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Raising a Singleton Puppy – Week Two

Two Weeks Old

Echo is a loving and attentive mama – whether it is cleaning, feeding, or just snuggling, Echo loves being a mama! This past week we have been busying helping Echo care for her baby.

Milestone Reached

This week on day 13, we were excited to see Echo’s puppy’s eyes had opened! Echo’s puppy is now in the Transitional Period which begins when the puppy’s eyes open and ends when they first startle upon hearing sounds. I always feel that puppies become more alive when they reach this milestone.

When puppies are in the Neonatal Period (day 0 – 14) they spend their days and nights eating and sleeping. Sleep-time – 22 hours and Awake-time – 2 hours is spent eating.

Without any competition from littermates singleton puppies have unlimited supply of milk resulting in rapid weight gain. Singleton puppies have a higher percentage rate of developing “swimmer puppy syndrome”. To avoid Echo’s puppy developing this condition, we have been pro-active and undertaken a few strategies to help the puppy as she develops.

Solid Footing

Puppies must avoid slipping as they try to maneuver around the whelping box. It is important for newborn puppies to have good traction as they develop. We alway use Vet-Bedding to line our whelping boxes. It is a man-made material that is soft, warm and provides excellent traction for the puppies as they learn to walk.

Slow Down Weight-Gain

When raising a singleton puppy, it is important to try to slow the puppy’s weight gain. Much of my time this week during the day was spent by the whelping box limiting feeding time, much to the dissatisfaction of both mama and puppy. I’m sure Echo’s favourite time is during the night – while I sleep, Echo gets to spend all her time with her puppy without my interference. Even though our puppy is a Chunky Monkey, this interaction has helped slow her weight gain.

Exercise

During the limited awake time we have been trying to help the puppy get more exercise to strengthen her leg muscles. As we discussed in my previous blog, exercise for a singleton puppy doesn’t happen naturally as it does for a puppy with littermates. Less exercise combined with extra weight, makes it more difficult for the singleton pup to support themselves as they are learning to walk on all fours. To lower the risk of Echo’s puppy developing “swimmer puppy syndrome“, it is important to develop strong hind leg muscles. Below are a few ways we are using to help Echo’s puppy in this area.

Nursing Exercise – During feeding time, I have added a couple stuffed animals beside the puppy as she nurses. This mimics littermates and makes our singleton pup work harder as she uses her back legs to compete for food instead of just lying down to leisurely nurse.


Taping Exercise – One of the symptoms of “swimmer puppy syndrome” is a puppy that stays on their tummy with legs spread out trying to maneuver around – much like a turtle on dry land. To help avoid this, we spent a few days doing a taping exercise. Using Self Adhesive Bandage Wrap, I taped the puppy’s legs to help them stay close together. This helped her not to drag her legs behind while she crawled and strengthened her hind leg muscles.

Front
Back

Watch the video as the puppies moves with her legs taped. This exercise helps strengthen her hind leg muscles which further reduces the risk of developing “swimmer puppy syndrome“.

Obstacles Exercise – Without littermates to crawl over, we needed to add some obstacles. We filled our whelping box full of obstacles – i.e. bolster beds, stuffed animals, blanket, sock buddies for the puppy to crawl over as she moves around the whelping box. This helps her build strong muscles. They also make great headrests for sleeping LOL!

Hard Work Pays Off!

It has been a lot of work this week helping our sweet puppy build strong muscles. Without littermates to compare progress with, it is hard to judge. Looking back at my previous litters, I would say the puppy’s walking development is a day or two behind but, she is making great progress!!! As you can see in the video below, all our hard work is paying off!

