Wall-E Waffles Transformation

[Rebekah Williams]

I thought I would start this and keep adding to it as he grows up. I can't wait to see how he changes.

This is our new puppy, Wall-E (Wall-E Waffles).

He is a "Cinnamon" F1 Standard Goldendoodle and right now he's 9 weeks old (weighs a little over 10lbs). 

He is not shedding but I know that (and their coloring) can change as they get older.

UPDATE: He does shed a bit now but NOTHING in comparison to my two cats. It's really quite a treat actually, the shedding is minimal but there are some hairs when he rubs against my black dress pant leg.

His teeth are lethal weapons right now and he's living up to his name as a trash robot...If I had a nickel for every time I say the words "what's in your mouth?!" or "What are you eating?!" :) :)

UPDATE: His biting went down exponentially after he lost about 8 teeth in 3 days after the 4 months mark. He also seems to understand and, for the most part, obey when we say "No Bite". Pet corrector spray helped a lot when he would get out of control. Now, he only gets kind of bitey when he's playful.

We absolutely love him.

UPDATE: We love him even more! 

Wall-E: 2 Weeks...I think :).

Wall-E: 5 Weeks

Wall-E: 9 Weeks

Wall-E: 10 Weeks

We started training on the harness.

Wall-E: 11 Weeks 

He weighed 18.1 lbs at his vet appointment and is very healthy! The vet said he looks like he's going to be a tall dog because his legs are so long.

He was very charming at the vet and "sit" and "shook" all the ladies hands on command. Then he came home and went back to biting cat tails and stealing kitchen towels and thinking "No" means "Yes!" :)

Wall-E: 12 Weeks

Wall-E: 13 weeks (22.6lbs according to the home scale)

Wall-E: 14 Weeks

Wall-E at 15 Weeks: 28.8 lbs 

I'm not sure how accurate his weight is since we're just trying to weigh ourselves then hold him and weigh ourselves again and subtract the difference and he's wiggly haha. I guess we'll find out how accurate this is when we visit the vet again. We have our next round of shots on Saturday.

He's a scraggly, lanky little guy. Tons of energy and a bit of an attitude. He's got a ton of facial expressions and he's a talkative pup who likes to "argue" or "grumble" when we won't give him a treat until he performs a task, but when he's tired, he's very loving and affectionate and cuddly.

Wall-E at 16 weeks: 30.2 lbs

We went to PetSmart and got our first puppy bath today.

His face is so fluffy! :)

Wall-E at 17 weeks: 31 lbs

Having a Christmas tree up has been a challenge. This pup will eat anything but he is understanding "No tree!" 

We are going to our first day of puppy daycare tomorrow.

I don't have any kids so I feel like I'm pushing my babe out of the nest! 

Hope he plays nice with the other pups...and they're nice to him haha oh boy, I'm one of those people.

Wall-E at 18 weeks: 34.2 lbs

Wall-E at 19 weeks: 36.6 lbs

This week was a rough week. We had an outbreak of kennel cough at our doggy daycare and guess who was one of the victims? You got it, this little guy (he had all his vaccinations, bordetella included). Having never seen or dealt with kennel cough, the day he got really sick I was certain he had eaten something that had poisoned him. He was hacking and choking and coughing and gagging up this frothy mucus/foam for an hour. Absolutely terrifying. So my husband and I rush to the emergency vet (he gets carsick, too) and 2 hours and $200, some puppy puke and fits of frothy coughing gagging later we figure out the poor little guy has kennel cough. He got a couple of shots and is on antibiotics and cough medicine now. He's doing much better today an only coughs a little bit when he gets excited but phew, what an experience. Now that I know all about kennel cough, there were lots of signs leading up to the breaking point that he was getting sick and I just didn't recognize it. I have felt so bad. Hoping he keeps getting better and we're cough free by Christmas. 

Wall-E at 20 weeks: 38.2 lbs 

Wall-E at 21 weeks: 40 lbs

Wall-E at 22 weeks: 41 lbs

Wall-E at 23 weeks: 43 lbs

Wall-E at 24 weeks: 45.6 lbs

Wall-E at 25 weeks: 47.6 lbs

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

Definitely doodle - looking puppy!   Looks like a cute wavy coat.  Adorable!

