[ Dog is amiable, calm and well-trained, and he sniffs out Gabe's hand and allows himself to be pet like he can't smell how unsure Gabe is in the moment. Daryl just watches the greeting, smiling broadly in a rare way. ]

He's pretty young still. But he'll smell later if we don't get that snow washed outta his fur.

[ He doesn't trust the red in the snow not to be blood and he doesn't want that drying in Dog's coat. He thinks, momentarily, about telling Gabe how he'd come by Dog and who he'd once belonged with, but he doesn't. He doesn't want to offer that memory or create that association unless asked. ]

Never met a dog as smart as this one. Huh, boy?