Sheepish

Paddy's getting old, and can be a bit grumpy with other dogs - and usually it's easy to deal with. It can even be amusing - it makes me smile when he adopts a very stiff posture and stoical look when the spaniel pup next door rushes at him and baffs him with his big paws. He'll growl at puppies when they exceed their boundaries, a short warning growl. But lately, off the lead, he's been weird with black labradors (only black labs, not yellow ones - is my retriever a RACIST?) and this morning did something he's never done before - he went flying at a black lab that was also off the lead and looked serious about it. The owner was elderly with a stick and though he laughed it off I was m-o-r-t-f-i-e-d. We came home straight afterward, Paddy on the lead, me furious - people on the street were treated to a woman-dog rant, "you never, ever, ever do that again, do you hear me? Or you'll never get off the lead again, ever. You're absolutely in disgrace. I'm so ashamed. I'm so embarrassed..." Paddy slinking along casting me sheepish looks.

Since then, and it's now 4 hours later, he's sat on the floor by the sofa where I'm working, staring at me. 4 hours solid of staring and anxiety.

He got tired of sitting up straight eventually, but is still there and still staring.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my dad's-watch-blip yesterday, I appreciated your kindness very much