Deos anyone have experience or knowledge of outcomes of pups raised without mother? (mother died shortly after birth) Obviously, bottle fed and cared for by humans.

We raised a single Giant pup in 2001, his dam died in whelp with 12 more pups inside of her.

Arrow was completely hand raised by my husband and I and the many friends that visited daily. Since we owned a dog training school at the time Arrow had many dog minded visitors. He also grew up playing on the obstacle course we incorporated into our training program. He was learning the A-frame at 5 weeks old!

With all this effort Arrow was a confident and outgoing puppy, if a little spoiled.

At 9 months of age Arrow failed to pass his OFA preliminary exrays inspite of both his parents being OFA Good

Since we would not be able to use him in our breeding program we had to sell him. A final kick in the a$$ it seemed.

Arrow went to live with a very devoted Giant Schnauzer lover. They were great companions until he was killed by a car a few years later.

So it seemed our A-litter was doomed, however Arrow's life short as it was touched MANY people and taught us a lot.

If your pup(s) are exposed to lots of exciting and safe stimuli then they should be fine. Be careful not to over protect them or they could become fearful.

If you're interested you can see Arrow's photo album here: http://www.leidenschaftkennels.ca/arrowgallery.htm

His page has not been updated since we sold him! Too busy taking care of the crew.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to help.
Good luck with your crew.