Merlot as a baby pup with his first big bear!

What is it about Poodles and big teddy bears???  I’m not sure why, but my boy poodles ADORE a huge massive teddy to carry around and fetch.  Merlot taught me this early on, when he was just a baby.  I had a couple old teddy bears in storage and gave one to him to keep him comfy in his crate when he was just a baby.  I’ve done this with most of dogs throughout the years, but only the poodle boys seem to take these toys as special.  The Shibas, Setters, and rescue Boxer enjoyed them as toys, but nothing special.

Merlot would drag his teddy everywhere, chew on the belly and face (I would remove the hard nose/eyes before he could have them after I found him chewing the nose) and I had even caught him ‘nursing’ on the bears belly!!  Have any of you had your poodles or other breeds do this?  Every male poodle I have owned has done this.  The girls really don’t seem to get into this behavior.  They love their toys, they pile them up, but they don’t seem to nurse on the bellies or insist on playing fetch with a toy almost as big as them.

My arm still hurts thinking about the hours I spent tossing those huge teddies for Merlot.  He would pick up the massive bear, jump up on the couch, sit with his head held as high as he could, and simply hold that bear until I reached up to take it to throw.  He would do this over and over and over each night for many years.

At first I thought the love of big bears was just something to do with Merlot.  When he was around a year of age, I brought home Sadie and Major.  Sadie had zero interest in large toys, but Major took after Merlot and was a dedicated bear lover.  He would carry, fetch, and nurse on his bear as well!  At this point I decided it must be something to do with their genes, Merlot and Major were half brothers.  However, this entire concept was shattered when Flash entered the picture.  He to will nurse on large stuffed toys!!  Again, I have never seen this behavior with any of my girls.  Cami, Charm, Ruffy, Sadie, all of them lived with me for years at a time and none particularly cared for a huge teddy, none of them ever tried to nurse on a toy.

Flash as a baby pup with his first big bear.

I haven’t introduced Lincoln to the large bear toy yet.  I think I might head to Goodwill this week and pick up a few.  It would be interesting to see if the two pups are interested and to what degree.  Will Jazz be the first girl to break the cycle?  Will Lincoln be the first boy who isn’t interested?  We shall see!