This rather intimidating dog approached me while I was eating a crayfish and prawn ciabatta with chips at a nice pub in the wonderfully named Funtingdon, a small and rather posh village near Chichester, last weekend. She sat quietly and politely, never becoming in any way pushy, but never taking her eyes off my face while I ate my lunch. She's one of those scary pit bull types so I didn't feel comfortable stroking her or even engaging with her very much because I don't generally trust dogs like her. But as time went on she won me over with her unflinching attention and eventually I started speaking to her and even stroking her a bit. She behaved impeccably throughout - but I still didn't give her any food. I do so love dogs - even the intimidating ones it seems.
We were in the area to spend some time walking in the country, eating posh food and generally being away from the kids for a day or two to mark our anniversary. It was a delightful weekend that left us aching worthily from our walking exertions, but also thoroughly toxic thanks to the rather excessive blow-out we enjoyed on the Saturday night. I paid my penance in full today by embarking on a 77-mile bike ride that's almost completely incapacitated me - but which has also made me feel incredibly virtuous.