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK THREE
  • Eyes will continue to open wider and sight will slowly become clearer 
  • Puppy will still eat and sleep most of its day
  • Puppy will continue growing 
  • Ears will begin to open
  • Puppy’s hind legs will become stronger as she practices walking on all fours
  • Puppy will become more aware of her surroundings and start to play 
  • Puppy will start to vocalize.
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Raising a Singleton Puppy – Week One

What is a Singleton Puppy

Singleton puppies are puppies that are born solo. They don’t have any brothers and sisters (littermates). A litter of one is not a very common occurrence, but it happens every now and then. This has never occurred in the past five years of our breeding. Believe it or not but, this may take more work on our part to raise a singleton puppy than a normal size litter.

As a breeder, I am always trying to improve through courses, research and new experiences. The past seven days have been a learning experience. Raising a litter of puppies I have done many times but a litter of one, I have only read about. Now that this is a reality, I have been doing in-depth study on the puppy raising process of a singleton. Below are some differences between raising a singleton litter and a average size litter.

Warmth

Newborn puppies cannot regulate their own body temperature. They rely on the Mama and littermates for warmth. Echo’s puppy lacks littermates to help keep her warm when mama is not in the whelping box so we added “sock buddies” to mimic littermates. They are socks filled with rice that can be heated in the microwave.

Sock Buddies to keep Echo’s puppy warm while mama is away from the whelping box
Normal size litters have a littermate to snuggle with for warmth while mama is away from the whelping box

Feeding – Monitoring Puppy’s Food Intake

With an average size litter it is important that puppies gain weight daily. If this doesn’t happen, you have to start to worry and spend time making sure that the underweight puppy gets his fair share.

With a singleton litter weighting daily is also important but for a different reason. Gaining too much weight too quickly can cause problems. There is plenty of milk available and no competition from littermates. With this unlimited supply of milk the puppy can become too chubby which will make it more difficult for the puppy to support her weight as she grows.

Echo’s puppy is my chunky monkey. She doubled her birth weight on day six – two days earlier than the record from my previous litters of day eight. So, the past few days have been spent by the whelping box limiting the puppy’s nursing time. It has helped slow the puppy’s weight gain some. This will be something that I will continue to do.

Exercise

Exercise is an important part of puppy development. Newborn puppies crawl on their tummy pulling with their front legs and pushing with their back legs. As the days and weeks pass, their muscles become stronger and eventually they are strong enough to support their bodies by walking on all fours. Singleton puppies development is delayed as they do not get as much exercise as puppies with littermates.

A singleton puppy doesn’t get exercise as they nurse; she just leisurely nurses without littermates pushing her off. I have to step in and add exercise. I will stop her nursing, move her to the other side of the whelping box so that she will have to crawl back. To mimic littermates to crawl over, we added stuffed toys, a bolster bed, and blanket for her to crawl over. This will help strengthen her muscles.
When raising a normal size litter of puppies, exercise is something that happens without any work on my part. Puppies rush to their mama and fight for position as they nurse. All this action is a normal form of exercise and puppies get stronger with no help from me.

Human Socialization

Handling puppies is something that we like to do from day one. Our puppies get lots of cuddles, love and attentions from young and old. Singleton litter or average size litters doesn’t matter – we love to cuddle puppies. Echo’s puppy may have a bonus in this area- one puppy and so many people to cuddle her 🤗

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK TWO
  • Much the same as week one – Eat, Sleep, Repeat!
  • Puppy will continue to grow 
  • Puppy still crawls; hind legs will become stronger
  • Eyes should begin to open towards the end the week – so exciting !!!
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Echo and Her Adorable Puppy

July 27, 2022

July 27, 2022 – A litter of one

A litter of one

Before puppies are due, we set up the whelping box beside my bed and encourage our expecting mama’s to sleep in it. I want them to feel comfortable and hopefully when the time comes, whelp their litter there. We were awakened in the early morning of Wednesday, July 27th, three days before Echo’s due date. As I do when puppies are almost due, I looked in the whelping box to check things out. Shining my phone light to see better I saw Echo awake but just lying there. A few minutes later I checked on her again and to my surprise, Echo had delivered her first puppy. I quickly jumped into action while my husband Tom woke my daughter to help with the whelp.

