Hi my girl has just had a singleton pup. Whats peoples experiences with one pup? I've heard that they can have behavioural problems. Any advise would be great. Thank you

I had a singleton pup once.  I called her "Soliloquy".  She was just fine, no problems, Mum kept her good company, as did the "aunts and uncles" who also live here.

It was a pity that the new owner did not keep the name, but being German-speaking, she didn't know what it meant and couldn't pronounce it in any case.  She could have shortened it to Lilo, the well-known nickname for Liselotte, but she called her Fifi or something instead.  Never mind.  (I minded...)

My 6 year old Hetty is a singleton, she was a little shy as a puppy but luckily we had some great puppy classes to go to, so although she is still not overly forthcoming with large bouncy dogs, she is fine with them in a controlled situation like shows and rally trials. She never learned how to manage boisterous play as she only had her mum to play with. But she is happy and confident in general, just not quite as fearless to the point of stupidity as many of her breed are. She is extremely snuggly and always wants to be curled up on my lap. If I've gone out, she sits on the back of the sofa watching for me!

We had a singleton bitch, called Canuck (her mum was Canadian-bred and also the French-Canadian thing).    It's hard not to spoil them once mum is off and away and until she was simply too heavy, I used to carry her around with me all the time!   She looked so sad alone in the whelping box and she was too small to run with the adults.     Fact is she was a real madam and the others used to respect her big time, skirting round her!   Other than being a prima-donna, she didn't really have what I'd call behavioural problems.   We kept her although she didn't really live up to expectations so she was spayed (plus she started having a season every 5 months, starting bang on 6 months which wasn't normal for mine).

There's no reason why your singleton puppy should have 'behavioural problems' in truth.

ps   We had a heart-stopping episode with her when out across the fields, they put up a herd of deer which I'd not spotted in time to get them on their leads.   They did stop however, apart from Canuck who took off across two fields baying her head off.  She was only 9 months and we don't do that kind of thing at 9 months!!   Taking the others home my husband set off in the direction she went and by the time I came back to join in the search, he met me with her on a lead, looking 100% pleased with herself.  Clearly she's lost the deer and was backtracking, as hounds will do.  I met the local gamekeeper on the way back with the others and told him we had one loose - he said oh it's okay, I have no traps out in that direction  

I have never had any behavioural problems with my Border Collie.  His breeder had obviously spent a great deal of time socialising him because I would never have known (except she called him Solo!) 

He came from a family of dual registered dogs and I cannot fault him.  He's everything I wanted and more.

Our singleton pup did show signs of problems starting. She was overly pushy with my adults and becoming food aggressive. I took the vet's advice and enrolled her in puppy class at 6 weeks - I know that sounds drastic but as my vet put it, better take the risk now than have a 40+kg dog with massive behavioural issues and to be fair, at 6 weeks old she was already as big as most of the 'somethingdoodle' pups there plus the fact that she had some immunity from mum. We spoke to the class leader and agreed to sign a waver regarding vaccines. Needless to say, she sat, watched and slept for the 1st week. With all the extra training she was getting, she was fully house trained at 14 weeks! She is now a fully fledged working security dog and one of the best in the firm.

I think the main issue is a Singleton will not learn boundaries and canine social skills as well as it would in the litter.

This could lead to either a shy or domineering dog, depending on image tendencies.

So if born in a doggy household with lots of dogs who will socialize with pup, and extra breeder effort things will usually be fine.

If pup only has it's Dam who may be over permissive problems can arise, especially in more dog dominant breeds/individuals.

My boy who I just lost at 15 was an only child

Luckily he was socialised with the breeder's older dogs was great with other dogs and a marvellous pet. Never put a foot wrong in 15 years and a great soppy lump with people once he knew them. He got a fright at Crufts at 11 months which made him a bit wary before that he was everybody's friend

Thanks for all your comments and lovely stories. Was lovely to read.
I had a lady on the waiting list for this pup but she has changed her mind due to her being a singleton as apparently her vet said I wouldn't get a singleton pup it will have lots of issues!: /

When my girl had her singleton pup (rest of litter stillborn) I was told horror stories about behavioural issues to come. Scared me to death, especially as we couldn't keep him.
He was out with our adult dogs from very early and also went to see other safe dogs when he was older. He was taken out to socialise and I resisted the urge to indulge him. He was homed with a confident bitch as I didn't want him to be an only dog. He still quickly took charge but is the loveliest boy, a real gentleman and much loved by his family.

> So if born in a doggy household with lots of dogs who will socialize with pup, and extra breeder effort things will usually be fine.<br />

I think this is an important point.  It's easy to forget that not everyone has a multi dog household.    

So, in fairness, my singleton did come from a household with 14 dogs.

I have  noticed a marked difference between pups in my first litter, with only Mum for canine contact, compared to litters since with benefit of an extended canine pack.

Pups from later litters far more dog savvy and confident in knowing which dogs to approach and how.