from prevailing winds.

Some prefabricated run-in sheds offer tow hooks on each end of the structure that are extremely useful for moving the building around with a tractor if it becomes necessary in the future.

It is always safer to go wider rather than deeper in run-in shed design. This will help eliminate one horse being able to bully a compatriot by confining it to a corner of the structure. The same reason curves on fenced pastures are better than corners when it comes to horse safety.

If you have a big horse herd it is better to add multiple run-in sheds versus one extra large one. These structures will offer a retreat for horses lower in the pecking order from dominant ones within the equine group.

Placement of the run-in sheds should also be carefully considered. If placed in the center of the fields away from fence lines, the structure will be accessible by the horses on every side. Thus drainage from the roof, height of the lower aspect of the roofline, and siding material used (preferably not metal that a horse can kick through resulting in significant injury), are all factors to carefully consider.

If possible place run-in shed where you can see inside the structure from the gate or entrance to the field, so your visual horse health check can be easily made without entering the pasture during the day.

Remember run-in sheds like horse barns will require regular clean out, so allow for easy access and decent proximity to your yard where available.