Well, we’ve been in our new place for a couple of weeks now. This is the first week that we are on our own and it’s proving to be very pleasant.

To be honest, for the first few days, neither Rufus nor Dino ate a lot. The stress of the move; being unsure of their surroundings, etc. However, now they are back to normal.

Every morning, before most people are awake, we walk up the Perfect Street to the same dog areas that we used to use. Then back down another street (past the back of Sotheby’s and the Dolce & Gabbana offices) and home.

On Tuesdays we see the market stalls being set up as we cross one street.

On Saturdays and Sundays we troupe off down the Perfect Street to go to the big Park, Giardini Pubblici, where we spend an hour or so before, on Saturday, stopping at Free Time café, at the bottom of Corso Buenos Aires, for a pasta dish and a beer (well, obviously, that’s just me, not them – they just ‘hang out’).

Just recently, Dino has taken to playing by himself (in the flat). He used to come to me with a ball or a pull or something, drop it in my lap (eventually) and I would throw it up the hallway. He would, as any other good dog, go fetch it and bring it back. Occasionally, I would keep hold of it and we would have small tug-of-war.

Sometimes Rufus would get involved and they would play tug-of-war together, for a bit, until one of them (usually Rufus) started to bark, when I would stop it.

Here it is no different except this playing by himself thing. To be honest, he had done it a few times in the old flat but here it’s quite often. It happens if I don’t have time to play or, sometimes, when he first gets a toy to play with.

He will throw it – in the air or a foot or two along the floor – and then go chase it down! It’s quite amusing to watch.

And then, sometimes, if I am not giving him enough attention, he will throw it at me!

He is so cute. I will try (to remember?) and get new pictures this weekend to post so you can see what a pretty dog he has grown in to.

They are being (I think) very good in the new flat. No accidents, so far. No chewing (thank goodness Dino seems to grown out of that phase already) and they do like the two balconies. The one from the bedroom lets Dino look at the traffic and the people walking by and the one at the back is cool and allows them to just lie there.

It’s nice to see them so happy.