And then this evening he sniffed All the Things, went for a paddle in a stream, and met a flatcoat and a cocker spaniel. And now...

He's still waking up at 5am, for some mysterious reason, and barks madly until I come down and sleep on the sofa, at which point he happily goes back to sleep (but he won't let me get away with sneaking back to bed: I've tried). His back legs feel a lot better, particularly the right one, which actually feels like a proper leg with muscles in it now. The left back leg is a bit less solid, but it still feels less like a hairy bag with a bone inside it, which has to be a good thing.