Litters, from planned to born

What this is for

A litter is the container everything else hangs from. Puppies belong to a litter, the go home date is calculated from the litter's date, and the deposit and queue rules a family agrees to are saved on the litter so they cannot drift later. Create the litter as soon as you have a planned pairing, even before there is anything to announce.

Where to find it

In the left sidebar, open Breeding, then Litters.

Create a litter

1. Click Add Litter.
2. Whelpify asks one question per screen. Give the litter a name first. This is the only required answer, and it is what you and families both see, for example Maple x Scout Spring 2026.
3. Choose the dam and the sire from your saved dogs. If both parents are the same breed, the breed fills in for you.
4. Pick the status that fits today, then enter the date. For a litter that is not born yet, use the expected whelping date.
5. Add photos if you have them, then choose whether this litter uses your usual application and payment rules.
6. Write a public description, review the summary, and click Create litter.

The four statuses

• Expected means pregnancy is confirmed or planned around the date you entered.
• Born means the puppies are here.
• Available means the litter can receive interest or reservations.
• Placed means every puppy has been placed.

Edit a litter and add puppies

Click a litter's name to open it. Saved litters open in a tabbed editor: Basics, Parents, Photos, Queue, Terms, Description, and Preview. Move between tabs freely, then click Save litter. Everything saves together in one step, and Ctrl S saves as well.

Below the editor there is a Puppies panel with a count.

1. Click Add puppy.
2. Fill in the name, breed, colors, temperament, gender, status, and weight in the panel that slides out.
3. Click Add puppy at the bottom to save.

This is the fast way to get a whole litter entered. Use the pencil to edit a puppy in place, or open the full record from puppies when you want photos, price, and a description.

Rules for this litter only

Most litters should run on your kennel wide defaults, which is why the Queue and Terms tabs start locked.

• The Queue tab holds a card called Queue and visibility. While its pill reads Using defaults, the controls stay hidden. Turn the switch on to change how families reserve from this one litter.
• The Terms tab holds Payments and terms and works the same way. Turn its switch on to set a different deposit, reservation window, refund policy, or public release time for this litter.

In the guided create flow the same two choices are worded Use my defaults or Customize this litter, and Use standard terms or Customize terms.

Your defaults live in Settings, on the Workflow tab. A litter copies those rules when it is created, and later changes to your defaults do not rewrite a litter that already exists. That is deliberate: every offer keeps the exact terms the family agreed to. See site settings for the defaults themselves.

Common questions

There is no Planned status. Where do I put an upcoming pairing?

Use Expected. It covers both a confirmed pregnancy and a planned pairing around that date, and it is the status a new litter starts on.

What date do I enter for a litter that is not born?

The expected whelping date. Whelpify uses whichever date is on the litter to work out when the puppies are ready to go home, using the age you set in Settings, on the General tab under Availability.

Do I have to link both parents?

No. A litter saves without a dam or a sire, and you can add them later on the Parents tab. Linking them is what lets puppy records inherit breed and coloring and what connects the litter to each dog's profile.

Why is my litter not showing on my website?

Check the status first. Litter listings on your public site can be set to open on a chosen set of statuses, so a litter still marked Expected may be filtered out of the default view even though the page exists.