[Rebekah Williams]

Thank you, Barbara! He is a fuzz ball that's for sure. Zoey is also a beautiful, sweet looking dog. So happy to be a part of this group and share common interests and pet passions!

[Janne and Darius]

Oh I love this idea, Rebekah! I will have to set something similar up when I get a moment. Wall-E is so adorable...my Darius is lighter in colour but I think his fur may be similar. 

[Rebekah Williams]

I spent hours checking out all the posts in this group looking for doodles that look like ours! I'm so happy to meet you and Darius. Can't wait to see them grow up together. WallE has a wavy head and ears and he's already growing a beard haha but the rest of his body is like a fuzzy cotton ball. His coat remains a mystery! :)

[Janne and Darius]

Yes, Darius is exactly the same way! He is such an adorable little...well kind of little...noodle. :) He is a typical boy...he wants to chew sticks, pine cones, leaves and dig in the dirt in the yard instead of playing with his toys. Have you found any great chew toys for WallE? Or maybe he's not as intensely interested in chewing? 

[Rebekah Williams]

WallE has two passions in life...peeing and chewing. His desire to chew and greet every new thing with an open mouth is insatiable. He does not yet understand that he can chew on his toys but he cannot chew on people haha we are trying so very hard to replace all the negative chewing with positive chewing but he seems to think "No WallE!" is a fun game that means, "keep doing what you're doing, WallE!"

If WallE had it his way, his favorite chew toy would be a sock...:\.

And while he'll really chew on almost anything, we find that he will chew the longest on this chicken flavored Nylabone. I do kind of supervise him while he's gnawing on it so I can check his progress and make sure I remove any pieces he may have started working off the bone so he doesn't swallow them, but so far the bone has been pretty indestructible despite his intense gnawing. When he's done chewing, I wash off the bone with water, put it in a baggy and put it in the freezer. He seems to really like it when it's cold, fresh out of the freezer. http://www.nylabone.com/product-finder/my-pet-is/dog-puppy/puppybon...

He also loves his Mr. Moose who has so far survived many a vigorous shaking and sharp puppy teeth haha: https://www.chewy.com/kong-cozie-marvin-moose-dog-toy/dp/47697

What about you? Any tips or tricks for how you've been working with your puppy and chewing??? Would love any advice or feedback. Any other fun quirks about your puppy??

[Janne and Darius]

Yup, Darius lives to chew. People, rocks, he doesn't care. 

Best chew toy (the one that keeps his interest the most) is his bully stick. Because it's an 'edible' chew so to speak, I monitor his use because he would gladly chew the entire thing in one day! (And if I allowed that he would undoubtedly get the runs.) :(  He also has a chewable plush teddy with knots inside it (I believe it's a Kong toy like Wall-E's moose!) and he is learning to play ball and retrieve that for throwing. 

Other than that he likes moving chew toys aka people's hands, calves, clothing etc. His bite inhibition is coming along quite well but he does at times get carried away and when that happens he needs to be ignored/playtime over or if he's really extreme he gets a time out. It's not a punishment to be in his crate, he actually loves the crate and goes inside willingly; the punishment is no people time. 

Darius is leashed in the house (trying to get him used to the thing) and he likes to chew that sometimes too. One little quirk he has is that he really doesn't enjoy eating out of a bowl! He prefers that I spread it on a mat for him. He will eat from the bowl if need be, but then he doesn't eat nearly as much over the course of the day, which is concerning for me. I haven't introduced him to 'treats' yet because he's dealing with so many other new things in this transition including the water we drink, so thought it best to try to keep the food a constant for now. So I give him food for treats, and we play games with the food like "find it". He gets it for rewards as well...he sits for everything now and so we've moved onto learning 'down'. I'm trying to use hand signals instead of words. There's no heavy duty training sessions, it's all just playtime. I'm just trying to teach him a little focus. :) So sometimes I can take a toy as a distraction when he's biting hands, hold it at my side and wait and he will sit for me to toss it. But that's only if he hasn't gotten into a biting frenzy, lol! 

