With only one pup it doesn't seem right to call it a litter. Rio delivered by c-section yesterday a single 9 oz boy. He is doing well even though his mother is having a hard time of it. Because he is a singleton she is not producing enough hormones so is having a hard time getting milk, she is also not producing enough of the "feel good" endorphins to keep her from feeling the contractions that his nursing stimulates so she hates feeding him. But he is a tough little man and is doing his job and nursing vigorously and hopefully his hard work will pay off.
So here is our little ox. He has the same chinese zodiac sign as his papa Nicky our big ox.
He's adorable Lisa. I'm sending positive vibes that Rio feels better soon and her mothering instinct kicks in.
He is sweet lucky little guy I do hope mom is all right.
Rita Jean
Aaww.. Congrats with your lit.. 
I hope Rio feels better soon..
Go Little Nicky!!!! I hope that Rio feels better soon…..
Rio is starting to really relax and get some true sleep which I hope will help improve her state of mind. She is also starting to get a little more milk than yesterday though not quite as much as I would like to see but hopefully if he keeps nursing regularly the output will increase.
One positive sign was that when he was last fussing she wanted to see him and smell him and even licked him then while Sam was still holding him she squeezed herself into his warming box not quite getting the whole but now there is no room for him thing. Hopefully this is just the first of many steps in the right direction.
Lisa, congrats on you little litter..he looks adorable..
I am sending very good and caring vibes to Rio, Nicky and you..hoping things are taking an upturn quickly..
What can you do if she doesn't produce enough, bottle feed?
If she doesn't milk up he will have to be bottle fed. Right now we are only supplementing if he is still hungry after draining all her nipples dry.
I'm not a breeder…..just peeking in at your posts! I was just wondering if it's common to have a singleton? (not that being an "only child" will be bad, Nicky!) Were you expecting just one puppy? He sure is cute!!!! congrats!
Singles happen… like all things that happen when you decide to bred a litter... it is never easy, as much as others would like to make people think.... I know that Lisa will respond, but yes she knew it was a single puppy... another expense that responsible breeders do, not only ultrasounds, but xrays about 3 to 5 days before the due date so we know what to expect and can plan for it.
He is so cute! I hope Rio starts producing more milk soon.
-Nicole
Congrats on the little one… He looks so cute..
Thanks. We knew we were expecting a singleton after the ultrasound at 30 days. It was confirmed on the x-ray at day 60 which is also when we discussed with our repro vet our options. We could tell on the x-ray that he was very large, and he was also facing the wrong direction. Both of these things can cause complications during delivery. When factoring in that she just turned 5 on Dec 7 and this is her first litter so she hasn't had everything stretched out the risk of complications was even higher. So we weighed the risk of losing the pup and putting her life at risk against the risk that she would reject the pup because she wouldn't go through the bonding that happens during the natural birth process and decided that we would plan to do a c-section when her temperature dropped and the labor process had begun. She was in early labor when the c-section was done, he was born healthy and active. We had lost a pup in second litter that had gone into distress during labor when he became stuck so we really wanted to make sure that this baby didn't have that happen.
I cannot stress enough to people who are considering breeding how much you need to be prepared for when things don't go right. I have only just gotten 6 hours of sleep after about 48 hours having only 6 hours sleep. I am lucky and my husband and I can take turns sleeping but the first day was just so hard making sure he got as much colostrom as we could into him with her producing so little. Add to it that I came down with a nasty head cold on Wednesday so didn't sleep particularly well the night before he was born and I was big time exhausted. I still am but it is my shift to be up.
Thanks to everyone for sending postive thoughts our way. Rio is now willing to do some stimulating of the pup though she is still not quite sure of herself so he gets him started but then stops before he has finished so we are still helping out. She had a enough milk to fill his belly this last feeding after he nursed all 4 nipples that had milk so we are slowly improving. I just hope we continue improving.
Congrats Lisa. You are so right about being prepared. A friend of mine just had to have a C section for the bitch's second litter. She was at 69 days, but progesterone levels showed she should have been in labour and wasn't, with no pup near the birth canal.
Have you considered fresh frozen plasma for if the pup cannot get enough colostrum?
-Nicole
The first 24 hours is the only time it is any good so we are past that window. He did get colostrom and since he maintained weight, we think he got enough.
Congrats on your single big boy! When BG had her second litter, Amina was the only one to survive. One little boy was also born alive, but we lost him about 5 hours after birth. We were fortunate enough to have a friend who had 2 6 puppy litters that year, and as soon as hers were weaned she 'loaned' us a boy to be Amina's foster brother. Even so, she still is the most demanding dog we have! She firmly believes she is the center of the universe, which we attribute to her having all the milk and all the attention right from the start…
Congratulations, hope things continue to improve with Rio. Hopefully Dogs are the same as humans and she will produce enough milk to meet his demands. He looks gorgeous
L'Ox is one week old today. Though we had a bit of rocky start things are settling into a routine. Rio is getting more milk but still has a hard time keeping up with his demand so we supplement a few feedings each day so he gets his fill. She now cleans him and checks on him regularly but she is still not sure she wants to sleep with him. He has a Snuggle Puppy and a stuffed rabbit so he isn't alone when she leaves and he gets lots of interaction from us. He sleeps in his warming box at night so he doesn't get chilled though he crawls out from his nest in the morning when the heater comes on.
He's cute, glad things are working out
