Please tell me what to do - only one lived

Petrarch · 03-19-2011, 08:02 PM

Momma Dog was in the pound, is a true German Shepherd, and she had a litter the day after she was picked up. 4 pups born and I offered to take them home that day and they said no. 3 died that night. That leaves only one male puppy. I brought this momma and 12 day old pup to my house where I had set up a nursery in a nice and safe environment. Mom and pup are doing well. He is 19 days old now.

What I am asking about is socialization in the case where you have only one pup. Puppies learn a lot from their litter mates. I feel like this little guy is going to need the learning experience from other puppies his own age.

His mother spends some time with him, she is a good mother keeping him very well fed and clean, but next few weeks coming up are going to be lessons that he remembers for the rest of his life. I don't want him to be deprived.

Do you have any suggestions? I will do/make anything happy to be sure that he is a balanced dog. He looks to be pure shepherd, by the way.

Stevenzachsmom · 03-19-2011, 08:10 PM

Bless you for taking Mama and her pup. It will help him to be with his Mama, even though he has no litter mates. I can't offer any advice, but hopefully Selzer will see your thread, as she just went through this.

Konotashi · 03-19-2011, 08:26 PM

Thank you for taking her and her surviving pup in. I have no advice for you, but some more experienced members will hopefully come along soon.

vat · 03-19-2011, 09:03 PM

Thanks for taking them into your home. I can offer no advice but I am sure Selzer will see this and reply.

elisabeth_00117 · 03-19-2011, 09:04 PM

I would ask this question or ask for this post to be moved into the breeder section as you will get more sound advice there.

Good luck.

vat · 03-19-2011, 09:06 PM

I sent Selzer a pm so hopefully she will find you.

Stevenzachsmom · 03-19-2011, 09:49 PM

Thank you Valerie. I hope so too.

**Castlemaid** · 03-19-2011, 10:20 PM

I took Elisabeth's suggestion and moved the thread to the breeding section - better chance of getting help from people who have gone through this.

RubyTuesday · 03-20-2011, 01:04 AM

I'm no a breeder, so I'm not 'experienced' in this, but a friend's foundation bitch was an 'only' pup in her litter. The bitch never developed a good grasp of 'bite inhibition'. Fortunately, her thresholds were high, & she was low aggression, but on the 2 occasions she bit it was a HARD & damaging bite.

Bite inhibition is often learned through play with litter mates. Without litter mates this is impossible. I suspect human 'fixes' might not be 100% satisfactory but please be aware of the potential for problems.

JOSHUA SAMPSON · 03-20-2011, 01:49 AM

get a little (puppy sized) teddie bear and play and wrestle with hi a little when he is young, let him win some and if he gets too rough tell him no. better to try and get some effect than do nothing and get no effect.

03-19-2011, 08:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
Petrarch Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 25	Please tell me what to do - only one lived Momma Dog was in the pound, is a true German Shepherd, and she had a litter the day after she was picked up. 4 pups born and I offered to take them home that day and they said no. 3 died that night. That leaves only one male puppy. I brought this momma and 12 day old pup to my house where I had set up a nursery in a nice and safe environment. Mom and pup are doing well. He is 19 days old now. What I am asking about is socialization in the case where you have only one pup. Puppies learn a lot from their litter mates. I feel like this little guy is going to need the learning experience from other puppies his own age. His mother spends some time with him, she is a good mother keeping him very well fed and clean, but next few weeks coming up are going to be lessons that he remembers for the rest of his life. I don't want him to be deprived. Do you have any suggestions? I will do/make anything happy to be sure that he is a balanced dog. He looks to be pure shepherd, by the way.

03-19-2011, 08:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Konotashi Knighted Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Arizona Posts: 3,380	Thank you for taking her and her surviving pup in. I have no advice for you, but some more experienced members will hopefully come along soon. __________________ Ozzy - Chocolate Pom "In a perfect world, every dog would have a home and every home would have a dog." My Photography

03-19-2011, 09:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
vat Knighted Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Kingston, IL Posts: 3,027	Thanks for taking them into your home. I can offer no advice but I am sure Selzer will see this and reply. __________________ Valerie Shewana's Maximum Velocity (aka Max) Shewana's Hot-Spice (aka Callan) Kaycee 11/97-5/10 Rio 10/08-2/10 Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.

03-19-2011, 09:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
elisabeth_00117 Crowned Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Posts: 7,250	I would ask this question or ask for this post to be moved into the breeder section as you will get more sound advice there. Good luck. __________________ Battleborn Hundesport Wild Winds Archangel Raphael "Stark", HIC (2009-04-10) Wild Winds Zephyr "Zefra" (2011-04-15) *Beau* 03/08/97 to 06/07/10

03-19-2011, 09:06 PM	#6 (permalink)
vat Knighted Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Kingston, IL Posts: 3,027	I sent Selzer a pm so hopefully she will find you. __________________ Valerie Shewana's Maximum Velocity (aka Max) Shewana's Hot-Spice (aka Callan) Kaycee 11/97-5/10 Rio 10/08-2/10 Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.

03-19-2011, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Stevenzachsmom Knighted Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,494	Bless you for taking Mama and her pup. It will help him to be with his Mama, even though he has no litter mates. I can't offer any advice, but hopefully Selzer will see your thread, as she just went through this.

03-19-2011, 09:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
Stevenzachsmom Knighted Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,494	Thank you Valerie. I hope so too.

03-19-2011, 10:20 PM	#8 (permalink)
Castlemaid Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northern British Columbia Posts: 9,088	I took Elisabeth's suggestion and moved the thread to the breeding section - better chance of getting help from people who have gone through this. __________________ Lucia Keeta BH, OB1, TR1, AD (HOT) Rottweiler/Hairy Dog mix?? Shelter rescue Gryffon Vom Wildhaus BH, OFA Good (HOT) "Bites Through the Sleeve" Cuddlebug, b: Mar 2009

03-20-2011, 01:04 AM	#9 (permalink)
RubyTuesday Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,315	I'm no a breeder, so I'm not 'experienced' in this, but a friend's foundation bitch was an 'only' pup in her litter. The bitch never developed a good grasp of 'bite inhibition'. Fortunately, her thresholds were high, & she was low aggression, but on the 2 occasions she bit it was a HARD & damaging bite. Bite inhibition is often learned through play with litter mates. Without litter mates this is impossible. I suspect human 'fixes' might not be 100% satisfactory but please be aware of the potential for problems.

03-20-2011, 01:49 AM	#10 (permalink)
JOSHUA SAMPSON Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: not here anymore! Posts: 368	get a little (puppy sized) teddie bear and play and wrestle with hi a little when he is young, let him win some and if he gets too rough tell him no. better to try and get some effect than do nothing and get no effect. __________________ I used to be a member on this forum. But decided to delete my account due to two individuals attacking me needlessly wanna see why go here http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...-pictures.html

Remove Advertisements Sponsored Links
German Shepherd Advertisement