Even though dogs have natural instincts, it is important to be there when they whelp to oversee and help if needed. During the whelping process I like to let my mama’s dogs take charge and do things on their own – I only step in if needed! Echo had delivered her puppy on her own without a sound, but she just left the puppy in the whelping box and came to see me. I took her back in and tried to get her to look after her puppy.

Puppy in sac

Even with my encouragement Echo wouldn’t break the sac. I quickly broke it and then tried again to get Echo to take over but she couldn’t be convinced. It was obvious I would have to help! I removed the puppy from it’s sac, clamped and cut the umbilical cord. Then I made sure the puppy’s mouth and nose was clear of fluids. After I rubbed the puppy with a clean towel to dry it. This makes the puppy start to whimper and helps it breathe normally. 

The puppy was breathing well and everything looked good so I gave Echo her puppy back. Her mama instincts finally kicked in and she went right to work cleaning and caring for her baby.

Echo feeds her baby

Weighing-in time

After some time with her mama, I took the puppy back to exam and weigh. It was a girl weighing in at 389 grams.

The wait was on for the next puppy to arrive. Echo seemed relaxed and happily cared for her puppy. Time passed but nothing. We finally decided to pack the puppy into a warming box and take Echo and her puppy to the vet. After an exam and x-ray, it was confirmed that this baby girl was the only puppy in Echo’s litter – A Singleton!

Echo snuggling with her puppy in the warming box while we wait for the Vet

Back home again, Echo took to motherhood like a pro. She is an attentive mama and loves her baby!

At the end of a long day, Echo and her baby girl sleep
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What does the doppler say…..are we excepting puppies?

Echo was breed at the end of May for her first litter of puppies. Then the waiting began to confirm pregnancy. Echo is Ruska and Tulo’s daughter from their third litter of puppies. My son and daughter-in-law agreed to become a guardian family for Echo. She went to live in their home as a puppy to train, love, and care for her. We believe every dog should be first and foremost a beloved pet.

We needed to look for another blood line for Echo’s stud because our stud dogs carry the same blood line as Echo. I have spent the past year looking for a stud and we finally decided on Riggs from Delilah’s Poodle Doodles. They are ethical breeders – breeding and raising puppies as we do at L.A. Doodles. Their tag line says, “Honest Breeding, Done with Love, Care and Morals”.

After Echo was breed the waiting began until we could confirm pregnancy.   There are various ways to confirm pregnancy ranging from abdominal palpation, an ultrasound performed between 22 – 28 days in pregnancy or my choice – waiting patiently for five weeks until Day 35 and using a Doppler Ultrasound. 

Day 34

Today, one day early, (I can never wait until day 35 lol) we decided to listen for puppy heartbeats. Echo’s tummy is full of fur which makes it a little harder to pick the heartbeats up than a clean-shaven tummy. My husband Tom helped keep Echo calm by patting her head as my daughter Kendra helped out to video. This is Echo’s first experience with the doppler, and she did a great job laying still while we listened for those tiny fast heartbeats. Her calmness reminds me of her mama Ruska.

Listening for puppy heartbeats using the doppler

Exciting news…….we found puppy heartbeats!  

Congratulations Echo and Riggs on your upcoming litter of puppies!

Due date: July 30th, 2022

We have room on our waiting list for this litter. For more information and to apply

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Going-Home Days Are Always Bittersweet

We have a routine on go-home day – bath, nails trimmed and blow-dry. Some puppies tolerate the blow-dryer longer than others. I don’t want to stress the puppies out too much so the puppies finish air drying. We then give them a final brush.

Our mama “wears” the go-home blankets to put her scent on it. Our puppies put the littermate scent on the “snuggle puppies”. These familiar scents can be a comfort to a puppy in their new environment.

Then, it is time for our Puppy Go-Home Pics – Such Adorable Puppies!!! 🥰

Our puppies are now ready and waiting to go to their Forever Homes with their Forever Families.

