The TV is on in the background, and you have been only partly engaged with your talking dog in polite conversation as your worked when he/she (your talking dog) asks you a question that catches your attention (for at least a minute).

He/she asks you: So after fifteen weeks, three books, articles, forums, and that mountain climbing thing...did you have any “Aha moments”? By that, your dog means did anything strike you as particularly significant?

Since your dog is truly curious, don’t simply tell him/her what that was, but briefly explain it.