One of my girls had a c-section this morning. She had just one puppy this time. I haven't raised a singleton puppy before. Any suggestions?

Just watch him to make sure he's on his side sometimes and not always on his belly. I had a litter of only 2 last year and they began to develop into swimmers because they constantly ate and grew really fast - all the while on their tummies so they started to flatten in the chest. I had had small litters before and that had never happened, so it was a real eye opener. Congrats on your baby!

My husband's mother is a breeder who once had a singleton litter. She was concerned about there not being enough progesterone to trigger the whelping so she, in consultation with the vet, gave the bitch rasberry leave capsules. Anyone else familiar with this?
Good luck with your baby :)

Socialization can become a problem with singletons.. there is no rough housing or pecking order and can become overbearing. I would seperate mom some too as the puppy will become obese and may cause some joint over growth. Good Luck.

I had my first singleton this year in Feb.
she is now a healthy happy 3 1/2 mos.
The problem we notice was she had no one to encourage to play or walk or get to the food bowl. so we borrowed a 8 wk old cocker spaniel puppy. and cherry didn't know he wasn't a lab. he helped her alot. and he only had to be here a week and she was up and going.
she has been fine every since. We plan on keeping her for a pet. What's one more mouth to feed.

One problem I had with my singleton was that he needed some incentive at times to get up and moving. Without having playmates to stimulate him to move around, I think he was starting to get a little behind in the development of his legs. I had to be his playmate. This may sound corny, but I tried to simulate puppy play as much as possible.

When he was a wee little one, I made rice socks and warmed them so that he would have "littermates" with which to snuggle.

Feel free to email me if you like. I'd be happy to share my experience with this. Good luck!

I just had a singleton and everything was wonderful with the puppy. I spent allot of time with him and he was wonderful. I even taught him too sit. He spent the whole time with his mom, they played and had a riot together. He quit nursing on her when he was 4 1/2wks, she wouldn't let him nurse anymore. That worked he was on food anyway. He also was let out with the older dogs in the house who loved him and played with him. I had heard such stories of how horrible it was and they just didn't adjust right, but I have to admit it turned out wonderful and I think it is the amount of time you spend with them and how you teach them to interact and play.

Just today teh rceptionist at my vet's office (who has bred dogs for years) said she always gave her bitches rasberry leaves. SHe said it resulted in less mess at birth time.

Yes, I agree totally. As long as you put the effort into their socialization, they can turn out just fine.

Thanks. I'm worried about her. She doesn't have any littermates to sleep with or play with. I have several other Labs, but it will be a long time before they can play with her.
She seems very strong and healthy. I've raised a 2 litters of 2 puppies over the years. They had each other. This little one has just her dam and me. It's not the same as a littermate.

I've heard conflicting information about the raspberry leaves, so that's enough to make me not want to give them.

Yes, that can happen with a singleton litter and it did happen to my bitch. She never did go into labor. She went into very early stage labor, but it never did progress.

I've found that the singletons are very special, they become very people oriented. What I did with the few single littes i've had is to just let them stay with mom who is usually very protective of the one baby and fed the mom her normal non lactating diet so she only produces enough milk to feed the one. I strongly feel that swimmers are a heriditary thing so if it's in the line no matter what you do they will become swimmers and you will need to catch that early and correct it.
Aloha,
Jackie