Eden, our cuddle dog

Eden has always been the more affectionate of the two dogs. When I sit in the corner of the kitchen, she will inevitably budge her way in to sit or lay at my feet. She also likes to just lay down and watch you walk around. Rai, on the other hand, will sit for a minute, and if he doesn't fall asleep in that minute, he will be up jumping on something he's not supposed to, within a few seconds. So, Eden is our good cuddle dog. Rai is a pain in the butt, but definitely TRIES hard.

Eden loves to get her belly rubbed. If you start to pet her, she sometimes rolls over to show you her belly. And if you stop before she's done, she nudge you or nibble your hands, basically saying "Keep going."

Eden also falls asleep pretty soundly. She doesn't mind of you move her around. Not that we did. She just happen to fall asleep with Chris JUST like this!

She really is sleeping, though. She just looks at you when you move her, then closes her eyes. And she's super soft, so as long as she smells okay, she's a great pillow. 

Huachuca Canyon hikes

Chris and I have been taking Rai and Eden for walks on Ft. Huachuca, up the canyon. We have begun putting them on 10ft long tethers, because Chris is going to try to train Rai to be a bird dog. He has to work on coming back, not just going. Probably a good thing. Anyways, since Rai gets to, Eden does, too. (On a side note, we think that Eden is part boxer, part....Rhodesian Ridgeback!!! So that makes her a hunter of LIONS...pooh on Rai's birds!...more on that later...) Anyways, we walk with them up the canyon, threw a few small streams or trickles. It's a lot of fun, except for the part where I sprain my ankle EVERY time (except the last one, where I wore ankle braces on each ankle, and mostly watched the ground for those rocks that jump out of no where.). In these pictures, we just walked up a super steep incline because I wanted to see what was up there (more steep incline). Then, we turned around and walked back down. I'm much better with the down, than the up.




 

Please, please, please, Eden???

Eden is what the dog books all call a "power-chewer." I'll get the giant edible dog bones (Nylabone), and she'll have finished it within a half hour. So, she's taken to chewing the edges off the sheet that she has in her crate. Usually she'll just eat it (we know it comes out the other end, if you know what I mean), but a few days ago, she hauled a large chunk outside with her. Rai will bark at her, begging for a nibble, and when that doesn't work, he'll jump on her. And when that doesn't work, he'll lay down next to her, or across from her, and look longingly at the coveted item. Poor Rai.

Here's Eden and Rai. You can see the edges of the sheet hanging out of Eden's mouth.

And there it goes.

Self-Explanatory...

It's hours of fun to put a fitted sheet over Eden and Raisin, and see them try to figure out what the heck is going on.

Rai: What the heck? What's this white thing, and why is it hugging my bottom?

Eden: Hey, this is MY sheet. But if I can't get out, I'm not letting you out either.

Rai: Eden, Jeez, stop sniffing my butt!!!

Rai: Eden farted.
Eden: Rai, whoever smelt it, dealt it. 

Puppy update

Well, I've been working now, so I haven't had enough time to post new things on the blog. But here is a quick update...

I've started working at a local bagel shop. I do the coffee, but I also do the register, make sandwiches and bagels, etc. I work a lot, so the dogs have been in their crates a lot. The first few days, Rai didn't like it, and let us know. He got really bitey and misbehaved a lot. Eden was fine. But then we started a new pattern, and he's gotten better. They are getting better, and they especially love to play outside. Though, as they've gotten bigger, they've begun to be "power chewers", even destroying the "virtually indestructible" toys.

Recently, we moved the table and chairs. The dogs have made this their new thing to chase each other around. You can see the circle they have worn out in the rocks. It's funny to watch, and even funnier to hear Rai whine as he chases Eden around.

When they are all done playing, they like to sleep next to each other out in the sun. It's very common to see them laying near each other on the rocks...super cute!

When they are inside, they have begun to use the dining room table and the coffee table as the two things to chase each other around, often in a figure eight pattern. Then, Eden will make a sharp turn, and dive under the table. Then, with amazing speed for a dog as large as her, she will wiggle her way under the chairs. She's too big to fit, so she moves all the chairs. It's pretty funny!

Here's a picture of the two happy puppies!

No pictures...just a sad story...

When Raisin wants to get in the house, he puts his front paws up on the door, and scratches at it, and he gnaws at the door knob. He just wants to be with Chris and I. So, yesterday, I let Rai and Eden in the house, and then went outside to check on what they were chewing (there is a BIG hole in the wooden planter (initially, it was a plywood dog crate cover that Chris laughed at). While I was out there, Rai began to paw at the door knob from the inside of the house, whining to be by me. Then, with all his pawing, he flipped the deadbolt. Yes. The deadbolt. He locked me out of my own frickin house. So, it was 5 o'clock. The show I wanted to see had just come on (Dead Like Me, on the Sci-fi channel). But Chris was usually home by 5:15. So I waited. Rai was still whining and pawing at the door, and now Eden had wandered over also to see what Rai was so upset about. Then Rai noticed the moth flying around above Eden's crate. And he tried to jump up ON the crate. So I began knocking on the door and yelling at him to stop. (Our door is a big glass panel with with a 3 inch frame around it, so I can see everything that's going on, and the dogs can see me.) He got so excited by my knocking that he left the moth alone (and thank God, it flew away to some unknown place.) So 5:15 came and went. Then 5:30. Then 5:45. Then, it started to get dark, and the mosquitoes began to come out. I got bit on my feet, my arms, and my wrist...TWICE. Then it was 6:00. And then 6:15 and then 6:30. The whole time, I am knocking on the door to keep Rai interested in me (and not wandering around, getting into things). Finally, at 6:32, Chris comes home. I spent a whole FREAKING hour and a half outside waiting to get back in the house because stupid Rai locked me out. And, I missed the first half of the season finale of Eureka. Being locked out of the house by your dog SUPER SUCKS.

Raisin, Learning to Point

Raisin is a German Shorthaired Pointer. That means that his breed was made to hunt, track, and even retrieve. Naturally, they should be able to be trained to stand completely still while tracking. That's called "pointing" and sometimes, he even lifts up one foot. Anyways, almost every person we've talked to who are familiar with the breed have asked if we are going to train him to point, and given us tips on how to train him. So, we decided to try. We bought a cheapie fishing pole and tied a stuffed duck on the end. At first, we let Rai chase it around. He barked and leapt and chased. Eden did, too, at first, but then she got really tired and just sat there watching Rai. Eventually, Rai got tired and began to point. He would walk up to the duck slowly, and then learned that if he stopped attacking the duck, he would be able to get it when Chris said he could. Chris has been working with Rai every day for the past 5 days, and Rai seems to be getting it pretty well, once he tires out. He's even learned to jump on the duck to the right when the duck is on Chris's left, and to jump to the left when the duck is on Chris's right. He's also gotten pretty good at fake pointing, and then attacking the poor stuffed duck. Eden still likes to chase the duck a little, but she's learned to wait until Chris forgets that she is there, and moves the duck close to her. Then she strikes. Anyways, it's pretty cool to see. Here are some pictures...

Rai, chasing the duck.

Here, he's trotting up to the downed duck.

In this picture, Rai has slowly approached the duck, and is faking his point. Right after this picture was taken, he put his paw on the duck and bit the duck's wing.

Here, you can see that Rai is pointing with his left paw. He stood there pointing at the duck for a good 15 seconds before Chris released him. He's really getting it!