“If you can picture this scene: a huge, loud, whistling and clanking metallic beast moves menacingly towards a small black dog sitting wide-eyed and perfectly still, bar the sweeping wag of its tail along the platform floor. If you can picture this, then you have captured the scene on the Monday morning that I went with Ruby to take my mum to the station to catch her train home.

Ruby was not phased one bit as the train pulled in, and was more than happy to step with me into the carriage, have a look around, and then step out again. She sat beautifully as the train departed, and we even went for a walk up and down the platform while other trains came and went.

The constant socialising and exposure to every day experiences certainly seems to be paying off, as Ruby does not react to loud vehicles or people.

During the rest of the week I visited town a couple of times, ensuring that time in the bank, shopping centre or among shoppers is not a distraction for Ruby. For these experiences, I believe it is much more about frequency with a short time for each visit, rather than just visiting once a week and spending two hours walking around. It seems to work for Ruby, and she’s continuing to progress in and around the town centre.

Back in the countryside on one of the daily walks with Ruby and our two Labradors, I stopped to pick a few blackberries and managed to capture a photograph of Ruby emulating Oscar, the older of our two dogs – delicately picking one or two of the ripe fruit to enjoy, followed by a paddle in the nearby pond and a roll in the grass to dry-off. A perfect country walk.”