My German Shepherd is having only one puppy.. pls help?

Question

My German Shepherd is having only one puppy, is it normal that they have one puppy, and if so will there be any complications? A vet told me that she was gonna have to deliver the puppy on a certain day for the sake of the puppy.. is she trying to make a quick buck or is it true? What could go wrong if I just let her do it on her own?

Answer 1

A singleton puppy usually gets so bitg it can't be delivered naturally. trust the vet, do a planned c-section, or ignore good advice, and potentially kill your dog and the puppy. Your choice. Guess you don't have a reputable mentor in the breed to teach you this? Of course not. Didja at least look at the cover of a book on canine reproduction? No? Get one and read it.

Answer 2

You do not need to assume automatically that this pup needs a c-section and schedule one. That is ridiculous and I can't believe people are suggesting this. Give her a chance to see if she can deliver normally. ALSO, On a specific day? Well yes and NO. They can safely deliver anywhere from day 58 to 67 so unless you are at day 67 and no labor is happening why the helll would anyone want to put the bltch at risk by opening her up? I have known many many breeders who have had one pup in the litter with NO issues what so ever. We do not need to think that this puppy will be 'twice the size of a normal puppy' That is really not the way it works. The pup can be bigger but its not generally TWICE the size... Think about what you are saying here. LOL I mean I have had 2 pound puppies that were just huge and to have a pup that would weigh in at 4 pounds would make the guiness book of records. I don't believe this is happening to people.
Now you DO need to know the days this bltch was bred and you do need to know exactly when she is due. You need to count 63 days from the first breeding and that would be your due date. If you do not know when that was.. then you could be in trouble and pass dates that shouldn't be passed.
You DO need to be prepared to go to the vet for a C-section if she goes into labor and can't pass the puppy. But honestly nature didn't get it so friggin wrong that a c-section should be scheduled with out just cause and one puppy is not just cause IMO.

Answer 3

Dear, all of those advertisers are hawking wares - none of them are responsible breeders - all are either irresponsible, ignorant back yard greeders or puppy millers. You don't need to be buying any puppy at all since you don't know the first thing about locating a good, responsible breeder and being able to discern the difference between poor quality crap bred dogs and decent quality ones - none of those fit the last category. Learn a WHOLE lot more about any breed you choose to purchase before considering purchasing one. Being an ignorant and irresponsible puppy purchaser is the reason for the existence of bybers and pms. add: You can't tell a puppy is healthy by looking at it, and certainly not in a picture - hip dysplasia isn't visible in a photograph. Also for the person who said something about the AKC having breeders advertising - those are classified ads and I have yet to see someone who is NOT a puppy miller or back yard greeder on their classified site. Being able to pay for an ad on the site, in the newspaper or on some broker site doesn't equate to knowledgeable, responsible breeding. I know very few, rare actually, decent breeders that will advertise on the internet... it is usually a HUGE red flag when one does that they are either producing too many unplaceable puppies and are in it for commercial reasons, which makes money more important that the breed or dogs. If you can't take the time to learn about the breed and about selecting a responsible breeder or contacting a LEGITIMATE breed rescue, then don't get a dog. You likely wouldn't take the time to properly care for and train it and it will be cast off for others to have to deal with eventually like the millions every year that end up in body piles.

Answer 4

I am real anti-run and do a section at the drop of a hat but I have to agree with Jennifer on this one -- odds are you don't know what you are doing in the first place so you won't be aware of what to watch for and what to do so on the due date, have the ***** at the vet and have her sectioned or you could have more problems with her as well as the puppy. Uterine inertia can be diminished in a singleton litter and you wouldn't know how to assess that -- I wouldn't bother giving her a 'chance' to do it on her own or it could spell disaster. Singletons happen -- often with experienced and knowledgeable breeders they can know how to watch for problems and the pup can be delivered safely but that isn't the case here so keep her and the pup safe and have the c-section as the vet recommends. Then after the pup is weaned and the female is back in shape, a couple of months, have her spayed and don't make the mistake of breeding again until you have learned what you are doing. That sounds harsh but frankly there are enough people making puppies that don't have a clue what they are doing and the shelters, rescues and body piles are full of their attempts. When you actually have learned then you will understand that.

