James,
for the first 48 hrs. or so, the puppies cannot regulate their temperature which means keep the overall household or room temps in the mid-80's or have a separate place for the pups which can be kept warmer than the rest of the room. Our whelping box takes up roughly 1/3 of the living room and mid-80 temps would not be comfortable for mom, Juneau, nor grandpa and grandma Garvie so we take a large plastic tub, place several layers of blankets in it and then place it on a heating pad turned to "low". Then we cover it with another blanket when the puppies are in it and the temps are perfect for them. Now that the pups are a week old, they can regulate their own temperatures and they now have the run of the whelping box. I use the word "run" with much exaggeration .

Jim