Memorial

Clover Habits

A little growl/howl when she was happy or excited, and sometimes when she wanted something, like what you were eating.

Rubbing her face against the couch or against couch/bed pillows, then rolling over on her back and rubbing her back against the couch/bed. She was doing this as recently as Tuesday, Dec. 12.

"Tongue-thrusting": licking the air, in the absence of a human face or a part of her body.

Manic licking of your face if you simply petted her head and made a couple of smooching noises. You had to be careful that she didn't lick the inside of your nose/mouth. I used to like holding her and stroking her head, back, face, and muzzle as she licked me. Sometimes I would walk over to a mirror as she was doing it, just to see how cute it looked.

Crazed running down the hall and jumping onto the bed or couch in the family room when she was excited. At one point she could leap up onto my parents' bed, almost 3 feet off the ground. That's one reason I gave her the nickname "Bunny."

During the day, when she could hear and see better, she liked to jump to the top of the family room couch, which is set against a wall, and look out the window. Whenever a stranger walked past our house, she would bark her little shrill bark like crazy.

When strangers came over, she would eye them with mistrust, then run after them and try to jump on their legs whenever they got up to walk across the room. When we left the room through the kitchen door, I would have my friends leave first while I held on to her, then I would set her down and quickly head toward the door -- before she ran up to the door and started barking.

We used to feed her a plate of Science Diet (in the later years, Science Diet Senior) kibble and soft food. Clover used to pick up each piece of kibble in her mouth, walk to the center of the family room, and start crunching on it.

When she was younger, she seemed to think Brother (a brown, stuffed dog, her favorite toy) was alive, and a member of the opposite sex. Sometimes she would -- I swear -- try to have sex with Brother. A part of me wishes that Clover had borne a litter of little Clovers. I also wish we knew where her *real* brother was, whether he is still alive.

Clover LOVED bedtime, particularly lying against you on a blanket. Because she usually slept with me when I was home, and because I was usually the last to go to bed, she would get impatient. She would come up to me and wait, and if I went over to her, she would run toward the bedroom. If I picked her up, she would lick me vigorously, then run toward the door of whatever room I was in, as if to say: "Come on! Let's go!" Sometimes she wouldn't wait for me. She would jump up on the bed and be lying on the pillows by the time I arrived. Nothing made her happier than to be sleeping with me in my parents' bed (when my parents were away). She would hop around the bed, rub against me and against the pillows.