I meant to include that, on hot days, I only walk Watson barefoot. Before I first introduced him to my home, I read in a puppy health maintenance book that the paw exterior, which is a keratinised, pigmented, hairless epidermis, is fragile, and if, when barefoot, the ground is too hot to walk on, then it is also too hot for your puppy.

In his mind, we have been great buddies for all eternity.