Not happily — he wasn’t a tail-wagging, toy-chasing kind of dog — but quietly, almost respectfully, as if he understood he’d been granted a second chance and didn’t want to jeopardize it.
He explored room by room, slow and deliberate, memorizing the terrain with the same seriousness he seemed to apply to everything. He never barked, never whined, never pushed boundaries. If anything, he behaved more like a guest than a pet.