How big do you think Wall-E is going to get? Did he come from a big litter of dogs? What did your breeder think? Darius sheds a wee bit but so far it's been so little it's almost unnoticeable. I'm hoping for a wavy coat...I don't mind brushing and vacuuming. :) Oh and he's also learned to lay nicely (most times) for his daily brushing. I found a good spot on his tummy he really enjoys, haha! 

[Rebekah Williams]

I can't tell! The bigger the better, I say :) but of course he'll be perfect whatever size. We do love big dogs, though.

I have had many people comment on the size of his paws but they are definitely not as big as Darius'! I don't think WallE will get to the 80lb range I just WISH he would :) haha. His dad was a slender but surprisingly tall cinnamon poodle in the 60-70lb range and his mother was a very petite (and sweet) golden in the 40-50lb range. The breeder told us but I can't remember! He came from a litter of 7 puppies; 4 males and 3 females. His face and looooong ears are almost identical to his dad's. His tail is already becoming a lethal whipping machine :D

I am also really hoping for the wavy coat and don't mind the shedding either although, like I said, he's not really shedding right now. I just get the feeling that is going to change when his adult coat comes in. I already have two cats and vacuum almost every day so bring on the furball! I did a ton of research on doodles before picking him out and while I think the F1B doodles are of course adorable, my husband and I always drifted towards the wavy doodles...we love their look and style :). I sit down with him at night time while he chews on his bone (and is calm) and gently run a steel comb through his fuzzy coat trying to get him used to the sensation. He still kind of thinks it's a chew toy but we're making good progress. He loves a long tummy scratch as well! :) 

I hope your trip to the vet went okay, we took WallE on the slowest drive around the block ever and he was not a huge fan. We go to the vet next week. I think I might try to weigh him tonight to see how he's grown from when we first picked him up, he's 10 weeks old today... and so is Darius since they were born the same day! Happy 10 weeks to you :).

Here's a little pic of WallE (and Mr. Moose) zonked out after defeating every leaf and stick in our yard while we were doing some yard work. :)

[Janne and Darius]

What a great pic of Wall-E! Happy 10 week-aversary, Wall-E! He looks a LOT like Darius although colouring is different. Darius' father was a white poodle, his Mum a smaller golden retriever (smaller in stature I mean, but weight I think around 65 lbs). 

I have a larger bed like that in his crate. We had our vet check/shots/deworming yesterday. He's 7.3 kg that's around 16 lbs. I'm going to take him for another car ride today. Hopefully if I do short drives daily it will become an activity he looks forward to, especially if there's something fun at the end of the drive! Darius is very nippy first thing in the morning...evenings are actually calmer for us. I think he's just so happy to see people after a night's sleep and it's partly his way of enticing us to play, and partly wanting attention. 

[Janne and Darius]

Wow...WallE at 12 weeks could literally be a picture of Darius! What a beautiful face!!! :) 

[Janne and Darius]

Love Wall-E's bandana and all around fluffiness! How long did it take to dry, do you know? What did he think of the experience? We haven't attempted a bath yet...with running through the deep snow and all, it's pretty much been the same thing. ;)

[Rebekah Williams]

Haha I don't think it went SUPER smoothly but the girl who gave him his bath said she had had worse.

Total it took 3.5 hours because they had a busy schedule and she said Wall-E hated the dryer so she had a difficult time getting him fully dry and holding still. She said he loved the water and he let her clip his nails just fine but the dryer was when everything kind of went downhill apparently haha which I'm not super surprised about. I would say, when I picked him up he seemed frazzled and he really had to go to the bathroom. He laid down in the car on the drive home and passed out for the rest of the night almost as soon as we got home. 

Overall I think it was a great "socialization" experience. He was surrounded by other dogs and new people and just because I know him, I can't really imagine it going much better. I was actually really proud of him for waiting to go to the bathroom through the whole experience! :) It's the little things.

And we have had zero snow here! It was 70 degrees yesterday. Kind of a bummer for me as I love winter but we did get all the Christmas lights put up. :)