"Speak, boy!" Barbara clapped her hands, and the dog looked up at her expectantly. "I said, 'Speak'!" The dog's only response was to yawn, lick a rough tongue around its chops, then lie down on the floor.
"Not very well trained, is he?" Mr Crawford remarked. He shot a sideways glance towards Barbara. "But that's not his fault."
"But he's usually -," Barbara began. However, Mr Crawford was no longer there. She knelt down beside her pet. "You've really embarrassed me. Why couldn't you just do as I asked?"
The dog looked up at her. "You know I get performance anxiety," he whined.
