Red is an extraordinary dog, he seems able to enter any kind of space and be at home there. We took him (at the gallery’s invitation) to the opening of the 3Pears gallery in Pawlet, Vt., a huge refurbished barn filled with people and art and classy furniture and Red, who never even lived in a house until he came to Bedlam Farm, assumed the role of gallery dog, greeting visitors, stopping to be petted. I have to confess to discomfort at people who continuously demand that dogs do tricks like shaking hands, he is a working dog and he doesn’t do tricks but the members of one family kept pushing him to “give us paws” until I called him away. Other people can’t stop pumping treats into him, even though he has plenty to eat and he doesn’t need to associate gatherings and people with food. This is how dogs become beggars and pests.

I am always interested in the boundary between what dogs need and people need. Red is quite happy just greeting people and I astonished at how many treats are offered him. Still, people will do that, no matter what anybody says, so it’s my job to accept it and just work around it. Red was as popular as the art, and there were always people lining up to say hello to him. I am so grateful to have a dog like this and to be able to bring him out into the world. This is what dogs need, not to be isolated, but to learn how to live with us as we work, play and live our lives. We were there for nearly two hours and he is always around us. I don’t even have to think about him.