Me: Where is Dave?
Nell: Quiet. David is working.
Me: On what?
Nell: On his Waiting Skills.
Me: How is he doing that?
Nell: It has come to my attention that David can be a little impatient.
Me: True.
Nell: So, he is outside waiting for Tony. Under my supervision, of course.
Me: Do you mean Tony, our postman?
Nell: Of course, I do. You know how David goes wild whenever Tony arrives.
Me: He does love Tony and Tony loves him to be fair. They are best mates.
Nell: That’s as maybe, but David needs to try and learn to wait. A large part of a dog’s life is spent waiting and we, labradors, pride ourselves on our patience.
Me: I’m not sure that’s true, Nell. I’ve seen you get very impatient.
Nell: Everyone has a bad day. Stop dwelling on the negatives.
Me: He’s peering over the gate though, Nell, in quite an excited way.
Nell: Yes, I am aware. His task today is to try not to jump when Tony arrives. He may bark to alert us, but he has to try and remain calm.
Me: I’m not optimistic about this.
Nell: David may surprise us all.
Me: He’s definitely going to surprise Tony when he sees that great big face looking over the gate.
Nell: Have faith. This is an important step in David’s development.
Me: But what if he fails?
Nell: Then we will try again. A labrador wasn’t built in a day you know.
Me: Don’t you mean Rome?
Nell: I certainly do not. Now let’s all wait for Tony.
Me: Ok. Sorry.
