My Love Of Hounds ... Wins

I know ...  Really I know.

Something just felt right about giving this bloodhound a new home, a request from her owner that was trying to re-home her for the hound's safety. I went back and forth for a couple of weeks. I even canceled the trip to pick her up once. Still it felt like the right thing to do. There was excitement the night before I was to leave and I am thrilled with my decision this morning as I type this.

I thought long and hard about the consequences of adding a bloodhound to the house. Would she be big and obnoxious with Sadie? Would two bloodhounds turn this house into a romping playground? Or would she be mellow like Sadie. Was she destructive? Plus what would happen to my traveling plans? Traveling with 4 hounds would not be easy to do, although I know of one person that does with additional cats.

It might even be impossible to do with one person and four hounds ... but I found out my love of hounds made other decisions not a priority.

To be honest, as long as Heidi is going through her skin rash issues ... I have no plans to travel. She is improving based on where hair is growing back. The vet said last February to never expect hair to grow again on her rear shoulder ... but it continues to grow. I am seeing a weekly bath is giving her relief and making her feel better ... it would be hard to find a tub for her bathe in while camping in the middle of nowhere, unless I would rent a motel room once per week.

I plan to travel to a vet in Illinois a couple of hours away that specializes in dog dermatology.

She felt better Saturday night after her weekly bath, only this time she was soaking in Epsom Salts. By Sunday night those bright red spots had calmed down and all of her sore looking skin was soft to the touch.  Still comparing to last weeks post bath photos, there was little change ... except she looks like she is starting to gain weight.

She did okay on the trip in June but came back with her skin going downhill and a little problem with her stools. I just feel it's best for her to stay at home in a normal routine. With that in mind, adopting this bloodhound was a 'no brainer'. This picture is from her owner that use to dress her up when taking her into work on "casual" Friday. I mean how could anyone resist a face like this?

From the ad she had some separation anxiety and was afraid of thunder. She also has the ability of opening doors as long as they have a lever handle. I have only one door like that going outside, but it's locked when we are not using it. She has nudged that door lever with her nose and even nudged the bedroom door handle but found it out was round. She doesn't bolt if she sees the door is opening but is still leashed at this time whenever we are going outside.

The owner hated giving her up. She had plenty of land, living in the beautiful horse country of Kentucky. She had to be crated when she was at work. Photos showed that some how this bloodhound got the bottom of those big black wire crates you are familiar with, open ... then pried herself out of the crate. She then opened the door to inside the house, which let the 2 year old boxer out of the house into the garage. The bloodhound then opened the door to go outside. They were off for a day of fun and excitement. No one was home.

So when the owner came home after work a little after 5pm, the dogs she thought were locked in her house were near the highway before turning into her house. The highway is a country highway and not as busy as the US highway I live on ... but any road can kill a loose dog. She was wanting to find a home for her possibly with someone that had or knew about the bloodhound breed. Only bloodhound owners can understand what she is talking about.

She also suggested it might help if the new owner would be working at home or home all day, so crating would not be a requirement. There had to be something else ... but after almost 24 hours I haven't seen it. There is still a chance for her bad side to come out, but she sure seems like a good bloodhound just like the ad stated.

She was great traveling the 4 hour drive home. Half of it was freeway, driving through a city and across a large bridge over water ... but nothing bothered her. I did catch her in the mirror trying to nudge the rear window open with her nose ... that would have been impossible to open since only using a key from the outside does the trick. She stopped at the word "no".

The interesting thing was, with all the room in the back of the Toyota FJ and blankets strewn about ... at times she liked to climb into the passenger see up front. She made numerous trips back and forth. She loved looking out the windows and one time propping her one foot up on the dashboard. So that Toyota I cleaned last week now has a fresh supply of bloodhound drool in different sniffing spots. By the time we were inside the stateline of Indiana, she slept in the back. It's great to have a 4th hound added to the herd.

