The Riley Report

What am I doin' here?

Riley is settling in nicely.  The first evening, she paced a lot, wasn't sure where to settle, and once bedded down on her big puffy bed next to mine, woke me up with a cold pointy nose against my face four times - just checkin' I was there, I guess.

Yesterday, she relaxed a bit more, took to the big dog bed next to my chair during the day, stuck her nose in the cat's face (for which she got swatted and hissed at - by Allie, not me!), and only woke me up twice at night.

How come she sleeps next to your bed and
I'm in my crate?

Today she took over the living room couch and slept on the futon in my office while I worked.

Help! Mom! She's stuck me in jail!

Fooled ya! It's just the arm of the futon!

Riley also told me in no uncertain terms when it was time for her afternoon walk.  We walk morning and late afternoon - sometimes with Eddie, sometimes without.  So far we have just been walking around town, checking out backlanes and small parks and paths, familiarizing Riley with the various routes to our home.  We haven't gone to the seawalk yet as it has been very cold and the boards are slick with frost and black ice, but as soon as it warms up a bit we'll head to the beach.

And up here on the right is where Auntie Else lives.....

Frost on the vines

Lots of leaves on the trees still

Riley quickly  caught on to the fact that Eddie gets click/treats from my treat pouch for various things during our walks (sitting at corners, walking past other dogs without fussing, walking nicely by my side) - and so Riley proceeded to nudge my hand with her nose every few minutes enroute and look  very pointedly at the pouch -"c'mon lady, I'm walking nicely too!"

Ah like havin' Riley here, mom!

And now she has taken herself off to bed in the bedroom - starting the day at 6:00 AM is too much for a Princess.

I'd say she's settling in just fine.

She does, however, object to the fact that I always put the lid of the toilet down.  She wants to drink from the well - I guess the three water dishes here aren't to her taste.  I tried to explain that Allie uses the lid to launch herself up to the bathroom windowsill, from which she can keep an eye on the neighbourhood comings and goings, and wouldn't appreciate landing kersplash in the toilet bowl, but I swear Riley snickered at that!

Sorry Riley, drinking from a plain old dog water dish is something you'll have to get used to.  I'll change it often and keep it cold, and I'll tell the cat not to spit in it.

Ha! Like that's gonna stop me!