These days, now that Clover is on her own, she has her bed in our bedroom. She sleeps at the foot of our bed and snores.
You would be amazed at just how loud she can be!
She snorts and chainsaws her way through the night, sending decibel counters in the neighbouring county shooting off the scale.
How do you sleep, I hear you ask.
Well ... It's training. And having spent the past several years listening to my wife snort and grunt her way through the twilight hours, I'm very used to it!
Anyway, at 6 am the noise stops. It's time to get up and to let Clover out for her toilet.
This morning, as we made our way down the stairs, we were met by Blossom, the cat.
She evaded capture last night so wasn't, as per usual, put out to terrorise the neighbourhood.
At the foot of the stairs she did that cat thing ... crouching with her front paws trampling, back legs tensing ... and just as a very cautious Clover hit floor level, she pounced!
A left ... a right ... a hiss!
Clover, surprised by the attack, pressed herself wide eyed against the wall. Blossom sat down and, looking incredibly smug, started to clean herself.
After the shock had abated, Clover began to circle around Blossom in an attempt to get to the back door. Blossom immediately stood, positioned herself directly in front of Clover, and with a withering look turned her back and sat down.
Dogs, as you probably know, have a fascination with bottoms.
So it will come as no surprise to you that as soon as Blossom's back was turned, Clover felt the need for a sniff.
She slowly stretched towards Blossom's derriere ... closer and closer ... ready to sniff.
A mere inch or two away from Blossom's bottom, Clover sneezed!
Blossom flew into the air, still seemingly in a sitting position. At the apex of her flight her legs extended, she rotated through 180°, whacked Clover smartly on the nose then, upon landing, raced headlong up the stairs.
Clover isn't the quickest of dogs.
Her reaction came several seconds after Blossom had scampered onto the upstairs landing.
She jumped, her eyes wide, and galloped down the hallway. When she reached the backdoor, she spun on the spot, whined and looked at the handle.
As I opened the door and let her out, she threw me a glance that quite clearly said 'You won't tell anyone, will you?'.
