I have a week old singleton puppy, what sort of things should I be buying / making out of stuff for her when she is old enough to play? I know I need to play with her too of course, but when I had a litter of 2 a few years back, they spent much of the day rolling around playfighting with each other, and though hopefully her mum will step in and help with some of that, I would appreciate advice on what sort of toys I should be laying in ready to keep her happy for the times I can't be there and playing with her.

With my Peanut, I did notice his mum played a LOT with him -in fact she still does and Peanut is 7 months old now. :) He was around the adult dogs from his second week of life and copied a lot of what they did. I made soft tug toys (braided) out of old t-shirts and he still loves them, other than that just normal toys -balls, nylabones, soft dog toys etc. I have to say he is THE best puppy I've ever had, the nicest temperament, the best adjusted -he's just perfect. Loves everyone, people and dogs, so it's not affected him at all to be a single pup.

Tuppence had a large cuddly dog that she cuddled into and still loves. When she was in labour recently she dragged her in the box wih her.
She retreives really well with any toy as that is how she learned to play

> Loves everyone, people and dogs, so it's not affected him at all to be a single pup.

Interesting!  :-)

I have a Border Collie that was a singleton (unusual.)

I cannot fault him for temperament, and, like you, would say that he's perfect!  I have always wondered how the breeder had such success, but can see that a dam would have far more interaction with a single pup.

I dont know what size breed she is but with my toy breed I used to allow supervised play with a cats 'punchbag' type toy. Hard to describe what you would actually call it but here a link to a pic of her playing with it...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26334621@N08/3033728609/

Obviously due to the fact it wasnt designed for naughty puppies, you must supervise them, but she loved it and of course it would 'fight back' which she found very amusing! :-D

Awww bless!  Lovely photo!

The favorite toy of the moment with our litter is a cat play tennel it rustles like a bag they absolutly love the sound, its soft so tend to flop over it and makes more noise.

With singletons I always give them a small cuddly toy they can snuggle up with, and as they get a bit older and start noticing things I put in 1 or 2 small toys for playing - pets at home 2 packs of  little balls for pups which are a great size for rolling around for a tiny pup, and I also put in something with a bell inside (they are usually too small to be able to "work" anything with a squeaker).  Of cours,e the most important is play wiht you, and with Mum if she is the maternal, playful sort (my bunch tend not to be)

She's a large toy breed. Hopefully mum will play, she did a bit last time but more when they got to 8 weeks than when they were 4 weeks, and of course she is older and less playful herself now. I will of course also play, and get some of these toys people have suggested, many thanks. She has a cuddly toy she can snuggle up to though she's not interested yet, but I will need stuff to keep her occupied by herself for some of the time too. :-)

ps eyes opened at 8 days old yesterday, so cute!

Yes I agree, a nice soft toy they can snuggle into and pretend that they're 'huddling' with their litter.  My sheltie had a lovely dog a similar colour to herself (sable and white) which she loves to play with and her mother plays a lot with her.  I moved her to the kitchen at 4 weeks as she was bored on her own.  She is very spoiled and my bigger dogs were too big to play but now (3 months) she can play a bit with them, but I have to be careful they aren't too rough.  She loves to play and is very spoilt but a cracking dog.  Her mother looks at her sometimes as if to ask why she hasn't left yet! usually when she's eating her paws to get her to play...

Thanks Jean :-)

> Her mother looks at her sometimes as if to ask why she hasn't left yet!

:-)  :-)  :-)