Hi All

I noted from another thread that I should be doing things to my single puppy to ensure she turns out normally behaved?
I had read in the whelping and rearing of puppies to occassionally gently nudge her whilst feeding which I have been doing but not always.
She is almost five weeks old now- Please can anyone tell me if there are things I should be doing which I am not.
Someone suggested asking my mentor which I will do - I tried ringing her but no reply so will try later.
My other friend does nothing different and says all will be fine.
Any advice?

bump!!

when we had a single puppy by 4 weeks she was with the adults dogs to play with ad scolization with them too.

When I had a singleton pup (she is now 10 1/2 years old ;-) ) I had her mother and an older bitch in the household. Mum's instinct wasn't very strong which probably didn't help. My girl thinks she is a person, not a dog. We took her everywhere, except puppy classes :-) She loves people but her dog skills are not as good as they should be. She can't read the other dogs as well as she should. I would recommend that you get her/him out to mix with puppies and other dogs as soon as you possibly can. She needs to know that puppies bite, and that it hurts :-) She needs to learn how to behave with other dogs in a way that she would learn with her litter mates if she had any, but older dogs won't actually teach her. Apart from that she should still turn out to be a friendly dog.

I put a small soft toy in with the pup and use it to play with the pup, pushing it over, growling at appropriate times when another puppy would - you need to know when the right time would be....  I play tug and don't always let the pup win.  Out toy pup into the play bowl and play with the pup.  I put more food in the bowl and take some out while its eating as though the other pup is eating it, making sure that there is more than enough for the pup to be full.  Just some of the things.

Thanks- maybe I am doing bits without realising.
I am weaning her now and she is not overly keen so I have been putting it with her on a carpet square on the lounge floor- she gets first dibs then as soon as she slows I allow my one year old and her mum to finish off.
I had bought two puppy toys at crufts- one the size she was and one bigger one - the size she is now- I thought she needed something to snuggle into. Over the last few days I have been playing pounce with the toy and she pounces back and catches it then backs off etc.
Roxy the one year old is desperate to make her play and does all the posturing but then runs for her life when pup tries to join in - coward.
I will try removing some food whilst she eats rather than let the others in.
She is very confident and runs to the children 11 and 13 as soon as she sees them.
I hope this is enough but am happy to try anything else anyone can think of

AM

My friend has offered me to bring one of her litter of three here as a friend to run on here with her - her pups are seven weeks- Is that worth doing?

I wouldn't advise that - all the pups will have received antibodies from their own mothers - but not necessarily the same ones.   You would run the risk of cross-infection, imo!