String Notes

Our house has carpet in the bedroom and the living room, but a wood floor in the hallway connecting the two. I was eating breakfast this morning, and pitiful whining came from the hallway. The dog is on a diet, so he’s very eager to get his breakfast as soon as I get up. The whining continued, though, and no dog appeared. Grendel has learned that the fastest way to get breakfast is sit at my feet and look cute (and then to poke me with his snout if I don’t notice).

I got up so that I could see what was going on. The dog was sitting in the middle of the hallway, on the doormat that is usually placed in front of the sliding glass door into the hallway, whining. Not being beaten up by the cat, not coming for his breakfast, just whining. I called him, so he stood up, took two skittery steps, and then retreated to the safety of the mat. If I don’t keep his claws trimmed just so, he slides a bit on the hardwood floor. That makes him nervous, so he splays his feet, so he slides more. Pretty soon the hundred-pound dog is stuck in the hallway, unable to go backward or forward. Interestingly, going backward seems to be easier for some reason, though turning around is right out. But breakfast was forward, and he wanted that too, but not enough to walk across the floor.

I had to get the doormat from the front door so Grendel could have a stepping stone. I still had to coax him down the hall, even with that extra non-slip surface. After breakfast, he forgot he was scared of the hallway and happily trotted back to bed.

Supposedly his ancestors roamed wild. I guess there aren’t any hardwood floors out there.