First puppy but worried that all its siblings have died

[AvonleaAnne]

I'm just hoping that somebody can give me some advice please. We are supposed to be getting our first puppy in December and we were very excited about it but since the litter was born, about two weeks ago, all the puppies but one have died.

It is very sad and I feel terrible for the owner of the mother. We still want to have the puppy but I am wondering whether we should be worried about health issues given all the other puppies have died. Is there anything I need to check? The owners are not professional dog breeders they just wanted their dog to have puppies as she is such a lovely, good natured animal.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks for your help.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Don't let your friend convince you everything will be ok, that a vet check has been done, etc.

The point about the puppy now being under socialised is a very valid one. I bought an unsocialised dog, he seemed fine at the breeders, and within five minutes of being home had attacked my dh. We still have him but the hard work and heart ache has been unbelievable. I haven't given up on him but I wish we hadn't bought him. He's nearly cost me my marriage.

[SnakeyMcBadass]

Don't take this pup. I am speaking as someone who foolishly took on a sprocker pup after a sob story. He was unsocialised. He is a nervous, stressy, highly strung 3 year old now with dog fear aggression. He has cost me a fortune in behaviourists and vets fees ( health issues plus a death wish). I've come close to rehoming him several times. I love him, but never again will I make the same mistake. Get your puppy from a good breeder, choose it from a litter where you can meet the mother. Choose a breeder who asks you lots of questions and encourages you to stay in touch. That's what we did for our second pup, and the difference is enormous.

[needastrongone]

Cockers and Springers have lovely temperaments in general as a breed and make super family pets. Neither of mine have the characteristics triptrap mentions, although the cocker is extremely gentle and timid.

Just be aware that dogs that your plans for running with a spaniel may go astray. Generally, exercise for a dog is much more than the physical act. Mine would be a nightmare to run with!! They like to stop and sniff and then chase a squirrel, then cock their leg, then run to the right, then to the left, then over a field, then stop, then sniff, then run a bit more, then ferret in a bush, then cock a leg, then stop, then sniff They kind of get much more sensory experience from exercise than just running next to you iyswim?

[seagull70]

OP, do not take this puppy.

Think of the heart break that it will cause to your DCs if it becomes ill or dies .

The sooner you contact the owner and let them know your decision, the better. Tell them that you have taken advice from your own vet not to go ahead with the sale.

Have you paid any sort of deposit?

[CMOTDibbler]

The rescue my dogs came from recently had a litter born where all but one puppy died - after the first two they had post mortems done (the mum had come in very thin, and only a few days before so it was possible it was malnutrition), and it turned out that they all had severe deformities internally.
The one remaining puppy had to have scans and blood tests at 10 weeks to see if she was OK, so not taken lightly at all.

I run with my dog, and its great, but he's a long legged lurcher and so just boings along with me on the lead. I'm not sure any of the spaniels I know would do that

[Floralnomad]

If you want a dog to run with you OP have a look at standard poodles ,weimareiners, pointers and vizlas - they all make great running companions once they are fully grown.

[TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge]

I think running with a cocker may lead to tripping over it tbh!

[needastrongone]

I would trip over mine triptrap

In fairness, the Vizsla's I know charge around here and there and everywhere more than my spaniels, but don't know about the other breeds that floral mentions.

[Floralnomad]

I'm just working on the people I see running near me ,it's all those types and the odd doodle . My Patterdale x would actually be good for running with ,unfortunately for him I don't run.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Not normal for all puppies to die unless there's some kind of genetic defect (heart Maybe) they aren't vaccinated and have parvo or something or mum has little milk and no one's intervened. This puppy will cost you hundreds in vets bills and leave your family heartbroken as they will fall in love immediately. Do not feel guilty for " letting down" this "friend"

[IfUSeekAmy]

floral is right. I have a 2yr old standard poodle and have never ever been able to physically wear her out. She can run for miles.

[Floralnomad]

Poodles also look really good when they run !

[MitchellMummy]

You're not letting the puppy down. You have to be selfish. Even if you'd paid a deposit I'd say let it go and start again. You really don't want to be saddling yourself with a liability when there's so many puppies that would be fab for you. All good breeders have a list of buyers in advance of the birth. It sounds as if this one doesn't. I know it's awkward but please walk away.

[mychellek]

I would make sure that the puppy went to the vet for a check up. There has to be a reason for all the other siblings to pass away. If you really want this puppy find out why this happened and make sure, if you can that it doesn't happen to this puppy as well.

www.dogtrainingbyvideo.com

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Cockers can be highly strung and narky.

They can also be fantastically loyal, dependable, clever, easy to train, steady, gentle, laid back, hard working and the most affectionate little dog you ever had the privilege of being allowed to share your life with.

You can listen to stereotypes or you can listen to people like needastrongone who has it spot on.

(Having just lost a fantastic specimen of the above mentioned dog I may be a little sensitive.)

Speak to your mum again about the breeder in Devon. Sounds a far safer bet than an unsocialised possibly genetically deformed puppy. If the owner keeps it with it's mum it may not be too difficult for them but as an only dog for you it would be very risky.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

Learning about training is commendable but it would be an unphill battle - not ideal for an experienced dog owner let alone an inexperienced one - with an unsocialised pup. Puppy biting/mouthing etc is a huge issue even with socialised pups - with a lone pup, I can't imagine how hard that would be (and I've had dogs all my life).

