Are you honest about exercise? You can tell me – I’m not a doctor.

Occasionally health professionals interrogate me about things like blood pressure (I’ve got lots) and weight (yes, you’re right, I’ve also got lots of that).

Invariably, the cross examination turns to exercise, and I am inclined to be creative with my response.

My dog doesn’t have a watch, but he seems to know when it is 7.30am, and time to take me for my first walk of the day.

Once we are out the door, he makes a beeline for the woods.

Sometimes he stops to check for messages left by other early rising canines, but generally his priority is to dive into the brambles, hoping to surprise any birds late for chorus or perhaps the inexperienced squirrel looking for breakfast.

More commonly he finds nothing, just the joy of chaotically running free.

So, when asked about my exercise routine, I confidently report that I go walking twice a day for up to an hour at a time.

Well, I might be out of the house for an hour, and my dog may run for several miles, but I am strolling, looking for any opportunity to stop and talk with other early morning dog walkers.

Just recently I have had the opportunity of regular more strenuous walks with a friend and neighbour.

The three to four miles is quite taxing for me (he has ‘mountain goat’ DNA in his genetic make-up), so I am usually tagging along behind. But the effort is so worthwhile for the game of verbal chess that we enjoy, and at which he excels.

Very occasionally I think I am winning, and then I realise that I have been manoeuvred into a position for him to deliver the ‘coup de grace’. I admire his skill, and enjoy the cerebral exercise.

So, when asked, I report that my exercise is walking, but it is my brain that is getting a workout.

My knowledge in key areas concerning footpaths and byways is now second to none, and you’d have to go a very long way to find someone better informed about the rights and wrongs of riding a horse or a cycle on footpaths, and please, don’t get me started on footpath signs, I could bore for England.

But I have no idea how my dog always knows exactly the right time for walking and eating.