I could not be happier with the early indications of temperament for this litter. They are AWESOME. They're all fully mobile, competing for food resources from a bowl and have several toys in their area, so it's a good time to start examining their blossoming little personalities!

I will include a temperament test evaluation in their puppy pack that will be performed by a neutral third party. Temperament tests are not the end-all-be-all personality indicator, but they can point out areas that new owners can help solidify or minimize through training.

I'll go on to discuss individuals in a minute - the entire litter has a few things going for it.

• Suspension Test: They're all doing great on the "suspension test" since they've been handled so extensively. Basically, a tester holds a dog in mid air at arm's length and tests the time to reaction, if any. Hanging limp means the pup is respectful and deferential to human authority. All the puppies are very used to being handled.
• Sound Sensitivity: Our house bustles with activity, so it's unlikely they'll overreact to sounds when tested. Microwaves, vacuums, football games, Nerf gun battles...they're used to family life.
  
• Social Dominance: They're all regularly on their backs during playtime, and they seem to accept that is something normal at this point.
  
• Touch Sensitivity: I'm afraid they'll all flunk the sensitivity test indication because their paws are regularly handled and massaged to make them accustomed to nail trimming and paw grooming. A "flunking" score is when they show no reaction after 10 seconds. There's nothing worse than trying to trim the nails on a skittish dog, so we try to work on that daily.
  

On to the first round of observations:

• Hudson: He's a happy little guy and likes to sleep a lot. I would put him on the more mild side of temperament at this juncture. His frame is also tending more towards mom at this point, so I think he'll top out around 50 lbs (again just a guess). He hangs back to check out the situation, and then if it's not too boisterous he joins in. When the other puppies are rough housing he will join in after a few minutes, but if the action gets too lively, he'll bow out. He barks and chases in his dreams and it's pretty darn adorable. Typically a puppy's eyes will turn darker around the time of weaning. The other puppies eyes have turned, but his eyes are still blue along with his sister LuLu, and if they remain blue it will be exceedingly rare. Likely the melanin is just taking a bit longer to darken up.
  

• Maeby: She's a thinker - mindful and alert of her environment. She waits patiently for her turn with mom and doesn't seem to be too anxious about anything right now. If a puppy can be classified as deliberate, I'd say she's it. It seems she's always thinking about the best way to approach, whether it be a toy tangle with her siblings, a place at mom or place at the food and water bowls. Her reactions are generally enthusiastic to all who approach.
  
• LuLu: This gal is head of the household when it comes to the ladies. She is bigger than all the rest of the female dogs in size and in personality. She and Wallace and Kingston like to hop out of the pool to explore the kitchen on a fairly regular basis. They'll love their new divided playpen. I expect LuLu will be 65+ lbs in adulthood. Her personality is well balanced - she is curious but also a great napper. She is always first at the food bowl and often is in the middle of the food bowl claiming the unexplored territory. Of the rough-n-tumble, she's a tumbler.
  
• Kingston: A total snuggler and partner in crime to Wallace. He loves to get out of the pen and into mom's food and water bowls. He loves to be held and also is content exploring the house on his own. He and Wallace are crazy playful and love the Kong puppy toys and the braided chew rope.
  
• Wallace: Escape artist deluxe! I thought about nicknaming him Columbus because he's so frequently dropping of the edge of his world to explore the new world of the kitchen. He is also currently the new favorite of the boys, so he's been getting a whole lotta love (no worries other puppy parents, they usually shift their attention weekly!) He's so very chill in the bathtub and is beginning to recognize his name...usually because I'm telling him to hop down off the pen wall. I'm going to guess he'll love to swim. He loves his toys and exploring the kitchen. He is teething like a madman - his molars are through. This means we're getting ever closer to the days where I won't have to puree puppy kibble! Hooray!
  
• JuJu: She is the smallest of the bunch, and more laid back and timid. She does vocalize quite a bit when the other dogs aren't giving her a fair share of a meal, but since she's a full pound behind it's understandable. We try to give her special alone time with mama so she can catch up. She has the frame of her mother and I think she'll probably end up around 40 to 45 lbs with fine features. Her coat is a gorgeous cloud of apricot and white and she looks like a fleecy little tuft of cotton candy.
  
• Penny: She is a go-with-the flow dog content to hang out with the group. If there ever was a middle of the road dog, she's it! She makes her way to the center of the puppy pile to sleep. No crazy barking, plays nice with the toys and with other dogs. She is very affectionate when handled and docile otherwise. Penny will be a great complement to a relaxed household.

