Hold me, Mom!

There’s nothing quite like anesthetic to make your dog behave like a wounded child.
When we brought Sensi home after his surgery yesterday, all he wanted was hugs.
For as long as I can remember, Sensi has periodically sought out “hugs” from us. A hug from Sensi means that, once we’re seated, he lowers his head so his muzzle is pointed at the ground and then walks right into us, burying his head in our chest. He fully expects us to then wrap our arms around him.
While Sensi was feeling good to be home last night, he was still very discombobulated from the anesthesia. He’d forget what he was doing and would wind up just standing in one place, staring at nothing until his legs began giving out on him. We had to remind him to sit and lay down.
Because I believe in spoiling my dog at least where comfort is concerned, I brought out his big dog bed from the bedroom and put it in front of the wood stove where he likes to lay and soak up the heat from the fire.
I invited him over, tried to get him to step on the bed but instead, he just scooted up next me and leaned in for a hug. He stayed put until he was falling into me, his eyes closed and breathing relaxed while he fell asleep.
It was about as endearing as endearing gets.
He did the same thing to both my husband and I as often as he could last night and again this morning.
If you think you feel bad leaving your dog at home every day, imagine trying to pull yourself away from a dog who just wants to fall asleep in your arms.
Here’s a photo from last night — note the cone-shaped bandage on his left ear.
I took the photo while getting dinner ready. Sensi always wants to be near me when I’m in the kitchen but doesn’t like to sit or lay on the hard surface of our wood floors. He meandered out there to watch me cook dinner, but when I turned around and saw his legs leaning precariously to one side, I figured I had better grab his bed before he fell over and broke a leg!