9/12/11:

We renamed them Casey and Axel. Two puppies has been a lot of work, but it has been totally worth it! They are smart dogs and even though I get frustrated sometimes with their ridiculous puppy antics, people keep telling me how good they are for their age, so I guess they must be turning out okay!

We were surprised when Casey showed herself to be the more dominant of the two right off the bat. She keeps Axel right in line. Casey is 50 pounds right now, and Axel is 70. We didn't weigh them for two months and I was sure that Axel was maybe 50 pounds, so it was quite a surprise to find out how heavy they both were. I guess that explains why walking them both at the same time has turned into such a workout! I didn't think they would get as big as Axel, but it's totally fine because I always wanted a big dog. Still anyones guess as to how much more they will grow!

The dogs have been everything we hoped for. They are great company around the house and wonderful hiking companions. We've been to the dog beach a lot, and while they are still pretty nervous about swimming (Axel especially) they love gettting out and meeting all the other dogs and will fetch sticks in the water as long as they don't have to swim to get them. Thank you so much for letting us have these wonderful dogs. Feel free to mark our file "happily ever after!"