What could go wrong: She could have a dead puppy rot in her uterus. She could rupture her uterus trying to deliver a large singleton puppy... any number of things...

Answer 5

There's nothing wrong with a german shepherd having only one puppy, it's not common but in and of itself is not a problem. Likely your vet saw something, or felt something, that could be a problem if your dog delivers on its own. This is especially true if you are a novice at dog breeding, which it kind of sounds like you might be. The thing to do would be to talk with your vet about the reasons she/he would like to deliver the puppy on a set day and talk to her about your options. Good luck.

Answer 6

Please look at the question that I just posted! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071003231350AAZcwKf&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwLbtiE.I_QtCTwu._xQp4mtlsg38PRr3oKNKtR6SAjJye5sN_H8koPavYgXJjwsOFzg--&paid=asked&msgr_status= Listen to your vet. 1 puppy litters in this breed can be awful. The pup that the ER vet took out of my girl looked more like a ferret, it was huge! Your vet is not trying to make a quick buck. I can tell you this from experience.

Freedom, you need to think about everything that can happen. My pup was twice the size of normal, she looked like the size of an amost 3 weeker. No abnormalities that we could see. The vet and entire staff was floored when they saw this pup.

I suggest a good x-ray and discuss the possibilities about this. Ask your vet about the size of the pup compared to normal size pups. You can let her go in to labor, and I probably wood. But, I would keep a close eye on her and keep in contact with your vet if you need a c-section. Indications that she could not have the pup would be excessive straining and contractions with the pup not moving down.

Answer 7

I use to rescue German Shepherds and a couple years back I had a mother dog turned into me 2 weeks before she gave birth. She ended up having 12 puppies in the litter even though the vet could only ID 8 of them when i took her in for a check up. Also, when she starts to give birht it takes a while. She had the first one at about 6 pm, and then didn't have the next one for about 2 hrs. Then they started coming faster for a while, about one every 15 minutes, and sometimes one every five minutes. But then it took like four hrs before she had the final one. This is normal. IF she does only have one puppy and doesn't give birth to more after 24 hrs, get her to a vet because the other ones, if the died, can become cancerous

Answer 8

Jennifer is right. If she is carrying only one puppy, that puppy will get big since it doesn't have to share nutrients with other puppies. Therefore, the mother may not be able to whelp by herself and would need a c-section. Since you know that she is only carrying one puppy, I assume that you had an ultrasound or x-ray done. This gives the vet an idea to the size of the puppy already. I would go with what they said and have the vet handle this one. If you don't you may loose both the ***** and puppy.

Good luck!

Answer 9

Is the vet one that you use regularly? Have you ever had trouble trusting this vet before? Normally it is not usual for a large breed of dog to have only one pup. Did the vet tell you if there were other pups inside that were not alive or what? There can be alot of issues that are leading to this conclusion. I would encourage you to seek another opinion soon for the sake of both mother and pup(s).

Answer 10

It's possible that your dog could have only one puppy.. If you haven't kept her in great shape.. it's also very possible that she won't be able to have just the one puppy without help from the vet. It's a wait and see thing.. Might be fine, might need your vet.. 1 puppy is not as odd as it sounds.. it happens.. 1 egg is fertilized, and it's not a big deal.

Answer 11

A single pup is quite often too big for the b*tch to deliver. A single pup often means the hormone that makes the dam go in labor is not present in enough quantity to cause labor... resulting in a pup that continues to grow... or simply dies in utero and can cause the dam to die.

You can hope you know more than the vet and take your chances with your b*tches life, or you can listen to the expert and learn your lesson that breeding dogs COSTS a lot of $$.