You are not letting the pup down by not having it - as others say you may be dissuading these idiots from continuing their career as backstreet breeders (and sorry but that's what they are). It may not make it to 8 weeks anyway. Would you get your money back if it died? And without necropsies having been performed, how do you know you wouldn't be buying a whole heap of problems? It could even be uninsurable if a problem deeloped you should have known about before buying, given you know the history.

Must admit a cocker spaniel (or 'designer' spaniel cross) would not be my choice of dog as I have kids and that sudden rage syndrome thing they are prone to, would bother me.

I just got a crossbreed puppy (not designer, just irresponsible owners let the bitch in season get out) - from a rescue. She cost £80 including a vet check, vaccs, and spaying when she's older. She came from a litter of 7 bred by irresponsible idiots who presumably knew nothing. All 7 survived to 8 weeks. In the 1960s, when fewer people had their dogs neutered, my dad's dog escaped when in season and got up the duff by a neighbour's dog. She had 14 pups. All 14 lived. My dad had no clue what he was doing. But it wasn't difficult to keep them alive. So I would worry - if this is somethin infectious, the 'breeders' have done nothing to identify the problem and stop it in its tracks. If it is a genetic problem (dicky heart or something) they have not got the mum and surviving pup vet checked.

You would be letting this dog down to have it. Because it will make more misery for the poor bitch and potential future pups.

[KatherinaMinola]

Zombie thread, people. (Although I am curious about the outcome).

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Oh yeah... well a few weeks anyway.

I'd be interested to know the outcome too.

I think that sudden rage thing that Joffrey is referring to is sometime found in golden Cockers.

[Thumbnutstwitchingonanopenfire]

I'm rather hoping that the OP took the advice and didn't take the puppy; I suspect it would have died by now unless it was incredibly lucky, poor little thing. :(

[NuttyPup]

There could be a recessive gene causing these problems that has only shown now (I think - not expert though). I would leave I'm afraid. Difficult as she is a friend of someone, but this is important. Just say you are worried about the health implications.

[BloodyDogHairs]

I'm too nosey and did a search , looks like she took the pup after all.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

MsAdorable I'm glad you said that as a relative got a roan cocker (also her first ever dog) last year and I was a bit worried as I'd read about this and I know she wants to have kids in the near future. If it's only the golden ones, she's OK. Her's is a lovely dog but a bit er... what's the polite word for 'characterless'? I've had cheeky, eccentric, daft-as-a-brush bull terriers my whole life so don't really know much about other breeds.

[AvonleaAnne]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Your advice has been so helpful and it meant we did a lot more research before we took on our puppy. Apologies for the long post! But I wanted to let everyone know what we've decided and how it's going.

After this thread we spoke to a dog trainer and a different cocker spaniel breeder and to a friend's dad who is a vet and all of them said that as long as the puppy was healthy they thought it would be fine as long as we train her well. We have already had a puppy trainer come to our house to teach us and will be attending classes after a Christmas. I really love this forum for advice and I don't want you to think that we have done this without doing everything we can to get it right.

We talked a lot to our friend's parents who were breeding the puppy. They live next door (or rather a few doors away!) from a professional breeder who's been very involved with the puppies. We've also had her checked by our vet who was very pleased with her health. So I think a "backstreet breeder" characterisation isn't fair here. And although we've paid a nominal amount for the puppy, it is not enough to generate any real profit to them.

In terms of socialisation, we're very happy with how much people contact she's had: various local children and the breeders' grandchildren have visited, and of course she's had lots of human attention as the only pup left! We received almost daily photos of the puppy - she was very much loved by the breeders. She was very friendly when meeting us and our children; not at all shy.

Dog-wise, she's obviously had her mum and there's also another grown dog in the house. But she has only had a few encounters so far with other puppies. So I'm expecting potentially some issues there when her vaccinations allow her to meet other dogs properly. We'll just have to see.

So in case you hadn't guessed, we picked her up from the breeder, just over a week ago. She has been a complete star and is now completely house-trained, sleeps all night in her crate and has generally been much easier than we expected (she 'sits' and 'stays' on command and mostly will 'drop it'). She is a very clever dog.

The one area we've had difficulty with is her nipping. I guess this is down to being an only pup: she's not had any other pup nibble her to know how it feels! She particularly goes for the children's slippers or any loose clothes (flapping skirts, dressing gown ties etc). But both the vet and the puppy trainer think there's nothing at all unusual here, so it may be that she's no worse than any other puppy - I don't have any past experience to draw on. She generally doesn't bite hard enough to hurt but does go a bit crazy when I am wearing my bunny slippers. Is this unusual? From the puppy thread it sounds like other puppies nip too.

Just to pick up on a couple of other points that arose in the earlier posts:

• Running: seeing her in the garden, I can see now that this probably won't work! I will still try when she's big enough, but I suspect she'll find the world too interesting to keep up. I know someone who does run with a Springer spaniel but every dog has their own personality.
  

• "Designer" dogs: Sprockers have been bred for a long time by gamekeepers so I don't think it's right to apply the "designer dog" label to them. Their history's quite interesting, so it's worth a look on Google if you have a spare minute. (My husband put this point in ).
  

So overall we're really pleased with Dpup and how she's fitting into our family. We're working on her nipping to show her the right way to behave and how to avoid becoming over-excited / too playful - it is definitely worse when she is tired. I can't wait till we can take her out properly when her vaccinations have all kicked in, as we live near lots of green space that she'll love.

If anyone has any tips from their puppies on how to teach them not to nibble people's clothes or shoes, I'd be very grateful too!

It was a really tough decision and I do sometimes panic -especially when this thread resurfaced! She is a bit of a sweetheart though.

[Costacoffeeplease]

So do you still not know what happened to the other pups?