Hi all, I am new to this forum. I am a novice puppy mom and will be looking for lots of advise and tips from experienced folks here I have a 9 week old girl puppy, Enya. She was the only one born to the mom...a single puppy! The mom didn't feed her after birth and the breeder hand-fed her. She came home at 8 weeks and so far, she seems to be having all the normal puppy issues with potty training, biting etc. Did anyone here raise singleton puppies? What special issues will I be dealing with? I am planning on socialization classes starting next week. Thank you!
Hi and welcome! Congratulations on Enya - I love her name! I hand-raised a few singleton puppies through fostering, though they benefitted from having my own very social dog around to show them the doggie ropes. They didn't seem to have any particular problems vs. the other puppies I had. My own second dog wasn't a singleton, but his (human) foster mom didn't let him interact with his doggie mom or other siblings and he did seem to have a bit of a challenge interpreting dog language as an adult and went through a rough patch as a young dog (the dreaded "teen phase")...but that also could have been down to all sorts of other factors. Other puppy people here will likely be more knowledgable, so I'll be curious to see what other replies you get. When you have the chance, please post some photos of Enya for us!
Yes, some photos please. I don't have any experience with singleton puppies but can only agree that to get as much dog and puppy socializing would be a priority.
Hello and welcome to you and Enya from Fred, Annie and me here in Cheshire. Yes, photos of Enya please
Jubilee is a singleton. She is very different from other puppies I have raised. I really don't know if the differences are because she's a singleton or something else. She was very bitey and also chewed a lot the first year. I couldn't hold her or cuddle with her for over a year. She rampaged through the house if she was given free access until she was one. She's had way more training and socializing than all my other labs but still gets super excited around other dogs and greeting other people. BUT she has made great progress, is lots of fun and a great companion. She Will be 3 in Oct. She was lots of work, but I am so happy I didn't give up. She has enriched my life - I've become a better trainer, met new friends and have had new experiences with her.
Hi @Priya71 , I agree Enya is a great name, I'm sure she is really special. I don't have any experience of singletons, but I'm sure you have the right idea with socialisation. Look forward to hearing how things progress.
Hi and welcome to you both. I would think socialisation would be quite important if she isn't used to being around other dogs. Look forward to photos.
Singleton pups do have a range of problems which are not insurmountable but take time - potentially a lot of time to overcome. The lack of maternal feeding could also impact due to the decreased among of canine interaction. Here's an article you may useful. I would recommend a consultation with a good behaviourist who can work with you on a plan of socialisation and training to best help you and Enya. http://thebark.com/content/singleton-puppies
Hi there @Priya71 - I love the name Enya too! Sounds from reading your posts so far that you have a perfectly normal puppy! Hopefully it will stay that way and you won't need to call on the services of a behaviourist. Just because she is a single pup in a litter doesn't mean there will definitely be problems. I think having a positive approach and playing it by ear is a sensible approach. Our lab puppies are not the easiest ( ) and you will hopefully find things will just be fine. We are here to help if you need though. jac
Thank you everyone for your warm welcome and replies! That is my girl Enya. She is an angel most of the times but after breakfast and in the evening, she is a monster!
Isn't she scrumptious! They all have their monster moments. Most pups have a period in the evening particularly when they're horrors
I've never had a singleton puppy but, like humans, they are all born very different anyway. Some very bold, some more cautious - so it will be hard to know which of her character traits are due to her singleton-ness. All mine have been monsters 80% of the time lol
Hi all, here's an update! I took Enya for a puppy socialization class and she was super scared and shy She hid in a corner the whole time...broke my heart. A couple of women there told me not to pick her up and comfort her as that would give her the message that she could run to me for solace. Poor girl just looked miserable the whole time. I am not giving up and this has made me determined to step up the 'socialization'
I also was advised to do this (my dog was fearful of gunshot/fireworks) and I've learned here on the forum that this is outdated thinking. Maybe someone here more qualified than myself can explain it better, but from what I understand, the current thinking is that you cannot reinforce fear behaviours by giving your dog comfort/petting when they are frightened. For me, this was good to learn as I always felt badly just ignoring my dog when he was distressed. It goes against what feels natural to me. Enya is just a baby and truthfully I've seen puppies in the first puppy class who were terribly shy turn into absolute (totally normal) play monsters by Puppy II-III. She could be a party animal yet with a bit a of practice.
Wonderful! If your puppy is scared, she should run to you for comfort. If she's anxious, it's great that she sees you as her protector, because it means she doesn't feel she has to deal with the situation herself. Because lots of "problem behaviours" we see are based in fear - lunging and barking at other dogs or people (my two older dogs did it with children) is often because they are afraid of those things and are trying to scare them away. A dog that trusts you to look after the scary things won't have to exhibit those "problem" behaviours. Of course, you want to work on her not being scared, to change her emotional state to one of confidence, but that can take time with nervous puppies. Until then, making her feel safe can only be a good thing. Here is a good article by the wonderful Patricia McConnell about reinforcing fear: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/th...ou-cant-reinforce-fear-dogs-and-thunderstorms
As others have said @Priya71 you can not reinforce fear but picking a puppy up and comforting could give the signal that your puppy is right to be fearful. Quietly talking to a fearful dog and gentle reassuring strokes and calmness helps to win the day. It is not unexpected that Enya was shy and fearful. As a singleton she has no experience of interacting with litter mates so it is not unexpected that a group of puppies would be an overwhelming experience for her.
Hi what a beautiful pup and a wonderful name too! Regarding the comforting of the pup I always comforted Bailey when he was scared or not too sure of anything - I didn't make a big fuss of it but just talked to him in a calm voice and gave him a bit of distance from whatever was unsettling him, then let him investigate at his own pace with me at his side, reassuring him. At the moment we have some rather inconsiderate neighbours that are letting fireworks off at really odd hours of the night - usually just after we have settled down for the night and while Bailey isn't scared of them it does make him sit up and stare at the curtains in the bedroom - either myself or my OH just say to him, "it's OK Bailey it's outside" and he settles down again (usually drops down over my legs with a grump!).
