Take A Peek...There's A Big World Out There!

It is always exciting when pups start to open their eyes!  Without even looking too closely, we can tell when it is beginning. Up until that point, the pups have been scooching around on their bellies, but then one day, they will just raise themselves up off of their bellies and they will stand up. They totter about on unstable legs, sometimes freezing when they spot something looming a foot or so "in the distance". 

Puppies are born with their eyelids and ear canals tightly shut as the eyes and ears themselves are still developing and extremely fragile. Exposure to very bright light might possibly damage the still delicate photoreceptors and optic mechanisms. Relative silence is important for the developing ears since sounds 
involve changes in pressure that mechanically move structures in the mature ear. 

At just over two weeks of age, "The Brownie Bites" are checking things out

"Fudgesicle" is looking for that large furry shape he will soon identify visually as his Mama

"Twinkie" is standing watch for signs of  Breakfast on the horizon

When their eyes first open, puppies can see light and movement. However, they lack the ability to see details, since their corneas have not completely developed. Neither have their irises developed their (typically) brown pigment. All puppies have bluish eyes for this reason.

Stella's lovely "Fiona" surveys her new world

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Not all pups open their eyes at the same time, but usually by 16 days they have opened

"Bridget" is trying!

From birth, the pups' keen senses of smell and touch help them locate Mama and the breakfast bar. The Brownie Bites are particularly gifted in this capacity...

Puppies make sucky slurpy sounds when they nurse. Once their ears begin to open, the sounds of breakfast attracts the other pups to come and nurse

Mama Brownie is doing a fantastic job of feeding these growing furballs, and she has to eat 5-6 meals a day just to keep up

"Roisin" ('Ro-Sheen'), Our little Irish Rose, has found a soft warm pillow

Catriona jostles for a good position

For the first two weeks of life, puppies sleep nearly 90 percent of the time, spending their awake time nursing. All their energy is funneled into growing, and birth weight doubles the first week.

Brownie-bite Fudgesicle working on a "Personal Development" power nap!

It makes sense to wriggle cautiously along on your belly when you don't know what's out there--Much less chance of accidentally falling off of a cliff!

A Kerfluffle of Pupper-kins

Not so long in the past, this resplendent young pair
Honeymooned amok (with Puppy Love in the air!)

These pup-gals and pup-boys we think are the BEST
You doubt it, my friend? We will prove it by test!:

Applying  both the fashionable but somewhat controversial "HipPUPP" methodology, along with the old standard, the  von FlufferKuddle Analysis (VFA), yielded Cuteness Factor scores in the 99.99999999th percentile and evaluations of "Extreme Cuteness" to "Borderline Knock-your-Sox-Off" even as embryonic Pupsters

Bailey herself is a model of Doodlish Beauty--a true DoodleBelle!

Handsome and uber-affectionate, Lover-Pup "Manor Lake Apollo" aka "Roscoe" ( Roscoe: The Making of a Stud Dog) is insufferably proud to have had his studliness "proven"

We are delighted to announce the arrival of the 7 sweet pups who tumbled out (in a jumble of muss and kerfluff.) 

HAPPY BIRTHDOODLE Little Pupsters !!!

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In her first experience with motherhood, Bailey is still somewhat astonished by these newcomers, but just as it was for her mama Lily, motherhood comes naturally to Bailey Mae. 

"She sat on her nest .
And she sat
And she sat
And she sat all that day
And she sat all that night... "

"She meant what she said 
And she said what she meant..."

"...A Mama is faithful, One Hundred Per cent!'"

Frisking around in their Brown Barb-a-Loot suits!

 “Look what we found in the park, in the dark! We will take him home, we will call him Clark..."

"He will live at our house; he will grow and grow! Will our mother like this? We don’t know."

New puppy, anyone?

We have availability in this litter of 4 girls and 3 boys, which we expect to mature to small mediums of about 30-35 lbs, in colors of Cafe and the rare "true" Parchment.  Please see our website for more information. /www.goldengatelabradoodles.com

(Priority to those who have already submitted an on-line application)

Eat Sleep Eat Sleep Eat Sleep...

The experienced mamas Brownie and Stella deserve special recognition for their exceptional care. The pups in both of their litters are solid little chunksters, all weighing in at close to a pound at birth, and continuing to pile on the puppy fat.  

Ordinarily inseparably devoted to one other, Brownie and Stella are each wary of letting the other approach their respective litter, but are happily reunited when they go outside for breaks.  Both mamas are already showing signs that they are confident about the safety and well-being of their pups, as they are spending more time relaxing on their lounge beds outside the whelping boxes or hanging out with the human family socializing. (Although, greedy Cosmo was chased out of the kitchen with his tail between his legs when he mistakenly wandered in a little too close to Stella's box looking for a handout!)

"The Brownie Bites": "Twinkie", "Cupcake", "Fudgesicle", "Snickerdoodle", "PopTart", "Whoopie Pie", "Oreo" & "Mille-feuille" (aka "Napoléon"!).

Still enjoying the heating pad!

Brownie Bites snuggle down into their furry nest waiting for the next feeding

Enjoying a snooze in the bright sun. 

We make sure to give all the pups a little sunshine every day( weather permitting!)

Little noses start to twitch as puppies start to distinguish the different scents of humans and  dogs alike

Little Pop Tart dreaming little doggie dreams

Stella's "Lucky Charms" are relaxed in spite of their box in the busy kitchen

A lot of a puppy's life is spent eating (or looking for mama) and sleeping 

Stella is never far away from her girls

They are just little heat-seeking furballs right now, and neither their eyes or ears are open yet, but they are quick to sense their mama or human family coming into the box.

"Mama! You came back!"