Floors

I have never had laminate flooring before. The only place we have it in this house is the front entryway, hallway to the kitchen, and in the office. This is not good flooring for dogs. It is slick and there is no texture for them to get traction. Brie has been having troubles on this floor. It wasn't a problem until a couple of weeks ago. The guy who came to install our blinds arrived at our house just before Scott got home from getting his driver's license. (I was still at at the place getting my driver's license.) He rang the doorbell as Scott was driving into the driveway, so there was no one inside to holler at Brie for barking and tearing through the house to the front door. When Scott got to the house, he unlocked the door and came in with the blind installer (I had been calling him the "blind guy" but decided that might not be the best use of terms.) Anyway, when they came inside, Brie was in the doorway where the hall meets the kitchen. Scott tried to get her to come with him upstairs, but she wouldn't cross the doorway. At the time, he didn't know what had happened and was getting frustrated with her that she wouldn't come so he could put her in the bedroom upstairs so she wouldn't bother the man who was here to install our blinds. Scott ended up dragging her up the stairs. I didn't know any of this until much later in the day. The guy finished his job just before lunch time and I then went upstairs to let Brie out of the bedroom. I wasn't paying much attention at the time, but she went down the stairs and sat on the third step from the bottom for a little while, then went back upstairs. This isn't unusual for her as the steps were her favorite place when she was a puppy, and it didn't matter to her that she had outgrown the step and hangs over the edge when she lays on it. Anyway, she was pretty quiet all day and I was enjoying it. She wasn't bothering me to let her outside every 10 minutes and she wasn't following me all around the house like she sometimes does. I left to pick the kids up from school and she continued to sleep upstairs beside our bed. I was LOVING THIS! It wasn't until awhile after I picked up the kids from school that I realized there was a problem. Brie is ALWAYS underfoot when I'm cooking supper. But still, I continued on with what I was doing. Scott was late coming home from work, so I put supper on the table and the kids sat down to eat. I heard Brie bark upstairs. Weird!? Then the lightbulb turned on in my head and it finally really registered to me that something really was wrong, because she is ALWAYS pestering Emma at the supper table (that's what happens when you sneak and give the dog scraps under the table!) Anyway, I got up from the table and filled her food dish as I knew this would get her to come. Brie is what you call a CHOWHOUND! She will NOT let you miss feeding time. She still didn't come! As we were going to get her, Scott came home. I told him something was wrong with Brie and she won't come into the kitchen. He then filled me in on what had happened earlier that morning, or at least what he thinks happened, as no one was in the house at the time. He thinks she bolted to the door when the doorbell rang and wiped out on the slick, laminate floor. She will not walk on it now. I feel bad for her, as she stands in the doorway to the kitchen watching what might be happening in the hallway or the front door. The other day when my office furniture was being delivered, she REALLY wanted to get some attention from the guys, but she would not walk to the front door. Poor Brie. However, I am LOVING this! She can't pester people when they come to the door. She can still be obnoxious with her barking, which seems to have increased. I suppose she is making up for the fact that she can't jump all over whoever has come to the door. Because she won't walk on the floor, it means she can't get upstairs. Hmmm......I can handle not having dog hair all over the upstairs. I do feel bad that she can't lay on the steps, which is one of her favorite spots to lay. I suppose I'll get over that too. I've thought about getting a long runner rug for the hallway, but I think we'll just stay like this for now. It's kind of nice. Alot of people don't necessarily appreciate a big dog, who is more excited to see them than they are to see the dog, wallering all over them as they walk in the door. Now I just need to find people who want to come visit! ;-)