Singleton puppy

[Molly2015]

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Hello , has anyone any experience of a single pup litter and did that pup go on to have any extra behavioral problems ? Thanks for any help ..

 

[GillyPen]

I just wonder if this thread was 'expanded'? Teddy who was born March '24 does have issues IF for some reason you go by his muzzle he can give you a growl warning. It is not nice but ..... at ...the end of the day I just need to make sure we deal with this correctly.

I know I can explain how we looked after him and Rosie from day 1 and that may give the right person clues.

Note: I also did contact our vet - not the one who carried out the caesarian - and asked if they give out a small sheet of tips when caring for a singleton puppy. I have learnt more now in other words - after - the event and we could have helped Teddy so much more in his first few weeks/months.

I know I could choose a behaviorist but how confident can I be that they have the experience Teddy needs?

I think until you have personal experience of a singleton - you are totally unaware of any issues that can develop and you care for them like any other puppy.

 

[JudyN]

@GillyPen, I don't think there was much follow-up for this post, but if you search the forum for 'singleton' or 'puppymate syndrome' you should find plenty of info.

As for Teddy giving a warning growl - this is actually excellent. He is simply telling you that he isn't comfortable with this and if you respect this, he will learn to trust you. If you ignore the growl, he will learn that telliing you politely doesn't work so may go straight for a snap. Do you mean that he doesn't like people touching his face? This is something that can be worked on - we can elaborate on this, but there's a saying that if a dog doesn't like you touching his head, you start at the tail.

 

[GillyPen]

Judy - thank you. When you say - 'If you ignore the growl, he will learn that telling you politely doesn't work so may go straight for a snap.'

What is interesting he will let you stroke around his face but an example of this is one night I sat good night - went to touch is head but got the growl. Was it because I was leaning over him? Another night he was in his basket and I thought his vet bedding was rumpled so I said lets straighten this for you and got the growl. But he follows me everywhere and loves to jump up and have a cuddle, etc.

It is the unexpected that makes me wonder how to deal with it - but it has to be not being bossed around by any littermates surely. So how do you deal with the growl? (I may have said he will let us wash him, brush him, etc but it is the unexpected.)

 

[JudyN]

It could be nothing to do with being a singleton. My dog (now passed) was one of nine and was extremely touchy about... quite a lot of things Yes, dogs generally don't like anyone leaning over them, so simply try to avoid doing that. I couldn't pull out a rug from under him, he really didn't like it at all.

These are both things you don't need to do, so you deal with the growl simply by not doing them. We also learnt to avoid startling our dog in any way - so if the doorbell rang, we would get up slowly and calmly. Leaping up as if the house is on fire would convince something terrible was going to happen and clearly the visitor was a DANGEROUS MONSTER so we MUST NOT ANSWER THE DOOR So yeah, avoid the unexpected as much as possible, or act as if it was expected.

 

[GillyPen]

Thank you for your thoughts and about your dog who was touchy. (Just like us humans) . We have had dogs for years and what we naturally 'adopted' how we look after them all. He has his Mum for a companion and my sons comes with his two dogs and he is fine. Very, very excited when family comes and will jump waist high. We have done the turn around and ignore as well as a lead. But it doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference.

As for me he is waiting at the bottom of the stairs when I come down in the morning as though I have been gone for years. Can jump so high! I haven't gone out much without him and this morning I had to post a letter - so I had two treats for Teddy & Rosie ready just before I opened gate. As I read somewhere that can help with separation anxiety training.

 

[JoanneF]

will jump waist high. We have done the turn around and ignore as well as a lead. But it doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference

Ignoring unwanted behaviours only works if the behaviour itself isn't self-rewarding. If years the case (like 'look what fun jumping is') then ignoring it won't help.

Also, dog struggle with a 'don't do' cue. Like us - if I said, don't think of a red fire engine, what immediately comes to mind? So instead it's easier to ask for a different behaviour, one that makes jumping impossible at the same time. Like a sit. But the sit has to be a lot more rewarding than the jumping, so break out the good treats while you work on it.

