No Sweat

I was busy painting the door that Hugo trashed on his first night here, over 4 months ago, when I heard voices, and went to investigate. There, at the open door of the garden room, was a man talking to him. What the ...? He was looking for my neighbours David and Sue, and so I directed him across and down the lane a bit, wondering all the while what the dog would do if someone went for me. Lick them? Go for a stroke? But it was time for his midday comfort break so off we set for a shortish walk. When we got as far as we were going, several hundred yards from the house, the rain came down in sudden heavy sheets and quite quickly we were soaked. Him dried off, me in fresh clothes, we tried again a few hours later, and this time we got all the way to the bottom of Bannocks Lane before a soft mizzle began. But we weren't daunted, and especially Hugo. As we turned into the lane I had let him off the lead, but before he tore off as usual I asked him to stay reasonably close. And he did! He was clearly very proud of the new-found trust placed in him on the public highway, and danced off down the lane not too far ahead, tale at an angle and the tip pointing upwards. Everything about his body said: I'm the Man. Look at me! When we got to the bottom I stopped and scanned across the field with its cut-down rape plants, and suddenly Hugo was off like a streak of lightning. I looked to see what he was chasing and there was a hare, quite a large one disappearing over the horizon. Pretty soon Hugo had vanished too, and I held my breath and waited. I spotted him at the top of the rise heading back towards the lane, and though I shouted he turned back into the field and tore off again. Eventually, baffled by the disappearing antics of the hare, he raced back across the field to my side. He was soaked, froth flecking his mouth and mud clinging to his undercarriage. I'm never cross with him when he runs away like this. Rather I see it as him expressing his nature and I'm just glad when he returns safely without having caught anything. We trudged back up the hill, but in spite of him having run faster and farther than I've ever seen him, he wasn't panting. Quite extraordinary given that his sides heave after any arduous activity. I wonder if he's getting fitter?

The day stayed muggy and damp. Green Thumb came for their quarterly treatment and diagnosed red thread, a destructive fungus in the lawn that spreads in humid conditions. If it's not one bleedin' thing ... But then  Hugo sauntered by, and I realised that he has finally filled out very nicely and looks really bonny. Not only has he replaced the fat he lost when I went on holiday but he is much better covered now than when I got him, no ribs or vertebrae showing through his skin. So I took some photos. And dear little thing that he is he sat patiently while I snapped away. I think he likes being a model.

Is this OK?

Nearly finished?