When I got home, just me and the new bloodhound roamed the field, letting her sniff away on a 20' lead. I then brought out Winston, Sadie and Heidi to meet her. Since I had her on a leash, I didn't have the camera for the welcome home party. The basset's loved her from the start, wagging their tails and getting low, if that's possible for them, to show her they wanted to play. My big 100lb baby Sadie hid behind me, not sure who that was or what she was doing here. They finally touched noses last night so Sadie is coming to terms with a new bloodhound in the house.

Winston was close behind tracking her trip through the field for the first time.

That tether pictured below is attached to a livestock anchor in the ground. The last time it was pulled up, a tractor scoop had to be used, so it's not going anywhere.

Hard To Tell Apart

Later Sunday afternoon to avoid the temps, Winston Sadie and I took her on the afternoon walk. She is what they call a "tracker" because her nose instantly went to the ground and she followed the path we take with occasional trips 20' away to lock into a different smells.

These next two photos show like any bloodhound, she is curious.

She then came back and did what all the hounds normally do, picked a spot on the floor and went to sleep. She tried one spot but Heidi let her know by barking that spot was taken. So the new hound moved to a spot that has never been used since I have lived here 18 years. She napped there last night and this morning. Winston decided to see if she minded being a pillow and plopped his 62lbs right next to her as close as possible for an afternoon nap. The new bloodhound didn't move and slept as long as he did.

Seems To Be Her Declared Sleeping Spot

It was a good first night and all the hounds were mellow. She frowned when she heard the camera beep when the auto focus locked in. For some reason the photos make her look the same size as Sadie but she is definitely smaller in bulk than Sadie is. She is the same height and a year younger. She is the one in front. Of course Sadie is protecting her favorite bone.

I was hoping the sleeping arrangement was as the owner had told me .. the bedroom floor. That proved to be true, as she slept through the night without any whining. She is smaller than Sadie but has a longer tongue. She is as laidback as Winston is, which is hard to believe. She has not barked nor howled yet, doesn't pull on the leash or lead, loves to sniff the field in back along with all of the house and not showing any instincts of being a runner.

The highway noise is new to her so that makes her curious, but she will never be in the front yard even leashed. I have a feeling that moving to a house with a little less "energy" will help her. Before she roomed with a 15 year old chihuahua that did what all do ... barked a lot. Her partner in crime was a nice black and white boxer that was well mannered, around 2-3 years old but had that boxer energy. So the new bloodhound might enjoy a quieter house with 3 hounds that have a lot less energy.

I am sure not spending days in a crate will help her. It did help Sadie. When Sadie or Winston were puppies and I had a job to do I had no choice but to crate all them all day during their younger years. I remember how much better Sadie acted when she didn't have to spend all day in her crate. I have a feeling it will be the same with the new hound.

So there will be more photos posted as usual. A new hound will be added to the Hounds page along with her photo on the right sidebar.

Her name??  It will have to be changed and I hope to have the name reveal itself this week. Her name is Dipstick!!  There are a couple of stories behind that name. As a puppy the bottom half of her tail was all black but she was a red bloodhound. Now her tail is a black and tan on the bottom half ... she must have had a black and tan parent.

About the time the owner I got her from was going to change her name ... she got loose in the garage one day while they were at work and her tail found some engine oil. Later when everyone was home, she was spreading oil on the walls with her tail ... so the name stuck.

I've always had human names for my hounds so we will see what turns up.

She turned 6 on August 9. No history of health issues, beautiful coat and very very quiet. She is a great bloodhound, still I am aware that "something" could happen later on. I can tell she is really smart just like Sadie. The training to stay with the other hounds in the bedroom while I am gone will start later this week. Right now I just want her to roam the house and field and get use to all the new smells.

Well ... Winston is letting me know that he wants to go out ... so they all will go out.

I couldn't resist adopting this great hound. This blog has been moving for a while toward a retirement life with hounds instead of rv traveling like other blogs ... my love of hounds is just hard to resist at times.