
          Cuddles has settled in with no trouble.  
          On Thursday afternoon we walked the streets on various routes to and 
          from our house until she was familiar with the neighbourhood for a 
          kilometre or two all around.  On Friday I tried her off-leash in 
          Stanley Park.  She behaved perfectly and played nicely in long 
          games of tag with a dozen or two other dogs, ranging from a rather 
          aggressive 12 week old Chihuahua to a laid-back adult Newfie.  
          She
          enjoyed the water and came back directly whenever I called.  We 
          did three walks for a total of about four hours.  The only thing 
          that freaked her out (on the night walk) was a pair of beagles dressed 
          as bumblebees for
          Halloween with sequin stripes and flashing lights, but once she 
          realised they were dogs she was okay.  
          
          Yesterday we explored Pine Hill as well as 
          Stanley Park.  Our tenant/dog-sitter reported that she paced 
          anxiously around the house all evening when we were out, but when we 
          are in she mostly just lies in her dog bed or follows me from floor to 
          floor.  She drinks a lot (I measured -- 12 cups in 24 hours -- ) 
          and needs to pee often.  I just open the back door, and she goes 
          out, pees, chases any squirrel she sees and comes straight back in.  
          This afternoon while I was away, my husband let her off-leash while he 
          gardened, and she just lay in the grass and watched him.  She 
          peed in her bed the first night, just a little.  Now I let her 
          sleep in my bed and she nudges me around 7 am, when she has to go out.  
          Then we return to bed for another hour.
          
           
           
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