We were temporarily waylaid yesterday afternoon during our later-than-usual woodland walk with our two little dogs. Having come across a neighbour who lives at the bottom of our street, whom we haven't seen in ages. She used to walk two glorious red-haired Golden Retrievers, both now gone.

Walking with her was her sister, endowed like her, with flaming red hair. And with them walked her sister's dog, a large-boned dog that looked like a cross between a standard poodle and a Golden Retriever whose pelt was almost as red as its owner's.

Because we were standing in a little group of four people with three dogs in tow we didn't at first notice Stumpy's presence. Partly because Stumpy was smart enough to try to conceal his presence from the large dog's notice. When I noticed him I responded to his silent demand and threw a large peanut toward him; as often happens it bounced off the top of his head, but he didn't mind, quickly grasping it and leaping immediately afterward onto a tree.

Which is when the large dog finally noticed him and went into an ecstasy of hunting mode, frantically begging our little stump-tailed squirrel to return. Because I had been dropping peanuts into their usual accustomed cache-placements behind us as we had walked along before coming across our acquaintance, squirrels suddenly began appearing as though out of nowhere, consumed with the need to gather what I'd left for them, and the dog hardly knew where next to turn.

While we continued talking among us, and the large dog was distracted, Stumpy returned no fewer than six times to acquire additional peanuts. He has us very well programmed.