"She'd be a great running partner," John agrees, and he reaches out to tickle one of her paws. She kicks again and squirms harder, because this is clearly a good game. "Pretty sure she'd run circles around me given the chance."

Although obviously, before they go running properly, John might need to make sure he knows how she'll behave around other people and other dogs. Otherwise it might be less 'running' and more 'stopping every five minutes to detach a puppy from another person or split up a dog fight'.

He has high hopes, though. A dog running partner would be nice.

"Is this a yes on the puppy, then?" he prompts. "Because she'll need a name."