The puppies are now 1 week old, and they are both doing very well! They have been growing and gaining weight. They both doubled their birth weight at five days old, which is great! They have round, pudgy bellies now, and their eyes should be opening sometime in the next week.

You can see in the picture above that the pigment is beginning to come into their noses, turning them black instead of pink.

It’s also interesting to note the differences between the two of them. As with any litter of mixed breed puppies, you are guaranteed to have variety. Not every puppy will get exactly the same combination of genes. In this case, there are some very clear differences. Hammie definitely has stronger Golden Retriever traits with his broad head and snout. Zoe, on the other hand, has the desired poodle fur. Even from birth, I could tell her fur would be curly (it looks like wrinkles right now). Hammie’s is straighter. Although it’s a bit early to tell for sure, I would guess that Zoe will be completely shed free, while Hammie will be a very low-shedder. In this picture you can easily the see the different coat types. Hammie is on the left, and Zoe is on the right. Notice that Zoe’s fur looks more “wrinkly” than Hammie’s.

And here are some special blooper pictures! I learned it is quite difficult to take pictures of puppies while the attentive mother is hovering nearby. In the first picture, I had just told Mia to “sit” and “stay” away from the puppies. This was her response.

She kept checking on her babies during the photo shoot.

Check back next week for another update and more pictures!