Several "old school" hunters have recommended this book by Richard Wolters. It was written long before most of us were born, but they all sing its praises. After the fourth person recommended it (none of them knew each other), I think there might be something to it!

This is geared toward use for competition under NAHRA (North American Hunting Retriever Association), and Poodles are hunting retrievers and water dogs.

You can find the Wolters book on Amazon, and if you're doing water retrieving or training, remember to check lake conditions (Oklahoma: http://www.travelok.com/checkmyoklake/)

Drumroll please....

Several people asked about training video recommendations and training classes.

I personally love the Leerburg site. They're all business when it comes to training puppies, and although they focus on German Shepherds, their videos can be used for all breeds.

http://leerburg.com/120.htm

There's a whole section of free video clips at one of their links as well:
http://leerburg.com/flix/category.php?categoryid=5

Here's Wallace enjoying some afternoon playtime in our home office. He's ready to play 24/7 and frequently hops out of the pool to join mom when she's taking a break!

So good to see everyone this weekend! Tonight the puppies got to use bowls for the first time instead of shallow plates or dishes. Got a little sloppy and noisy! We took out all the puppy pads and put down layers of newspaper for easier clean up. Some of them have it figured out and all of them are quite messy and will have another bath tonight. By the end of the week they should have it all figured out.

Two puppies got anxious to explore and hopped right out of their "bassinet" and roamed around the kitchen (you know who you are Kingston and Wallace).

I can feel some of their little teeth starting to come through, and once those needle sharp chompers appear, Dutch will put the brakes on nursing until they figure out how not to bite. The week the teeth come through is the week she will start to teach them puppy manners. It's not uncommon to hear a mama bark or gently nip at one of her misbehaving puppies.

In other news, we have two new names! Sybil is now Maeby (like Maybe), after Maeby Fünke on Arrested Development, and the white puppy is Juju after Mama Odie's snake in The Princess and The Frog.

1. Dark Red Female - "Maeby" - Green Collar - to the Christy Family in Yukon
   
2. Chocolate Female - "LuLu" - Purple Collar - to Ms. Campbell in Tulsa
   
3. Dark Red Male - "Kingston" - Blue Collar - to the Shaw Family in Yukon
   
4. Apricot Female (solid) - "JuJu" - White Collar - the Hrenchir Family in Colorado
   
5. Apricot Male - "Wallace" - Orange Collar - the Grace Family of OKC
   
6. Apricot Female - "Penny" - Red Collar - the McCrackin Family of Norman
   
7. Chocolate Male - "Hudson" - Yellow Collar - the Grace Family of Norman
   

Those sweet puppies don't stay so little for long! Here are example videos of poodles at 7 weeks old. These are just for comparison and estimation, they are not my videos and not my poodles. :) I can't wait until they're this fun!

Almost two weeks old!

Updates this week:

• The puppies have opened their eyes
• They are trying very hard to walk on all four legs and look like wiggly giraffes
• We will also turn off the heat lamp we've had on constantly for the first two weeks as the puppies are now able to better regulate their own body temperature.
  

Today was an especially big day for the pups and their mama:

• Went to the cleaners and the tailor (had their collars washed and adjusted)
• A puppy manicure (nail clipping)
• A puppy spa experience (first bath)
• An internal cleanse (worming treatment)
• A massage (puppy time with the kids)

Bathing that many puppies is a fine-tuned operation; if you've ever bathed an infant, it's about the same amount of prep, but times 7. The kids deliver the puppies one by one, and I bathe the puppy with Johnson's Extra Conditioning Baby Shampoo, while the kids wash the collar with soap and water. After bath, they're handed off to dad for a rinse in a separate tub and a towel dry. Then they're whisked off to the hair dryer "station" where they're dried on low heat until they're absolutely dry so they won't chill. Since they have a newborn coat, the drying only takes 10 or so minutes each. Then they get to go into a nice clean bed under the heat lamp with their mama for lunch. After they've eaten and slept a bit, they're weighed, their nails are clipped and they're given the appropriate dosage of worming medication (a two-person process).  Mama also had a bath today, too, so we have lots of towels to wash tonight.

Mama is doing great feeding her little ones - they're getting roly-poly! A few graphs of their weight below, with the first showing their respective collar colors. I will try to post photos and maybe a few videos tomorrow. With the weather today and the tornado watch, I was worried we'd have to make it into our shelter with 9 dogs! Luckily it was just rain and a lot of wind, or as my husband would say, "The tears of the Texas fans after their team took a walloping today"