WHEN I knock on the door of Norman and Elaine McLaren I am greeted in a flurry of excitement by a pair of brown puppy-dog eyes, a wet nose and a wagging tail... then Kip the King Charles Cavalier Spaniel disappears and a few seconds later Norman appears at the door.

Listening for the doorbell is just one of Kip's long list of duties, all of which she performs with much enthusiasm.

For owners Norman and Elaine are both profoundly deaf and rely on Kip to wake them up in the morning, tell them when the phone is ringing, and a host of other little jobs most of us take for granted.

Kip is kept busy - Norman and Elaine not only often care for their eight grandchildren - they also work as professional clowns.

Under the names Lorenzo and Mrs E, the pair, of Brock Clough Road, Whitewell Bottom, entertain children with their humourous antics at parties, summer fetes, circus workshops, galas and parades.

"We came to clowning about 10 years ago," said Norman, 60.

"I decided to raise some money for a little girl with cerebral palsy and went busking in a shopping precinct with my accordion. On the other side of the shopping centre was a man who was juggling. We got talking and he told me I was a natural clown, which shocked me. He introduced me to Skylight Circus in Rochdale where they agreed to teach me how to juggle."

But Norman turned out to be a clumsy juggler, and instead fell in love with the art of clowning.

Now he and his wife Elaine, 56, work as professional clowns, taking their act to parties and fairs around the region. They are members of Clowns International and have earned Equity cards.

"Clowns International taught us to be clowns and how to do our make-up," said Norman.

"My sister made my first costume out of bits and pieces of children's material and what started out as a hobby grew into a small business. It's clowning that pays our bills."

Kip comes along to the parades and fetes - but she's banned from children's parties because the children crowd around her and she steals the limelight.

"We also realised quite early on that she's scared of balloons too!" laughed Elaine.

Norman's hearing difficulties don't stop him from being able to entertain the children - if he doesn't understand one of the children, the couple will just make a joke of it.

"When the batteries in my hearing aid go during a performance, which has happened a few times, I'll give Elaine a signal, pass her my hearing aid and carry on the performance in total silence until she passes me back the hearing aid with new batteries in it," said Norman.

Both Norman and Elaine have been deaf since childhood - Norman after contracting TB at three years old, and Elaine after suffering side effects from a drug used to treat meningitis when she was just three months old.

Today the pair both wearing hearing aids, Elaine has two, but Norman can only use one.

"They call me stereo and him mono," she laughed.

They also lip-read and watch people's body language and gestures to understand what they are saying.

And of course Kip comes in handy to alert them to any sounds they cannot see.

"We first got Kip because our daughter needed to contact us at 3am but we couldn't hear the phone," said Norman.

"After that we went to have audiology tests and a nurse at Nelson Clinic told us about hearing dogs, we'd never heard of them before. We were interviewed and they asked us some very detailed personal questions - right down to what side of the bed we sleep on. They're extremely thorough and consider all aspects."

After an 18-month wait Kip was ready to come to her new home. And now the McLaren's couldn't imagine life without her.

The phone rings and Kip immediately lifts up her nose from the her bed at the corner of the room where she's sleeping.

She runs up to Norman, puts her paw up on his leg to alert him, and then leads him to the phone.

In the morning she wakes the pair up when she hears the alarm clock, and if somebody is at the door, it'll be Kip who lets everybody know.

"She'll wake us up then jump up on the bed between us and we'll spend 10 minutes playing with her before we get out of bed," said Norman.

It's a lovely way to wake up.

"We can't imagine life without her now. There's nowhere Kip can't go. If I go to the shops, to the cinema, even to the toilet, Kip is right there beside me. She means the world to us."

A few years ago East Lancashire Into Employment paid for Norman to attend a public speaking course and how the couple travel to venues around the area giving talks on their experiences of living with a hearing dog.

Norman is also due to begin talks about how deaf people can appreciate music. Between that and clowning (and of course looking after eight rowdy grandchildren) the McLarens live a busy, fulfilling life.

As Norman plays Amazing Grace to me on his accordion, he explained: "This song means a lot to me.

"When I look at my life I think it's amazing that I can be sitting here playing this, that we're successful clowns, and that I've got a lovely wife like Elaine. I feel very blessed."