2
Early the following morning, I took Poppy for her first walk of the day. Having burnt off the early morning mist, the sun shone over an idyllic scene under a clear blue sky. Instead of scampering around on the grass, as she usually did, Poppy started pulling me in the direction of the red brick bridge across the river. I had been warned that Jack Tzus, like all long-eared breeds, were prone to ear infections, and Poppy seemed instinctively averse to submersion in water. She hated it when I bathed her, and would struggle and splash until I was as wet as she was. Given her propensity to dig, this had resulted in quite a few muddy confrontations. But this morning my little dog seemed determined to drag me down to the river.
‘No, Poppy, no. You know we don’t go down there,’ I told her. ‘It
