Greetings from Lucy and the puppy!
My little guy was born one day after Mother's Day. Labor was very quick with minimal prelabor and he came at 9:15 pm at night. Mom and Dad were very surprised by the single puppy (there were no puppy fatalities). This can happen with artificial insemenation even though it was performed by an experienced vet. They are confident I will have more puppies next time.
Important aspects for my puppy's development, since he is a singleton, is that he is touched frequently by humans. Having the puppy crawl over and under stuffed animals daily is also essential.
The two year old in this household is excellent for socializing the pup. She is giving him safe touches, pokes and kisses. The other dogs are also helping because they distract me sometimes when I'm feeding him and he gets disrupted from eating which is important because that's what happens in a litter.
The good news is that I will be fostering some golden retriever puppies from a large litter from Mt. Si Goldens in a few days, as long as the pups transition well. Then my pup will no longer be a singleton and his litter socialization will happen naturally.
The pup's current favorite spots are under my chin or on top of my tail.
We're so happy together!
Love, Lucy