It is always a bittersweet time when puppies go to their forever homes. It is hard to say goodbye to my puppies 🥲. I have loved and cared for them for the first 8+ weeks of their lives – we put our heart into each puppy we raise ❤️ It brings me joy to share in the excitement of our forever families as they pick up their new puppy.

This poem perfectly describes my thoughts!
One Puppy Remaining

We have one puppy left – Purple Collar Girl. I’m sure she is wondering “Where did my littermates go?” Her forever family made arrangements for her to stay a little longer. She will be leaving on Tuesday but, until then, she is one of the family. After all the puppies left we headed outside to the yard and filled the pool with water for the dogs to cool off😅 All the dogs then headed back to the deck for a long deserved rest. Raising puppies is hard work!! 🐾

Eight puppies minus seven leaves one puppy – Purple Collar Girl
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Sunshine, Puppies and Water Day!

Yesterday – May 11 – Vet Visit

Yesterday the puppies had their first car ride to the veterinarians. We pack our eight puppies into the crate in our truck and made the fifteen minute car ride. A couple of puppies whined for the first part of our trip but they soon settled down any nobody experienced and car sickness.

Loaded in the truck and ready to go to see Dr. Westermenn

Tom and I have done this many times and we have the process down pat. Tom waits with the puppies at the truck and I carry the puppies two by two in to see Dr. Westermann. Each puppy receives a full wellness check, their first set of vaccinations and then the dreaded microchip needle. The first two puppies we took in were Blue Collar Boy and Magenta Collar Girl. I thought the puppy carrier was heavier than usual and then remembered the puppies usually go to the vet at seven weeks of age – what a difference a week makes!

First puppy was Blue Collar Boy. After his wellness exam and weigh-in, he received his vaccine needle with no complaint. Then it was time for the BIG Microchip needle. He sure let us know with a big “Yelp” that it hurt – LOL! The girls followed the same routine but, not a peep out of anyone. I guess they wanted to show Blue Boy how tough they were!

I’m happy to report that Dr. Westermann gave all our puppies a clean bill of health and commented at how calm and well behaved every puppy was. It is always nice to have positive feedback on my puppies and to know that all the hard work we put into raising them pays off!

Packed in carrier
Almost 30 lbs. of puppies
Back Home Again
Some TLC from mama for brave puppies
Vaccines make tired puppies

After the puppies came back home, they went outside on the deck with their mama. Somehow, I think Ellie sensed that her puppies’ needed a little TLC after their trip to the vet because Ellie let her puppies nurse. She is a loving, patient mama and has done a wonderful job raising her puppies!


Today – May 12 – Puppies last full day together

Today is the puppies last full day together before they start to head home to their forever families. We had a beautiful sunny warm day and decided to introduce the puppies to water. My big dogs (except Ellie) love the pool on a hot day to cool off. While the puppies were napping, Tom got the pool out and washed away the winter debris before adding some water. It was very shallow because we don’t want to scare the puppies. I was excitedly waiting for the puppies to wake up. When we put the puppies in one by one, they didn’t linger to play. Some puppies had a little drink and then jumped back out. Purple Collar Girl was the fastest to get out – she wanted no part of it – LOL!

I think my grandsons enjoyed the puppy pool more then the puppies did.
Puppies last full day together.
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Eight Weeks Old Today…..What A Difference A Week Makes!

Eight Weeks Old
LOOKING BACK

Eight weeks have passed since Ellie’s babies came into the world and filled our days. Remember how tiny they were…..I could hold them in the palm of my hand. They have learned so much over these past eight weeks. This past week we have worked on what is acceptable behaviour – sit to get picked up, play nice, kisses (not nips).

