Avery & Abbie adjustments

Avery has easily settled into a routine at our new place. She tells me often that she loves our new place. Playing out front in the courtyard is a favorite activity, particularly sliding mail through the slot in our door. She also, however, likes sliding through the slot of our neighbor's door. Fortunately, our neighbor is a very nice woman so it's not an issue. Since Saturday nights are Avery's consistent overnight at D's place, I have leisurely Sunday mornings. I love my place in the morning. Despite being in a highly populated (relative to Portland) area, it's so quiet and peaceful. Again, I truly like have a smaller space much better than a larger space. It's odd how much better that feels to me. I guess part of it is coziness, but I think I also derive a lot of pleasure from making things work and making things fit. That's not a challenge in a large house with only two/three people in it. 

We'll be meeting for a family lunch for the Avery's transfer this afternoon. I hate the word transfer. It sounds so cold and business-like. We're trying a new (to us) smokehouse restaurant near me. 

Abbie is doing GREAT! Seriously. I couldn't have asked for a better dog in this situation. She's is so calm in the house. At just 8mo this is such a streak of luck for me. She's already way calmer than Eddie or Turtle was until they were at least 5 or 6 years old. She also doesn't leap up with the leash. She gets up, walks to the door, lets me put the leash on. Then when I have inevitably forgotten something, she waits patiently by the door for me to come back. She also has her potty routine down pat. This morning I got up when I was ready (7 am), took her out to pee, came back in. In an hour or so we'll go for a real walk where she'll do other business. We often go out and about with each other throughout the day, so we haven't tested the limits of the "work day" period inside. In the evening, about 5/6, we go out for another walk which often ends at the dog park. She plays and plays, we walk home, and she's a contented dog. It's awesome. My urban dog with no yard definitely gets more exercise than most suburban dogs with a yard. That makes me feel good. I often take her to lunch with me since there is outdoor sidewalk seating at a lot of places near me. She does really well, except for a bit of excitement barking when she sees other dogs. I've started bringing treats and try to proactively avoid the barking. The problem with the barking is that while she's just a lover, she sounds like a ferocious dog. More so than Eddie ever sounded. Plus, there is something to be said of the threatening look of the upright ears vs floppy ears. Eddie had floppy ears and that made him look nice and friendly. Abbie looks friendly until she barks. Anyway, the point of all this is that she's made the adjustment as well as I could have hoped. Oh, and Avery can walk Abbie all around the neighborhood holding the leash all by herself. The only time I need to take the leash is when we're approaching the dog park. Otherwise Abbie is just that good on the leash walking around. Avery is thrilled with this.