For those of you who don't know, next Monday, Chris and I leave for 2 1/2 weeks in the Mid-west. We ARE bringing Eden and Rai. We ARE crazy. Anyways, Eden is pretty potty trained (knock on wood). In fact, the other day, we were gone for about 8 hours, and Eden didn't have an accident the whole time. Rai, on the other hand, peed. But, he was kind enough to wipe it up with his towel, fold it up so that the pee was on the inside, and push it to the back of his crate (translated, that means that Rai peed on his towel, wrestled with it for a while, and then pushed it to where he hoped we wouldn't see it). But, that's better than what we figured would've happened (Rai, pees in his crate, rolls in it, and lays in it until we get home). So, because of Rai's problem with waiting to pee outside, I bought him some pee-pee pants for the trip. Chris and I decided we would prefer NOT to smell pee-pee puppy for the whole drive to Sioux Falls. So, I put Rai's pants on him the other day, as a quick run through, and a "get used to your new pants". The pants are denim on the outside and a soft, flannel plaid on the inside. There are little pee-pee liners that stick to the inside and soak up the pee. And they even have a hole for Rai's tail! At first, he was fine because he was eating. But then, both he and Eden noticed the new pants, and went after them with a vengance.

Here, they are both chasing the pants. Rai, spinning around, and Eden chasing him.

Eventually, Rai got his teeth into the pants. That's when I took them off. Hopefully, he'll be good with them by next Monday.

Eden's smushy face

When Eden sits on the side of her crate, she can see out into the kitchen and more importantly, the kitchen doorway. So, when she is in her crate, and she wants to see what's going on, she smushes her face up against the side of the crate, just to see the action.

I think this looks painful, but she has a lot more face skin than humans do, so it's probably just all squashed.

Sometimes, Eden falls asleep in this position, but it's hard to tell, because one eye is always smushed shut.

Rai and the bottle

Raisin was allowed out into the rest of the house the other day. While out there, he started trying to get underneath the coffee table. He ran from one side of the table, sticking his head and whatever he else he could fit, and then to the other side, where he did the same thing. We finally looked under there and realized that there was a plastic water bottle sitting under the coffee table, and Rai was trying to get it.

He tried to get the bottle, but couldn't reach.

He tried hitting it with his paw, pulling himself under the table with his legs.

Then he would push it with his nose, trying to grab it with his mouth.

Eventually, he wedged himself under the table, whining because he was stuck. We had to lift the table and pull him out. 

Sunday Afternoon Nap

We're trying to slowly integrate the puppies into the rest of the house, as they have been kitched and backyard dogs since we got them. Eden hasn't had an "accident" in the house for a really long time (knock on wood), but Rai is clearly not potty trained yet. In fact, earlier today, Rai was in the hallway, and peed right there. But he and Eden were tired, so I thought that was the perfect time to put them free in the rest of the house, and hopefully they would just lay down and sleep. (Rai was dragged outside first for a quick potty break.) Well, here they are, just napping.

Eden is pretty good about laying on her blue towel, since she's had more practice. Rai was doing well while I sat with him, but promptly rolled off when given the chance.

These days, when napping or just sitting Eden and Rai have started touching each other. Here, Rai rolled over on top of Eden's butt, but she moved away after trying to bite his ear.

We're hoping for good house dogs, but Chris says that if Rai doesn't figure out the potty training, he may be a kitchen dog. 

Eden and Rai's first AZ triathlon

I took Eden and Rai to the triathlon, and they did so well! People thought they were super cute and came up to pet them. Eden did really great, barely jumping on anyone, and sitting nicely for pets and scratches. Raisin, by the end of the race, was so tired, he just laid there. I felt bad because I kept trying to walk them across grassy areas, and Eden kept getting burr stickers (with one GIANT sticker) in her paws. I would see her limping around, and then I would check all her paws and pull out all the stickers. Rai had them in his paws too, but he didn't even notice. By the middle of the race, Eden wouldn't walk across the grassy areas anymore...I would have to drag her, until she realized that that grassy area didn't have the stickers. Chris had to carry her to the car at the end, because she was so scared, and I didn't want to pull her anymore. Poor baby!
The pups, chillin' in the parking lot, waiting for Chris to come by on the bike.

Rai, watching the bikers intently.

The puppies have gotten really cuddly lately, where they like to lay down next to each other, resting on the other dog. Sometimes, when they're standing near each other, Rai will just put his head on Eden's back, and rest.

Here's Rai, pretty much right on top of Eden's butt.

CDP's first AZ triathlon

This morning, Chris participated in his first tri in Arizona, the Steelhead Triathlon. It was a small-ish crowd, with a pool swim, 32 laps, where he shared the lane. This was Chris's first pool swim. He was in the first wave, and a second wave started after the first wave finished. Chris has not been training for tris, but he wanted to get back into it. He's also thinking about doing the Hummingbird tri at the end of August. He didn't do as well as he's done in the past, but he was glad to be back out there.

Chris, doing his swim. He ran into his "lane buddy" one, and his "lane buddy" ran into him once, so it all evened out. Chris even got ran into by the guy in the next lane! Oops!
Chris, on the bike. Despite trying to find the time, he didn't get to ride the course prior to the race, and BOY, what he surprised (and not in a good way). The course was a lot more hilly than he expected. I'm glad I didn't do the race, because I only like to ride downhill.

Here's Chris on the run (not from cops or anything). He had a hot, less than fun, run, but he finished, and that's what counts.

Here's Chris at the finish line. If you look right in front of his feet, you can actually see the red finish line on the ground. It wasn't his best time ever, but he gets major props for doing the race at all. 

Saying hi...

Just an update...

Here's Eden, hoping I'll let her out.

Rai, in this picture is in his usual hiding place. He loves to crawl under the orange couch. If Eden wants to play, she'll put her face right down there, and bark at Rai. Sometimes, Rai will come wiggling out from underneath and go chasing after Eden. He fit much better when he was younger. Now, it's a struggle. It's a good thing he has such proficient use of his frog legs.