A couple of weekends ago Flossie decided to pay an unsolicited visit to a local Airbnb.

We were enjoying one of our regular walks down a nearby track. There is a certain point where I usually clip Flossie’s lead on. For some reason I didn’t on this occasion. This was my mistake.

She suddenly bolted towards a rather beautiful house. When I called she didn’t return so I hurried after her. On reaching the house, which is on a sizeable plot, it was just in time to see her trotting up the drive and disappearing round the back.

As it was a weekend, the house was clearly occupied with several cars parked outside and I could see lights on in the kitchen. The penny dropped. Whoever was staying there was no doubt enjoying a cooked Sunday breakfast, the whiff of bacon and sausages reaching Flossie’s nostrils.

I didn’t like to march up the drive to retrieve her so I continued to call her in increasingly desperate tones from the entrance. Flossie inspected an outbuilding and an open sided garage, her tail wagging enthusiastically as if she knew she was doing something forbidden.

She spent some time looking around an outdoor dining area, presumably hoping to find a leftover morsel of food.

She sauntered close to the kitchen windows. I imagined the breakfast party watching with amusement as a strange dog with a massive fluffy tail took a tour around the garden.

Just as I was thinking I would have to go and fetch her she decided she was ready to return. She ambled towards me with a satisfied expression on her face and we resumed our walk, me feeling embarrassed and Flossie not at all contrite.

The next day, I prepared to put her on her lead well before we got to the house. However, Flossie is apparently cleverer than me. She had worked out that she could access the grounds of the house from further up the track.

I am frequently outwitted by this dog.