My Artistic Flub

I recently painted a portrait of my neighbor's dog for her birthday. While I was thrilled with how realistic and vibrant it looked, I couldn't help but notice that I accidentally included two extra paws in the painting, our beloved pup only has four! To avoid embarrassing her or causing undue concern about the health of her pet, I casually mentioned to my friend who commissioned it that the dog had just taken a mud bath, which is why some parts of the painting were a bit messy. In reality, I couldn't bring myself to explain that I messed up and feared it might ruin my reputation as an artist who always gets things right. I find myself wondering if honesty would have been better, or if this little fib will come back to bite me someday.