Raising a singleton puppy

[Takabout Bulldogs]

Hi all,
My Moo had a singleton pup. I've raised puppies before but I've never had a single before. She is 3 weeks old and doing well so far. I had to supplement feeding for the first week or so because Moo's milk was slow coming in, but she did have plenty of colostrum. Faith (the puppy) is now aware of being by herself in her basket when she is awake between feedings and becomes very vocal. What can I do to help her not feel so lonely? I'm doing all I can to make sure she is well socialized, and let her interact with her older sister Lily. Lily loves Faith! She licks her and loves on her but is a bit clumsy at it and I don't want her to scare Faith so I try to let them visit while I keep Faith close to me. Faith is now starting to walk around and will need to be moved from her birth basket into the puppy corral in the next few days. I just feel so sorry for her because she has no siblings to keep her company, but I don't want to spoil her either to the point where she knows if she crys I'll come and get her. Moo is a good mom and I think Faith is large enough now that she wouldn't smother her, so would it be better to let them live together in the puppy pen?
Please no flaming or negative comments about having bred her. I plan to keep Faith, along with Moo and Lily as a permanent family members. I love my little wiggle butts :-)
Please any advise you give will be greatly appreciated.
Kerry

 

[brutus77]

No negative comments here. The only time we get riled is when a bully is neglected of mistreated. It sounds like you care for and love your babies. I have no breeding experience but I'm sure someone will be along soon to help. Welcome to EBN.

 

[bullmama]

Sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this, maybe schedule some supervised playtimes together until she's a wee bit older?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Takabout Bulldogs]

Thank you. I do love the breed and my girlie girls in particularly.

 

[Davidh]

We had a single pup once, my Buddy boy. Lucy his mom didn't really want anything to do with him much, but BeBe just loved him, as she is a good mama, so she took him and would play with him. Just keep doing like you are doing and show him attention and let the others play with him, unless they get too rough or excited. Here is a pic of Buddy playing with BeBe. Her ears are back and it looks like she is mad, but she wasn't, she was really good with him. Please post some pics of your baby.

 

[2BullyMama]

I have no breeding/puppy experience.... just wanted to wish you the best and hope all goes well. Please post some pics of your girls, would love to see them

 

[Takabout Bulldogs]

Thank you for all the support. I'd love to post pictures of my girls. I just have to figure out how...LOL! Lily (fawn/white) and Moo (brindle/white) at Christmas 2014

 

[Pati Robins]

In my opinion you are doing a great job -this is what i love about this forum -no one judges you here but offer their support
The only case people might get more "protective" (as defensive or judgmental would be a wrong word) is when fur baby lacks a good care x

The only info i could find about singleton pups -i hope this might be useful for you x
"Singleton Puppies do not in most cases help start labour like 2 or more will do, so many times labour will NOT start spontaniously DUE dates go over and intervention will be needed, unless like me and the puppy was small and labour started ok for Teigan.
Issues for Singletons and Dams
The occasional dam may become overly attentive to a litter of only one or two babies; she may lick them obsessively and cause skin damage. Breeders should try to stop this, distracting her as much as possible, reassuring her that she is doing fine. Such dams usually calm down and relax after a few days.

A single puppy, or even two puppies, sometimes does not stimulate milk flow in all nipples as well as a normal-sized litter would. It's important to try to rotate the puppy through all the nipples to avoid swollen breasts and the possible onset of mastitis in the dam.

The problems that singleton puppies are prone to having are the result of not being raised in this standard puppy environment. Typical problems in singletons are lack of bite inhibition, being unable to get out of trouble calmly and graciously, an inability to diffuse social tension, inability to handle frustration, lack of social skills, lack of impulse control, and touch sensitivity.

If you find out about a singleton puppy early -- anytime before the puppy heads to its new home particularly, there are things that can be done. Be sure to work on teaching bite inhibition early and often, and handle the puppy a lot to avoid issues with touch sensitivity. Any gentle, regular handling is likely to help. Push the puppy off the nipple once or twice a feeding to get the puppy used to interruptions and handling the resulting frustration. Have the puppy spend time with puppies of the same age a lot and as early as possible.

If at all possible, consider raising the puppy with another litter. Getting to spend a lot of time with another litter lets a singleton puppy have a more typical or normal experience as a young puppy. The play time that puppies spend with each other goes a long way towards teaching puppies many of their social skills, including bite inhibition, frustration tolerance, impulse control, self control, and the ability to be flexible in all sorts of social interactions.

The adorable play between puppies, which is so enjoyable to watch, is anything but light-hearted frivolous behavior -- it provides puppies the foundation for normal, healthy social behavior as adults in many contexts and is a critical part of a puppy's development and education."

 

[Takabout Bulldogs]

LOL, she is getting plenty of handling. Faith is just now getting big and active enough to want to try and start to play. She actually tried to growl and chew this am :-) I encouraged this so she'd get the idea and will probably do so for the next few days or maybe a week, she just has started to pop teeth, before I start letting her know if she gets too rough. And her big sissy Lily has been playing and loving on her. I usually let Mom and Faith have some "me" time while eating then I let Lily out to join in. I have to keep an eye on her and Mom though, because Big Sissy wants to take Faith as her own and sometimes hackles will raise. I nip this ASAP! And both go to their kennels for a cool off while Faith stays out and wobbles around.