In round two, Lulu and Fanny moved away from Red, but Simon launched a stare-down that would have rattled me. He got right into Red’s face and lowered his nose. I noticed his ears were not down – a sign of an impending donkey charge – but he seemed clearly to be trying to psyche Red out, to get him to back down. What a curious confrontation between these two strong-willed creatures. Simon is a tough cookie, and border collies are no match for donkeys. But Red never loses focus, he just conveys poise and authority, and it was Simon who broke off the stare down.

Red has a huge heart in many ways. I might say he is all heart.