We had a few fostered pups from a large litter (not enought nozzles to go around) to a smaller litter to allow enough milk for everyone. However they were a couple days old and great mommas who could of cared less that it wasn't there pup. My concern would be the size difference between the singleton and your pups. I worked as a vet assistant during college and we did some C-sections with one or two pups. They are usually huge compared to pups from a normal size litter. The big one may push out the smaller pups and hog the milk leaving your pups to fight over what is left and not get a very good start. JMO

 

I would think the singleton should get her own mothers' colostrum. I had a singleton and she wasn't bigger than normal. I let her mother raise her, making sure she didn't get too heavy and incorporated her with another litter after she was weaned. She held her own with them so it went smoothly. I wouldn't rush the process unless the natural mom was not being motherly after the c-section.

 

I wouldn't introduce the pup to your litter until it was 4 wks old.
Never mind the puppy - it is extremely important for mom to be with her
baby....
I had a singleton (c-section) mom was feeding her at the vets and we monitored her closely when we got home. It was clear within a few hours at home that she fully accepted her pup. She adored her puppy to no end and was the perfect mom. Certainly don't deny mother that opportunity. In the early weeks mom wants to be with her baby
24/7. And do allow it. Yes, her baby got fat - so many faucets. As pup crawled I would tuck her legs under her so she wouldn't become a swimmer.
I never introduced my singleton to any other litters.....to many litters seem to have the runs, get sick, etc. I wouldn't take the chance.
My puppy was shaking a paw on request at 3.5 wks old! My daily interaction with her meant alot to both the pup and I.
I would never deny myself the special bond that evolved.
She was playing outdoors at 4 wks old.
By 5 wks old she was able to negotiate the entire house and was sleeping with us. She went on daily walks on our propertry with our pack.
Is she well adjusted?
Better than litter pups. She was able to experience many surfaces and experiences that litter pups never could of.
She was introduced to our dogs at 4 wks old. They interacted with her
and taught her a huge amount.
If the singleton owner doesn't have their own dogs then I would incorporate into your group at 4 wks old.

 

Thanks Nancy and River Creek for your input. We are not planning on introducing the pup until after it has been with it's own mom for 24 hours at least, so that it can get the colostrum. As far as our litter size, that is still to be determined since they have not hit the ground yet. And of course, with this being a first time mom, we are also taking that into consideration and are waiting to see what kind of a mom she is toward her own pups first. Our only reason for considering this is for the singleton's benefit only for it's proper socialization and "pack" skills that a pup learns from it's siblings for normal development throughout it's life.

The singleton will be about 4 days younger than my litter, so yes, we have considered the size of that pup compared to my pups and maybe the 4 or 5 days difference in age will help with that?

My biggest concern is that IF we do this, what the success rate is of our female accepting the singleton as her own. I have just had some conversations with the breeding vet that did both breedings and the suggestion was to save a placenta and some of the fluids from my litter during whelping, freeze it. Then when the singleton is introduced, separate the mom from the pups, introduce the singleton and rub some of the thawed placenta and fluid on it and let it "mingle" with the pups before bringing mom back into the whelping box.

I was advised that if my female still pushes the pup away, to leave well enough alone and let the singleton's mom raise it since the danger of my female of killing the pup would be a risk. Even if she accepts the pup, she would still need to be watched carefully within the next 48 hours or so to make sure that all is well and the danger is gone.

Needless to say...I am extremely nervous about this and would still love to hear some stories about the "hands on" experiences" since we have about a 4 to 5 day window in which to make a final decision. I would also love to hear about singletons that are raised with their own mother without the benefit of having siblings and the success rate on that pup being able to reach it's full potential when the plan is having a nice trial dog in the future.

Again...thanks for your time! Any input is certainly appreciated!

 

We had a singleton pup last Feb. via C-section. His mother was a wonderful Mom from day one. He has turned out just fine without any siblings and is showing very good promise in the field. We did do puppy kindergarden with him and basic obedience so that he could be socialized with other pups. He gets along fine with other dogs and he and his Mom still play quite a bit. He is very attached to us. I was worried about having a singleton until I talked to a friend of mine who had reared one in the same manner as described above and her pup turned out super!

 

Thanks Janice!

 

You also may cause a lot of problems with the mom ever accepting puppies if you take her puppy away after a c section. I think that's pretty unnecessary. Usually the only time you take a puppy away from a mom and leave her with no pups is if she rejects it, wants to harm it, or if she is ill and needs to be on medication. You don't need to worry about socialization until they are interacting which is after 4 weeks. You can either take the puppy over for play sessions with the litter or leave the puppy after it is weaned.

 

I'm with Nancy and the others on this.

Singleton pup stays with its mom until at least 4 weeks. You could really damage the bond with its own mother (she may reject future puppies).

Don't let singleton pup get too big. Lots of people interaction is a HUGE bonus for them.

Also, watch for "blisters' or rub spots from the momma cleaning her puppy. In my experience, with small litters, momma gives pups unnecessary extra attention and can cause some sores but they go away and typically don't seem to bother the puppies.

Worry about dog interaction after 4-5 weeks of age.

WRL

 

To help with acceptance get the vet to put the puppy to the mum before she fully wakes. A friend of mine didn't do that and the mum didn't accept the pup and she had to rear it by hand, the second time she bred her, one pup again, this time the vet put the pup to her before she was fully awake and no problem. course she never bred her again.

 

Muddy Waters - you are welcome!
I was afraid I might of offended you until I saw your reply

My bitch and I stayed at the vets for over 2 hours.
They wanted to ensure she was going to be okay, and that she would let the pup nurse .
She didn't have much milk so they gave her some oxytocin and something else (the name escapes me right now) to help her produce milk.
I gave her a couple of oxy injections at home as well....it also helps to bring along maternal instincts.

I know someone that had a mis-mate with a cross-breed. They let the
bitch deliver the pups and then they took all the pups away from her.
The bitch had a near melt down.....my friend said it was the worst thing you have ever seen. EVEN with a c-section - please let the bitch and puppy stay together for at least 4 wks.
You can start to socialize with litters after that....most people bring the pup to a litter 3 or 4 days a week for a couple of hours, then pup returns home to mom.

Speaking from experience regards,
Janice

 

I have seen singletons raised to be very successful dogs in performance events. I know of a terrier that's a 3x MACH. A singleton out of one of my males (older bitch) is doing wonderfully in pro training. He was put with another litter at 4 weeks old. THere was one occassion when one pup out of a litter got mixed in with another, and the bitch killed them all due to the interloper. And yes, it was a lab. It was carnage and an unforgetable sight. Personally, I don't see the need to do this until 4 weeks. Somewhere I do have a picture of a lab nursing bulldog puppies, but the bulldog bitch was going to eat the pups... so there was no choice.

 

I just want to thank all of you for you input. After all of the research on this, we have decided that the singleton will be better off with it's natural mom AND mom will be better off, too. It would be pretty pitiful to take her pup away after she has nursed it for the first couple of days.

I bottle raised a pup years ago. She had no experience with littermates or other dogs until she was about 1 1/2 years old when we bought our first Lab pup. She was an excellent playing companion for the pup. We bought another Lab pup and she was the same way with it.....she was pretty awesome!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Deb
Muddywater Retrievers
www.muddywaterretrievers.com

 

Deb, Gunny was a singleton, and he stayed with Taffey. He is seven months old now......and a joy. I could write why, but these pictures say everything in support of your choice.

"one day old"

"faux sibling at 18 days"

 

Jim,

You're right....your pics are worth a 1000 words! Thank you!

Deb