Chapter 1 Solutions — A Triumph of Surgery

Mrs Pumphrey is worried because Tricki has become listless and seems to have no energy.

She fears he is suffering from malnutrition, and she is anxious about his poor condition. In reality, Tricki has become "hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner", with bloodshot, rheumy eyes and his tongue lolling from his jaws.

His unhealthy state is the result of overfeeding and lack of exercise, which worries his loving mistress.

The narrator is a sensible, kind and practical veterinary surgeon who genuinely cares for animals.

He is tactful. He does not directly blame or scold Mrs Pumphrey; instead he gently advises her to cut down Tricki's food and give more exercise, and later takes the dog away firmly but without hurting her feelings. He even avoids her anxious questions about cushions and coats and reassures her that Tricki is "out of danger and convalescing rapidly".

He is full of common sense. He correctly diagnoses that Tricki's only fault is greed and that overfeeding is the cause. He cures the dog with a simple, sensible remedy — a strict diet and exercise — using no medicine at all.

So yes, he is both tactful and full of common sense.

To help Tricki, Mrs Pumphrey gives him extra food between meals — "some malt and cod-liver oil and a bowl of Horlicks at night to make him sleep" — and she continues to feed him cream cakes and chocolates because she cannot bear to refuse him.

No, she is not wise. Tricki's problem is overfeeding and lack of exercise, so giving him even more rich food makes his condition worse.

Instead of following Mr Herriot's advice to cut down his food and give him more exercise, she overindulges him out of misplaced love.