# Litter with only one puppy



## Lucy Dog

Any breeders have any experience with this... A litter where only one puppy is born?

My parents are looking at a litter, but mom only had one puppy. I'm pretty sure they're going to pass on the litter and wait for another, but that's not the reason why. 

This just got me thinking... how detrimental is it to that puppy's development that it doesn't have any other puppies to socialize and learn from?


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## robinhuerta

Paul....my Izzy is a singleton puppy, and she is fantastic!
I've also had a total of 3 single pup litters...(I have one at the moment)...and have never had an issue with the pups....it would never be a deciding factor on getting a pup or not.


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## Lucy Dog

It wasn't what made their decision for them. They actually never even thought of it until I brought it up.

It just had me thinking that's it's missing out on so much socialization those first however many weeks with no one else in the litter to play and wrestle around with.

Thanks for the input, Robin. This is why I ask the pros.


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## BlackGSD

robinhuerta said:


> Paul....my Izzy is a singleton puppy, and she is fantastic!
> I've also had a total of 3 single pup litters...(I have one at the moment)...and have never had an issue with the pups....it would never be a deciding factor on getting a pup or not.


When you've had singletons, did you have other puppies fairly close in age that they got to interact with? Or was it just the puppy and its dam from birth until it went to it's new home??

When you got Izzy did you have other puppies that she interacted with?


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## selzer

I lost all but one from a litter where the bitch had a c-section, so she was raised singly. Her mother was awesome. She played with the puppy, cared for the puppy. I kept her with the pup for the whole eight weeks because I could literally see her doing what littermates would do. If it was not the same as having littermates, it was the next best thing.

Her new owner thought she would have trouble since I did not separate the dam from the pup, but she did not. She said there was no problem that night, and the puppy did just fine. I have been in class with her and I get regular reports. I would not turn down a puppy just for being a singleton.


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## robinhuerta

Tracy....no for Izzy.....until she was about 4 1/2 mos old.
The other litters....1 pup had no puppies around her, because I had no ther litters at the time....the other had younger pups soon afterward.
This litter...the pup is now 2 weeks old....there is no one close to her age.
The mothers will socialize, and the other dogs in the home will...along with Michael.


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## BlackGSD

I think the way a singleton is raised can make a HUGE difference. In the above breeders cases, they were able to make it work. Either by leaving the dam with the pup, and/or having other puppies OR puppy friendly adults for the pup to socialize with and learn from.

IF however, the singleton had a dam that was DONE with her offspring at 4 weeks, and the breeder had no other puppies or adults for the pup to learn from, IMO, THAT could cause the pup to have issues that may or may not be overcome.


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