Wrastlin'

We no longer have sleepy puppies that lay around and snuggle all day long. They have turned into rabble rousers that investigate, interrogate, and just generally gnaw on anything they can sink their little teeth into. They are vigorous and ruthless wrestlers when they are tangling with their siblings. But it always ends with them being friends again.
This is Scotch and P.J. There are no rules among these pups. Anything goes in their play. They will stick their opponents whole nose in their mouth and chomp down. Ears, tails, paws, and other things - it's all fair game.

"Grrr, I'm gonna eat your face!"

They are definitely in the teething phase. Having them bite each other is no big deal, but we don't want them thinking the same way about people. We are trying to be vigilant in not letting them gnaw on us, replacing toes and hands with a chew toy instead. It'll take them a little time, they are just puppies after all, but they will get it. 

In the mean time, they are very entertaining to watch! 

Momma Love

The puppies love their Momma, well, they mostly love her milk.

Weaning has been a bit challenging because Jinx is very patient with them and never growls or barks at them when they try to nurse. She might ignore them and walk away, but that doesn't seem to be a big deterrent. She is very sweet to them, allowing them to climb all over her and chew on her lips.

Jude (his new name!) is coming over for some snuggle time. 

Luna (that's her new name!) is getting some quality time with her Momma.

Is this not just too precious? 

Doing a little wrestling.

When the puppies nurse now, which is less and less, they are ridiculously vigorous. Jinx never even bats an eyelash, she just calmly lays there. 

Unless there is a ball around, then watch out puppies! 

Jinx with her "Ain't nobody got time for this" face.

I am sure Jinx isn't going to be too sad when all the puppies go to their forever homes. After all, they are stealing quite a bit of her attention. :)

Labradoodle Pseudo Names - As Promised

You can't have a littler of puppies and not call them each something. Calling them all 'Puppy' seems a bit boring. So, being the creative people we are, we decided to give the pups each a temporary name until they get their forever name from their new families. 
I thought we would stick with a theme in order to simplify the naming process and to help us remember the different litters down the road. 
Wyat Latched on to this guy and originally dubbed him 'Brownie',  

To honor that we thought we would go with a food theme. After a bit of teasing about naming a brown dog, 'Brownie', his name was changed. 

His official pseudo name is Raisin Brownie Beaber.

You can call him Raisin.

He's big for his age and he likes to chill out. He's our biggest boy. Don't let his color fool you, he could change colors like his dad by the time he is 2.

Next up is our little girl. Seth was in charge of picking her name.

Meet Kisses (like Hershey Kisses).

She is a sweet little snuggler. Although born 2nd, her size makes her the runt of this litter.

Tate picked the name for our golden boy with the pink nose.

Say hello to Pepper-Jack. He is more pale than his brothers. This guy was the first born of the litter and is just a bit bigger than his sister.

I got to name the next little guy.

This is Scotcheroo.

I love his cream color and black nose and paw pads.

He was the first one we saw trying to play with his siblings.

Last but not least, Hunky Hubby's hunk of cuteness;

Meet Peanut Brittle. He is also a big guy. We call him and Scotcheroo the twins because they look very similar with their black noses and paws. But P.B. looks to have a little more red in his coat. I won't be surprised if he darkens up over time. 

So there they are. Our adorable babies and their temporary names. They are starting to play with each other and us, walk on all fours, and go potty by themselves. They are growing so fast. 

Wouldn't you like to take one home? 

1 Week Old Labradoodles!

Whew! What a week!
We had some lows, we had some highs, and we learned a few things along the way. 
Jinx has proven to be a very good Mama. She is attentive and protective. She still wants to be with us during the day, but as soon as she hears the pups making noise, she is back downstairs with them.
The puppies are all doing really well. They are growing fast and wriggling all around their puppy pool. No one has their eyes opened yet, but that is normal. However, their little peepers could open up any day now.

The puppies spend most of their time sleeping.

The rest of their time is spent eating. They are very vigorous nursers. No wonder mom starts the weaning process when their teeth start coming in.

They are pretty strong little babies. They can wriggle around their pool to get to Mom or to climb under and over their siblings in the puppy pile. They use their front legs more than their back legs right now. 

They are all super soft. It's still too early to tell what their coat will be like when they are grown. We will have to give them a little more time.

This is a close-up of our two big boys. They weren't the first born, but they are the chunkiest. 

Our smallest pup is our little black girl puppy.

She is also the most snuggly. 

Stay tuned this week for more pictures and to learn what we have chosen for their temporary names!