Chapter 7 Summary and Analysis

On a cold, snowy winter morning, Herriot steers his car down an almost-invisible country road to a farmhouse, where he's caring for a bullock that had eaten some frozen turnips. As he knocks on the door in the pre-dawn light, Herriot notices something moving about and heaving in the snow—probably a creature from the wild. Peter Trenholm and his wife open the door and invite Herriot inside.

Trenholm answers that it's his dog, Tip, that sleeps outside the door. Amazed, Herriot looks over the sheepdog, which is big-boned, thick-coated and more vivacious than most 15-year-old dogs. Tip's eyes are clear; and he moves with a bounce that belies old age.

As he finishes his work with the bullock, Herriot watches in amazement as the old dog bounds around the farmyard. Herriot notes that Tip is one of a class...