Last year I had my beagle bred. I was all types of stressed out about it. My beagles live outside in a kennel. I let her stay in her kennel to feel more comfortable and less stressed out. I modified her dog box. I put down a layer of plastic then screwed down an additional layer of plywood on the floor. It is a messy and nasty process. I also made a pig rail in the box(this prevents the mother from rolling onto the pup and smothering it). I believe with beagle size dogs the rail is a must. I witnessed more than once a pup under it with the rail preventing the mother from being on top of it. I let mother nature do its course. The mother did perfect and she had 8 pups with all surviving. Two weeks prior to whelping I started giving her Dyne. After whelping the only issue I had was she didnt produce enough milk to feed all eight. I had to supplement with a dog milk supplement. You will know if the pups start to become lethargic. She started to give birth at 4pm with last around midnight.