We have also challenge puppies to use their brain. One such challenge was to descend the rock steps to get to the big yard. Willow’s puppies faced this challenge with much more ease but, every litter is different and learn at their own pace. The video’s and pics below show the puppies at seven weeks old facing this challenge. (Note – Willow’s puppies are whining in the background of these videos – they want to join Ellie’s puppies 😂)

Rock descend take 1 – they wanted back into the pen

Time to Close the Gate

Rock descend take 2
Rock descend take 3 – with the gate closed
Not too sure if they are up for the challenge
One brave boy decided to go first
A couple girls followed as the rest of the puppies tried to get up their nerve to give it a try
Rock descend take 8
Rock descend take 9

With lots of encouragement, all Ellie’s puppies finally made it down and enjoyed their reward – to run and explore the yard together.

What a difference a week makes!

Over the past week the puppies worked on this challenge – what a difference a week makes!

Eight week old puppies have learned to descend the rock steps – they love to play in the yard! (The last puppy down was Black Collar Girl – she was in the potty box when the other puppies started LOL)
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEEK Nine
  • Puppies will continue exploring and playing together inside and outdoors as weather permits
  • Puppies will work on recall
  • Puppies will continue learning from their mama, littermates, and our other dogs
  • Puppies will go to the Vet for their wellness check, vaccinations and microchip
  • We will continue to encourage puppies to use potty box 
  • Puppies will leave for the forever homes at the end of the week
  • Puppies will continue to get lots of cuddle time
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So Much Fun Playing Outdoors On A Sunny Thursday

The rain has stopped,, and we finally have a beautiful sunny warm day. Though our yard is still very wet and muddy we took the puppies out to play in the yard. They had so much fun running, exploring, and chasing each other. The puppies’ mama’s Willow and Ellie and Daddy Brinkley along with Grandma Ruska and Nanny Maui enjoyed teaching and playing with them – Our big dogs love it when the puppies join them in the yard! 💕

It is difficult to keep track of eleven puppies with so many hiding places even with the help my daughter and husband Tom. Our time to work on recall has been limited because of so many rainy days but, the puppies are learning to come running to me when they hear “puppy, puppy” called. We are then able to do a puppy count 🐾

After a long play secession, eleven tired, muddy puppies found their way to the swing in the rear of our yard for a large puppy-huddle nap. Ellie and Brinkley kept watch.

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Willow’s Puppies Are Ready For Their Forever Families

LOOKING BACK
My Good-morning greeting from Willow’s eight week old puppies

Eight weeks have passed since Willow’s babies came into the world and filled our days. Remember how tiny they were…..I could hold them in the palm of my hand. They have learned so much over these past eight weeks. I have enjoyed raising them to the point where they are ready to join their forever families. This past week we have worked on what is acceptable behaviour – sit to get picked up, play nice, kisses (not nips). Puppies are not always consistent but, have made great progress. I just love puppy kisses!!!

Eight Weeks Old
LOOKING AHEAD

Puppies are going to their forever homes. Lots of work lies ahead for your family as you continue teaching your puppy! They are still learning, but the time and work you put in pays off when you have a loving well behaved dog that will love you as only a dog can – unconditionally. You will be the most important person in the world to them. 

It is always bittersweet saying goodbye to our puppies. I have enjoyed every minute of their care and they have a piece of my heart. It is through tears🥲 I say goodbye to each puppy, but it brings me joy to see each excited family! I know that our puppies are joining such wonderful forever families who will love them as they deserve 💕

Yesterday, Tuesday, May 3rd

The puppies had a lazy morning yesterday. The puppies ate their breakfast and had a short outdoor play secession before settling down for a nap.

Three of Willow’s puppies went to their forever homes yesterday – it was time to prepare for their forever families. We bathed them, trimmed their nails , blow dried them, and gave them a few extra cuddles.

Time to take their Go-Home Photo. Such handsome boys!

Callum – Black Collar Boy
Red Collar Boy
Finley – Orange Collar Boy

After Willow’s three boy’s left, the eleven remaining puppies enjoyed a late lunch and play time on the deck.