I explained to the boys, to Joaquin, that dogs do not talk or think in words, despite the arrogant human tendency to want to think they do. But we can have conversations with them. I explained to Joaquin – who as the same attention span as Fate, but who listened closely – that he and Fate were having a conversation about joy, love and life.

What was he telling her, I asked him. “That I love her?,” he asked. Yes, I said, you were listening. Dogs can tell us a lot of things if we listen. Fate is all about joy.