Stumped!!! ??? for experienced breeders!! - Page 4

I'm glad your little Phoenix is doing well. We had a singleton pup with our last litter. My oldest female inexplicably developed "gestational diabetes" during her pregnancy. This was her 4th litter and she had had all normal pregnancies prior with litters of 7,9, and 11 all healthy pups. My vet did not immediately diagnose as it is nearly unheard of in german shepherds. I took her to a nearby vet who immediately diagnosed her after a bloodtest, she was only half way through her pregnancy. Because  the blood sugar was so high and it could not be controlled by diet she went on extremely high doses of insulin so we could save her life, knowing that the pups may not survive.  She delivered on her due date 3 stillborn, tiny pups fully formed and 1 alive female only weighing 4 ounces.  We said if it is to be we'll let the pup be and if it survives on it's own will and strength it was meant to be, we were not going to do any heroics. The little thing nursed on her own and thrived! We only had to prop her up to reach the nipple as she was so tiny.  We also put several stuffed puppies next to her to "nurse" for company and warmth.  We named her "SOLO" and by 8 weeks she was a little fireball and smart as a whip and the same size as any normal pup. Because she grew up without littermates we had her socialize with all our adults and she just became one of the pack and I think learned more quickly and became more confident because of that. That is one thing you'll want to be aware of with a singleton and that is proper socialization, if you can find a nearby healthy litter of equal age to take the pup to when old enough that is a good idea if you don't have a lot of dogs at home you can trust with the pup. Good luck and note that most pups will go to the same nipple to feed and you want to try and rotate the pup for mom's sake. We eventually had two nipples that she preferred and the others dried up but keep that in mind as Mom can develop problems with only 1 nursing puppy keep an  eye on her. the other issue to watch for is since mom only has 1 pup all the attention is focused on that puppy. In other words she'll lick it raw!  Our poor pup developed a raw red spot because Tasha would only lick, lick  , lick that one pup so much,so we put diaper rash cream on the poor little Solo and that helped clear her up but keep an eye out for excessive cleaning too.

Crooked Creek Ranch,

Thanks for the info, I have been considering putting some stuffed animals in there with him, cuz he cries when mom goes out and is alone, and of course I go and hold him, then he instantly shuts up!!  LOL  And thanks for the tip on the milk, I never really thought about that either!  Thanks and I will check out the info you sent me!! 

I will be posting a pic of him soon!!  Thanks for all the great info! 

Liz