It’s been a while since I last blogged about our mini bull terrier, Sausage. Because Maria is such a sucker for dogs, she’s been bugging me to take pictures!, take pictures!, so here I am.

Sausage is now 11 months old and is about as big as I think she’s going to get. She may add another kilo or so of weight to the 10.2kg she already sports, but I think we’ve got what was advertised … a pocket-sized bull terrier.

Just because she’s small, though, doesn’t mean she lacks any of that bull terrier stubbornness, er, spirit. Here she is in her favourite room of the house, the wet kitchen, where she attempts to cajole snacks out of anybody who makes the mistake of opening the fridge door:

And, just to show you that she really is a mini, here she is with Squeak, our adorable Maine Coon boy. Squeak tips the scales at a little over 9kg:

Just like the cats, Sausage also likes to keep comfortable. Whether it’s in the coffee lounge (don’t  you love that sideways look?):

or the library:

I’m not sure how to remove the flash without making her look like she has abyssal pits for eyes, so I’m just leaving that photo as is.

Recently she, in her usual zeal, decided to go haring around the front yard and ended up ripping up the front pad under her right paw on some concrete. We took her to the vets, where she would’ve snapped everybody’s hands off if she wasn’t already wearing a muzzle and I wasn’t restraining her. I told the vet staff that she’s an absolute darling at home but am not sure if they believed me! You believe me, don’t you? The kids now call her Sausage With a Skip. Or Skipping Sausage.

The upshot of a damaged paw is that she’s now quickly learnt a new trick using it. Yep, cute begging!

It’s pathetic really.

But that’s not the end of the post. My good friend Maria is doing an incredibly generous thing. From now till the 8 June, she’s holding a competition. The prize is a copy of my upcoming book, IN ENEMY HANDS. All you have to do is:

1. Email Maria (at ‘mariazannini AT gmail DOT com’)
2. Put “What’s My Name” on the subject line
3. Tell her what my dog’s name is

This is a more-than-generous addition to my own competition to give away 2 full promo kits at this blog. Thanks M! Gotta love friends like that!