For the growl, Judy is spot on. Dogs give a series of signals that they are unhappy, but unfortunately most people don't recognise them because they can be quite subtle. To begin with there is often wide eyes, lip licking and yawning. There is also muscular tension in the body. Then the ones we sometimes do see - growl, snarl, nip then bite. If the early signals are not seen (or, in the dog's view, ignored) he won't bother with them because us stupid humans pay no attention anyway; so he may go straight to the bite. So it's important never to ignore the early signals or reprimand the dog for giving them; stopping the dog from giving them would be like taking the battery out of a smoke alarm.

But the good thing is that a dog will look for ways to de-escalate where possible. If you want to read more, the writer Turid Rugaas is a good source.

Another thought - I can't remember what breed or mix Teddy is, but is there any cocker spaniel in there?

 

[GillyPen]

Teddy is cross border terrier and his Mum is our Rosie which is Jack Russell/Plummer Terrier. Thank you to both of you and I will look up Turid Rugass. There are so many people on utube with all these ideas and then of course family dog owners - but - Teddy is ours and we want to do the right thing by him. I know I am saying singleton puppy again but .... we have experienced issues with him that we have seem written about. But so grateful for all your thoughts it is as though we are learning from step one and never been dog owners.

 

[JoanneF]

Use YouTube with caution, as I'm sure you know.

 

[GillyPen]

Yes - thank you. But you have e.g Victoria Stilwell, Cesar Millan, etc, etc giving their advice. But I am going to look at Turid Rugass.

 

[JoanneF]

Please, please don't follow Cesar Milan's advice.

While, in fairness it isn't ALL bad, unless you really know how to sift the good from the bad you could easily make things worse. His methods are based on old theories on alpha dominance that have been widely discredited by modern behavioural scientists.

And some of his material would reduce you to tears, he is basically a bully.

 

[JudyN]

Please, please don't listen to Cesar Millan - his advice is really bad and his approach totally discredited. Victoria Stilwell's advice should be sound, as long as it's not from her very early days. Some recommended books are listed here: The Dogforum Library

ETA: Cross-posted with JoanneF!

 

[JoanneF]

We even used the same words

 

[GillyPen]

Not so good at getting photos - but this is our Rosie with her big singleton puppy Teddy .

 

[GillyPen]

Thank you for the link to the Library - it looks really informative.

 

[JudyN]

Oh wow, no wonder she needed a c-section!

 

[GillyPen]

Yes - and I took her to the vets because she was suffering from, I thought, something in her ear - 3 weeks prior to the birth. I said she was having puppies and he examined her and said VERY surprised if she was and don't put any money on it! I said she has her little teats, etc and we are sure earlier on we felt something. Took her the following week as her eyes were watering. Next vet gave her some drops and said it is not worth doing a scan.

The very night she was due she was in her bed and stretched as if in pain. (No nesting etc as we had seen our bitch years ago) So I phoned Vet and said I think she is in trouble. She told me it can take hours, etc and I said I want to bring her in - full stop!

Well down in the surgery at 10.30 at night she agreed something was happening but couldn't examine her. So gave her an injection to relax that area, whilst waiting for it to work she said I will scan her. Yes - definitely a puppy! When she could examine her she could only feel one hind leg and a Caesarion had to be performed.

We were phoned early in the morning to say 'Grandma you have a beautiful BIG baby boy'. In hindsight that is when I feel we could have been given tips on how to care for this 'swimmer' of a puppy. Thankfully I was able to look up some tips e.g. put things under vet bed and make him use his legs rather than swim. (But I could have done more.)

Then my husband has an accident when Teddy is a few weeks old and I am doing all the looking after. (My husband was confined to bed for 3 weeks.) I think that is when Teddy became completely attached to me - scenario - I go to puppy pen pick him up and with the other hand pick up the soiled paper. When all tidy back he goes for his 'one - to - one' care with Mum So in a way when he sees me he feels he has to jump up I guess and that is continuing.

But!!! This morning I had ready in my pocket (treats upstairs now) and when I got down steps I told them to sit and they both had a treat. Mind you Teddy still thought he could fly around once he had it. So will try again tomorrow morning e.g. treat with me when I come down stairs.

 

[Flobo]

Gosh that's a lot to go through for all of you!

 

[GillyPen]

Yes - it was a lot to go through but even more for poor Rosie. I just think its amazing how Rosie being sedated and then given this huge puppy (photo on the day Teddy was brought home.) took such great care of him. Note: I should have said photo above was after a few weeks later.