Hello I haven't posted before but would be grateful for advice.

We have a puppy due to us early February.  We have paid quite a large deposit. The breeder is KC, seems caring and responsible and has bred many times before. Since being born the pup's mum has been very poorly, she had a large litter, a caesarean and then mastitis. The pups were weaned at 4 weeks due to the blocked teat.  Our pup was put on antibiotics and kept separate from the main litter but with another pup - in a family environment.  Mother was very poorly and is no longer with the pups. All the pups are together now.

My question is what to do?

You might be surprised how little time some bitches spend with their pups a that age. At 4 weeks, my bitches only pop in to feed the pups and then jump out again. By 5 weeks they generally don't want to be in with the pups at all. If they have quit trying to feed off her, the bitch will usually want to spend time playing with them from 6 to 8 weeks.
I would want to find out more about why the pup was on antibiotics and separated from the rest of the litter though.

>My question is what to do?

A pup I bought had to be weaned early and the litter separated from the mum after she disappeared after a pheasant during exercise when the litter was 3 weeks old, and wasn't found (injured on the central reservation of the motorway) till a couple of days later. Obviously there was no way the mum could look after them, but the breeder was excellent and the pups thrived and had every care. Obviously not ideal but it needn't be a problem.

Get as much information as you can about what went on there, and then if your gut feeling isn't telling you to look elsewhere, go for it and hope for the best.

I don't understand a couple of things there

1.  The breeder is KC.   What does that mean?
2.  Even if mum developed mastitis, it shouldn't have been necessary to take the puppies off the mum at 4 weeks.   We had one bitch develop mastitis but managed to clear that, without needing to remove the puppies
3.  Why did 'your ' puppy need a/bs - it's important to find out why
4.  Some bitches don't spend much time with their litter by around 4 weeks, which is when weaning them onto solids should be started.  Particularly if mum had a hard time with a C.Section when she might have needed a rest off nursing them.

Overall it sounds as if this litter/mum was far from uncomplicated.   Not to say the puppies won't be good to go when the time comes but again, if you get bad vibes from all of this, don't buy there.  Was the deposit you made non-refundable - most are.    I never took deposits preferring to leave the way open for me or the buyer, to back out.

Why was pup separated from main litter/why abs?

I wouldn't take a pup from that litter. I want everything to be optimal for a pup I own. Research shows that pups born by caesarian (and human babies too) acquire different microbiomes than pups which are born via the vaginal canal: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/18/caesarean-babies-have-different-gut-bacteria-microbiome-study-finds

Antibiotics at such an early stage are then going to completely wipe out the immature microbiome again: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6650395/

The microbiome is key for so much else, from stress, psychological issues, immune system, even cognition.. .

Then you've got the behavioural impact of being separated from mum when younger, and mum's mothering ability being affected by her own illness - we know that pups raised by good mothers who nurture and lick their pups a lot, experience less stress and are better able to manage stress, later in their own lives: https://sites.bu.edu/ombs/2010/11/11/licking-rat-pups-the-genetics-of-nurture/

So whilst yes, everything might be fine. Everything might not be. So I just wouldn't chance it...