Glued To The Floor

This is blind Helen, doing what she does best:  sleeping with her tongue out.  I saw her lying on the floor of the "people wing" of the house the other day, and it looked like her tongue had been glued to the floor.  When Helen is sleeping, about half the time she has her tongue out.  I'm not sure why, and while we occasionally see other dogs sleeping with their tongues hanging out, with Helen it's a very common occurrence.

Yes, that's our living room ... not much there, a couple of chairs, an end table or two, and then dog beds and laundry basket-beds taking up most of the floor space.  It's hard to tell from this photo, but Helen had been on a tan West Paw bed just behind her but had gotten off to sleep on the hard floor.  Why?  Well, your guess is as good as ours.  That's in the same category as the tongue.  It's for dogs to do and people to wonder why. 

And as for the floor ... you can see from the multitude of scratches in front of Helen that a wood floor is not exactly the ideal surface for a place with this many dogs.  Not only are their doggie toenails hard on it, but the seams between the planks are a real problem for cleaning when one of them has an accident.  (Toothpick, anyone?)  So somewhere on our long list of things to do in the future is a floor project to sand them down and then provide a protective coating of some sort.

That thing you see hanging on the door to the basement is a pine-cone wreath made from a straw hat.  It was there when we bought the place, and I had planned to take it down and get rid of it when I first moved in back in May.  Alas, I didn't act fast enough:  When Alayne arrived, she immediately saw rustic charm in it.  So while I say it goes, she says it stays ... and there's no doubt who wins this one, eh?

Enough of the questionable furnishings, back to Helen:  She is now on a new chemotherapy drug called chlorambucil, which the oncologist at Washington State University switched her to after Helen's nearly fatal gastric hemorrhaging last December.  Following that episode, we gave Helen a "chemo holiday" of several months before resuming treatment, and so far she's doing fine on it.  No side effects at all. 

If Helen could see, however, I have no doubt she would agree with me on the pine-cone-hat thing.

Comments

[Shirley Parr]

Amen to the Steve's comment about wood floors!! What a challenge.
Shirley Parr
Four Winds Farm Sanctuary
Rock, Michigan

[Colleen & In Memory of Sweet Kitty Erin]

Helen look so sweet sleeping like that. How cute!!!

[Chloe]

Helen,

I could never get enough updates of you, lovely girl. Thank you for posing for this sweet picture. I'm sure it made your many, many friends so happy to see you.

[Ann]

Oh, I just love Helen! She looks so contented during her snooze. My dogs will sometimes sleep with their tongues hanging out. They look so cute that way :)

I'm also very happy to hear how well Helen is doing with her new chemo!

[Lynne Parker]

I'd like to second Tracy McBride's question about the hard floors. We have hardwood and vinyl and our older black lab/chow has trouble getting up as does the senior schnauzer with hindquarter weakness. They all seem to slip a little on occasion.

[Lynn (in Louisiana)]

Aww, one of my favorites... sweet, gentle Helen. Thanks so much for the update.

[Angela]

Awwwwww - Helen looks so sweet snoozing -- wish I could pet her -- and the room (with the door with the pine-cone hat on it) looks so airy and inviting - wonderful wood floor - glad you will be protecting it to keep it intact.

[Kathleen Rivard]

Helen, you are a beauty and that is the final word. How many teeth does she have left? Every time I took my Tui to have her teeth cleaned, I discovered that the tartar was the only thing holding them in her head. She now has very few and at times, it looks as tho she is sticking her tongue out at me. How rude!

As for the matter of the floors, it's called "distressed" and some people pay big money for what your charges do for FREE!!!!

[Amy A]

If the pinecone hat accidently fell off the door and some devious dachshunds found it, who knows what could be become of it.

Helen darling, you look fabulous!

[Randi]

Thanks for the wonderful update on Helen. She looks so peaceful in beautiful new home.

[Tracy McBride]

Gotta love that Helen! A question about floors - do your 3 legged animals slip & slide on the hardwood floors? We'd love to get rid of our carpeting because of our 4 rescues but Maggie with 2 1/2 legs has a really tough time on vinyl/wood floors.

[Helen Rietz]

The pine cone straw hat wreath debate. Made me think of that classic scene in the 1980s movie "When Harry Met Sally" - where their good friends are having a fight about a "Roy Rogers Wagon Wheel Coffee Table." She says to him: "Dear, I'm just trying to help you have good taste." Well, if you ever get an evening off, rent the video -- it's a great movie and good for many laughs. You certainly deserve that at the end of your long days.

[Moon Rani]

I think Helen moved off the bed to get further away from that pinecone hat.
I'm glad that Helen is doing well. She's a sweetie. Not only does she sleep with her tongue out, I see she sleeps with one eye open, too.

[Diane Bowlin]

Gosh it's good to see Helen doing so well, and she looks quite comfortable. I also enjoyed your blog about Lucy and friends. So while I more than understand your need for a break, I am always happy when RDR is blogging again. Oh and tho I can't see the wreath to well, let's say for Alayne's sake it's rustic quaint. I also like it Alayne, what I can see anyway. Thanks as always for all that RDR does

[Nina]

Thanks for the update on Helen.....sooo glad she is doing better on the new chemo medication. That's quite the precious picture of her relaxing and dreaming about the pine cone wreath!

[Linda]

Helen... you sleep anywhere and anyway you want to. My dog, Jack, has started sleeping with his tongue sticking out also... and he recently went through 6 months of chemo. Could that be it? Our vet said a lot of dogs do it if they become congested. Who knows.

As for the floor, Jack aimed for the floor because it was cooler, right until we bought him a Cool Bed... one of those beds you fill with water. I was skeptical but now I'm convinced. He LOVES it and is really does keep him cool.

As for Helen, she looks terrific for all she's been through!

[Marla in Kansas City]

That's okay Helen......I often find dried-up drool on my pillows the next morning so don't be too embarrassed by Steve giving up your sleeping quirks....I am sure he snores or something.... : )