Is it possible for a dog to be pregnant with only to one puppy?

Question

My dog's mom is purebred mastiff and her dad is purebred english bulldog. She was the only puppy.

I know the mom only gave birth to one pup!! However, the breeder told me that she was only pregnant with one pup. I was more or less wondering if the breeder was maybe misleading me because she did not want me to be worried that the rest of the litter died!!

Answer 1

It is possible, but not really likely. Female dogs have two overies that both should ovulate (release eggs) when the dog is in season, which means you should get at least 2 puppies. But, if the breeding time was not right or they were not artificially inseminated (since the dad is a bulldog I though I should add that as it may have not been a natural breeding) correctly only one egg may have been fertilized.

That said, I have seen litters where there is only one puppy.

Answer 2

My mother and father in law has dog that had one pup. She is a mixed cockerspaniel poodle. She came from a litter of 7 or 8 possibly more I am not sure about the exact number. Anyways she is like 12 years old now and about 6 years ago she got pregnant. She only had one pup and let me tell you it was a huge pup. The dog weighs probally like 20 to 25 pounds and she had a pup the size of a normal puppy at the age of 4 to 6 weeks old. I dont know how she even had this puppy. We didnt even know she was pregnant. She would always do a false pregnancy thing every time she came into heat. She would welp and get snappy then she would pick a toy and tote it and protect it like it was her pup. She would clean it and try to nurse it. Well she did this for years so this time we thought of its the same thing again. She never looked pregnant or nothing. One morning we got up and she was on the chair in the livingroom and there was a puppy. ONnly ONE puppy. It didnt look nothing like her. She is all grey and who we thought the daddy was is smaller and all black. This pup looked like a golden retreiver puppy at age 3 or 4 weeks old. She was tan and huge. Like I said I dont know how she even had this pup and even more how no one heard her have the pup. She never cryed or yelped during the labor or birth.
So yes it is true they can have only pup. I dont know how common it is but it is true.
Hope this helped you through my whole long story. :-)

Answer 3

It's possible but highly unusual, especially in large breeds.

Why trust a breeder's word? They're not medical professionals!! Did the breeder perform an xray? Or just guess from the size of the dog's pregnancy?

If the dog has only passed one pup, I would take her to a vet as there is certainly a chance there are more inside and this is very dangerous to them AND the mother.

Please don't rely on breeders for medical advice - it takes more than experience to be able to do make diagnoses!

Chalice

Answer 4

I have seen Chihuahuas that have had only one I haven't heard of large dogs with a small litter I sapose it could happen. Just take you re puppy to the vet to get checked and make sure it is healthy get a skin scrape to rule out red mange. They get that from the mother and it means that the dog will have a lower immunity so if the litter was bigger and the rest died this could cause it.

I would like to emphasis all the ifs and colds But do go to the vet and get puppy wormed and vaccinated

Answer 5

YES it is possible to have a 1 pup litter, when this happens, she will most likely have to have a c-section because there is a lot of extra room to grow and the pup usually gets very large and most females can't deliver. the best thing to do is take the dog to the vet and get an x-ray or ultra sound this will tell you if the pup is to big to deliver natural.

Answer 6

I don't know about how many pups a dog has...but I am wondering,
if your pup is healthy and strong and growing

and been seen by a vet and is well cared for

would it really matter to you if the rest of the litter died at birth or before?

Just make sure your pup is healthy.

Answer 7

Yes it is. Something could have happened while the dog was pregnant that caused her body to abort and get rid of the puppies early on in the pregnancy or it was her first litter and one puppy was all there was. I really don't know if this helps but I do know for a fact it can happen.

Answer 8

Yes litter size in dogs can vary greatly from 1 to in the teens.
Bitches are more receptive on different days of their cycle. Some bitches will typically have small litters, and other have larger litters. It depends on the breed, and the fertility of the parents.
With puppies that have not had litter mates to play with it is important that they have chances to socialize with other dogs.

Answer 9

I don't see what your question is. If the mama dog had only one puppy, your dog, than it must be possible for a dog to have only one puppy. There isn't a set number of puppies a dog will have each time she gives birth.

Answer 10

Yes it is very possible. Large breed dogs does not mean large litters. Everything depends on how may eggs the female produces and the mobility of the sperm in the male.