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Single Puppy Born


Lollipup
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An aquaintance (I don't know her that well but see her around fairly regularly) has two boxers, entire male and entire female. From what I have heard they have the occasionaly BYB litter :hug:

On Sunday this lady told me that her and her family had walked outside to go to the car to go out and noticed that the bitch had a puppy and this was the first they knew she was pregnant! :( When she was telling me this it was hours later, she was still away from her house. She said the bitch didn't look in pain but was panting. I told her get her to the vet asap as there could be stuck puppies.

Thankfully she did take the bitch and pup to the vet but I think that was only in the last 2 days. There are no more puppies. The mother has been carrying the pup down the back yard and dumping it and the pup won't suckle. So she is having to hand feed this pup. She is very stressed about this as she is heavily pregnant herself and due within the next 3 weeks.

Now I know that a puppy needs its mother and siblings to develop properly and that the way it is going it will end up with serious issues. Is there anything I can offer to do for this pup? I guess what it would really need is a foster mother and siblings?

I know the owner would be grateful for any help I could offer but I'm not sure what the options are. And of course, the situation shouldn't be here in the first place so maybe I should stay out of it. I just feel sorry and worried for this pup. (And also wanted a bit of a rant as I was boiling with irritation to hear this story :( )

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If the puppy won't suckle and the bitch doesn't want it then there is most likely something wrong with it. After a natural delivery, bitches usually only reject puppies they know are not going to make it. Under the circumstances I think I would just have the puppy pts. Hand feeding and raising a struggling puppy is a full time, round the clock job, and then they can still die at a few days or a few weeks. If it was a very valuable puppy then it might be worth trying to raise it but most of the time a puppy rejected by the mother, doesn't make it regardless of what you do.

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1) Vet advice

2) Research hand rearing

3) Put the word out for some sap rescuer that will "rescue at any cost"

4) PTS to do the kindest thing for the pup before it gets ill and dies a nasty little death.

5) Desexing, at the very least, of the female, at the earliest opportunity

6) Thank her lucky stars the poor bitch didn't have more pups.

7) Tell her to slap herself upside the head. Two entire animals, and there's NOT going to be a litter? Yeah, right.

With 3 weeks to go before she spits her own progeny out, which translates to any second now, she's hardly in a position to hand feed the pup. If the pup goes downhill, it will do so quickly, if it hasn't already.

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If the puppy won't suckle and the bitch doesn't want it then there is most likely something wrong with it. After a natural delivery, bitches usually only reject puppies they know are not going to make it. Under the circumstances I think I would just have the puppy pts. Hand feeding and raising a struggling puppy is a full time, round the clock job, and then they can still die at a few days or a few weeks. If it was a very valuable puppy then it might be worth trying to raise it but most of the time a puppy rejected by the mother, doesn't make it regardless of what you do.

I agree. Kinder to pts rather than wait for more problems. There's no way she will be able to cope with round the clock feeding for a start.

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7) Tell her to slap herself upside the head. Two entire animals, and there's NOT going to be a litter? Yeah, right.

With 3 weeks to go before she spits her own progeny out, which translates to any second now, she's hardly in a position to hand feed the pup. If the pup goes downhill, it will do so quickly, if it hasn't already.

This was my first thought. I struggled to find words. These dogs have had planned litters before and probably will again :(

dogs and people both giving birth, I wonder if they know how it happens...

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And tell them to take Mum to the vet for a check up. Hell, they can desex her while she's there!

The fact that she gave birth to a single pup doesn't mean that's all she carried.

I told them that and they did get her checked. Apparently no more pups in there.

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This dog has had litters before and I am assuming she was a good mother to them. The fact that she is rejecting this puppy means she knows there is something wrong. In my experience, any time a mother animals rejects one and cares for the rest, the "one" has always later had a problem.

I've seen animals be bad mothers and reject and neglect the whole litter but never selectively refused to mother just one healthy one. The mother always knows best, and I've learned not to disagree.

The human instinct is to rush in, hand feed, and deal with the behavioural problems that handraising a singlton cause. But in my experience, your friend is fighting for a lost cause. And she's in no position to fight the good fight. My advice is that the kindest thing to do is to take the puppy to the vet and euthanise.

And if she didn't know her bitch was in season, didn't manage to prevent a mating, and didn't know her bitch was pregnant, it doesn't say much about her ability to responsibly breed more. She should do the breed a favour and get the bitch desexed as soon as it is safe to do so.

Just my two cents.

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This dog has had litters before and I am assuming she was a good mother to them. The fact that she is rejecting this puppy means she knows there is something wrong. In my experience, any time a mother animals rejects one and cares for the rest, the "one" has always later had a problem.

I've seen animals be bad mothers and reject and neglect the whole litter but never selectively refused to mother just one healthy one. The mother always knows best, and I've learned not to disagree.

The human instinct is to rush in, hand feed, and deal with the behavioural problems that handraising a singlton cause. But in my experience, your friend is fighting for a lost cause. And she's in no position to fight the good fight. My advice is that the kindest thing to do is to take the puppy to the vet and euthanise.

And if she didn't know her bitch was in season, didn't manage to prevent a mating, and didn't know her bitch was pregnant, it doesn't say much about her ability to responsibly breed more. She should do the breed a favour and get the bitch desexed as soon as it is safe to do so.

Just my two cents.

Couldn't agree more. Responsible is not a word I would associate with this person.

She knew the bitch was in season 9 weeks ago and its just come out she knew that the dog got to her but it was "only quick" so she didn't think it would happen. :laugh:

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Id be looking for someone else to foster or hand rear. I dont think she is able to care for this pup. So long as the person who takes it on knows the chance of survival is low. I would also be stressing to her she should get the bitch desexed just because she wont be up to dealing with them for the next couple of years. She doesnt sound like she will do it for the poor bitch but maybe if she thinks its in her best interest she might???

Poor pup. Id offer to help but Im too far away. I hope it either gets help or has a quick painless end.

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I have offered to take the pup and hand rear it. I am well aware of the pros and cons and if I decide the pup is not worth saving I will pts.

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Thats right you tried. You can always point out when she is stressed with the new baby and a puppy thats a handful that it could have been avoided.

Some people! Oh well you did the right thing and you can just hope the pup is ok.

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