4 .

A balmy Sunday afternoon. Sophie is taken out into the garden for a major grooming. Wearing the harness does nothing for her coat. After a brushing and an hours doze in the sunshine she's ready for anything.

The family diva was up at five this morning. The household roused by that unmistakable  '' I need out ! Now ! '' yelp . There is nothing designed to get a dog owner up and dressed more quickly than that yelp.  Yesterday, Sophie liberated a roll of kitchen paper. By the time it was discovered and retrieved she had shredded much of it and chewed a fair amount. This morning the digested cellulose makes an urgent pre-dawn appearance. Standing there with a torch in my hand I'm reminded of the Seinfeld quote : '' Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them is making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge ? "

Bob takes all this excitement in his stride.

As we're up so early the male dog and his master head off to the covered market in Toulouse. At this quiet time of the morning it's a mere 45 minutes down the empty motorway. When we get there the market is shrouded in a kind of Stygian gloom punctuated by flickering Christmas lights and harsh neon. It's surprisingly busy for six am.

We buy some lamb and some fresh salmon. Then we go to the super fancy patisserie by the car park. Cakes here are 50% more expensive than anywhere else but are made with Michelin star attention. The raspberries fresh, not frozen. Even 'The Font' ( who usually takes one mouthful of the cakes and then pushes the plate across for me to finish ) says these are remarkably good. Bob gets given a sliver of croissant. In France even the fancy bakers cater for their four legged visitors. How civilized is that ?

Today the PON duo celebrate their fourth birthday. Perhaps there will be some fresh salmon with their kibbles tonight. There will certainly be a lot of laughter.