Otto, a wild people-loving golden retriever

We bought Otto, a golden retriever, a year after the death of our previous dog Bertie and were sceptical he could live up to our expectations. Puppy training classes quickly revealed he was a law unto himself; “He’s not normal” became a family phrase. He was gently described as “wilful” by the instructor, and I shamefully hid cocktail sausages in my pockets during the final exam to encourage a modicum of civility.

It just about worked. Otto was very hairy, with astonishingly soft ears and a tail that was constantly swishing. Other dogs might curl up on the sofa; Otto sat like a human on his rump, two paws up in the air. Other dogs splashed in the water; Otto submerged and rolled.

He retrieved the most unexpected things — dead badgers among them — and, as the resident court jester in our neighbourhood, he knew how to turn heads. When he wasn’t acting like a loon he was utterly sweet and incapable of walking past a stranger without befriending them.

golden retriever, dog training, puppy classes, otto, bertie, wilful, cocktail sausages, friendly dog, dead badgers, tail swishing