Hi all How do you treat a singlton pup i have never had one before, do you wean early & how do you treat the pup when mum leaves pup on own. thank you.

Gosh that is a question??? Never had a single pup either, but I guess it would be different and you would have to play with the pup yourself when mum is not around.  Personally I would not wean earlier and perhaps as there is just the one pup mum will stay with him/her for most of the time, when you think about it, she will not have 6 or so pups scratching and nipping her teats, and need to go off for solitude as a normal mum would, so may be inclined to stay with this pup,  and play and protect it more than usual to make up for no siblings.

I know that the body is supposed to just make enough milk as needed, but I would watch out for mastitis and make sure that the pup is rotated enough on at least the 4 back teats.

You are certainly going to have a nice big pup. I am sure that your bitch will compensate for no others and change her routine accordingly.

Just play it by ear and see how things go.

I've just had my first singleton pup, and apart from the caesarian, it wasn't as stressful aas it might have been.    I'd got visions of Mum being engorged with milk and getting mastitis, but she was fine.    I was particularly careful for the first few days to keep the pup very warm, and 'crated' in a little crate next to Mum so she didn't get squashed while Mum was a bit groggy from the anaesthetic.

She is now four weeks, and being socialised like mad - going out in the car (with Mum), and meeting people, and other dogs from a sensible distance.   Our own pack pop in and visit her under supervision regularly - socialisation is so important in a single pup.   Where we live, we are lucky that I would reckon the risk of cross-infection low, so it's more important to socialise and let her out in the world as early as possible.

She is eating for England, and the cleanest pup I've ever had - so easy to pop out one little one for a pee - not so easy with a dozen - especially this weather!

If you have a single dog pup, it's especially important that they learn their place very early - either by one's other dogs or by you - I knew of a single (spoilt) dog pup who grew up to stop the owner's husband coming into the bedroom - a pet lamb is a cross ram scenario!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

i to had a single pup. i put mum back on her maintance diet as she had lot of milk like jo worried she get mastitis 3 day after the birth,i didnt wean the untill 3 1/2 weeks.as wispa milk was good and mum best.just make shore the puppy dosnt yet to heavy due to the milk supply like blue did she wouldnt get up on her legs untill 2 1/2 weeks she was a bit lazy.beacuse she didnt have to fight her way to the milk bar,i was worried at one piont that she was going to be a swimmer pup.but still at 2 year old she very laid back.
but bye 4 weeks she was with the rest of the gang socialiing with them.which you need to do so she know were the pup is the the pack,lot of play to.and some pressure  pionts on the body too if they had other silbling in the nest there be roll playing.like biting.rollong on top of each other,running into each other,rug of war with toys the list gos on.
be firm but fair with the puppy.dont treat the puppy with cotton gloves or cuddly and sweet or it will rule the roost.
play a socialtion tape or cd so it get use the noise too,
one think i did buy at bath show 2004 was a cuddly toy dog that had a heart beat and a heat pad blue use to laid on that to keep her warn plus the heart beat would be the other litter sibling that would be in the whelping box.

but mum of the puppy will know best better than use humans.
but blue has turn to be a very friendly flatcoat,but god she dose like her food

I have a solitary pup (now 7 years old and a mum herself to several 4 year olds!) I didn't treat her any different until she started moving around. I then took her everywhere. School, shops, walks, etc, carying her in my arms. That way she was socialised with people and life in general. The one thing I do have a problem with is that whenever she sees another dog she wants to play. Constantly. She didn't learn the bite inhibition quite the same as she would have done if she had had litter mates to learn with, but the older dogs told her off if she got too much for them. When they are young they will be given a bit more lee-way from older dogs, but it may take a bit longer to learn not to bite. Litter mates biting you make you learn quite quickly just how far to sink the teeth in :D Otherwise she was treated the same as any other pup. :)

Don't know about the breeding aspect I know that I, like many others, would not contemplate a pup that was a singleton except in exceptional circumstances ie the breeder had another litter of the same or approximate same age and the puppy was put in with them.

That's a shame :)  My singleton has been every bit as good in temperament as her half brother and sisters.  I've always had rather more faith in nature rather than nuture though.  My first dog was without any canine company at all from the age of 8 weeks to 12, living in an outdoor kennel with limited human input too but she was the most laid back, confidently friendly dog I have owned to date.
Going back to rearing them :)  My greatest fear was the lack of physical stimulus as a very young pup. I was not too certain that this could not lead to an impairment in the development and I note with interest Briedogs experience although I also note others have not had difficulties in that the department.  In an attempt to combat this I regularly pulled on the limbs and pushed the puppy about in the first couple of weeks in an approximation of the kind of physical treatment that a pup could expect from its siblings although I have no idea if this was important or not it was just a theory :)  The dam had no difficulties adjusting her milk supply although she obviously enjoyed feeding one pup rather than a scrum and tolerated it for much longer than the other litters allowing the odd suck right up to departure.  I did have another adult dog in the house at the time who valiantly offered herself up for the rough stuff as soon as permitted by the dam at about 4 weeks and I also was able to place her in a home with two other dogs.

i no it's not the same species, but one of my friends has done her dissertation on mother kitten play interactions in different sized litters, and shes found that there is more play between the mother and the smaller litter sizxes, especially singletons, compared with the larger litters, because the kittens played with each other.
not sure if this helps directly, but it seemed quite interesting
arah and keisha

Yes, I would say my bitch did enjoy playing more often with her singleton.

My bitch must have been an exception to the rule. :( She fed the pup, cleaned it, then passed it over to me (usually dumping it in my lap ) and then walked away with a look. You know the one. You wanted it, you look after it! That was probably why I took pup everywhere. No-one else wanted it ;)

i had a few soft toys for harv when he first opened his eyes and he would snuggle in with a hotwaterbottle and a teddy when he was tiny, holly his mum was brilliant, she played with him as soon as he was up and about, we obviously did a lot with him aswell, he isnt sure when playing with other dogs as he only really knows how to play with his mum! i rang around nearby rescues aswell to see if they needed a foster mum for any orphaned pups, (but wasnt needed)
we made sure we handled him as much as we could from day one, and he was always happy to have a cuddle with us, we did everything else re weaning etc all the same, i would say get him/her mixing with other young pups as soon as you are able to, harv missed that as was at the time of foot and mouth and all the local walking areas and dog training clubs were closed!

Thank you all for your good advice I have 2 older pups that are 9 months old that she can play with also my friend as a litter 2weeks older that she can play with to when she is older.I am buying her a fluffy toy dog so she can snuggle up to when mums not there.I will be taking all your advices. How do you stop her from being to greedy.