Hounds Maintenance Day

So before the kickoff time of 12 noon, this morning was time to clean ears, trim toenails, and brush all the hounds. Really, it doesn't take that much time to do all four hounds as long as it's done on a regular basis. The tool pictured on the left makes the hounds react different. The word was Stella would lay down and let you cut hers ... she did without any issues.

Heidi has no problems with it. I have to help her roll over so I can see the nail better and to keep from getting into the quick, thus cutting them to short. She came with very long nails and I've never been able to get them real short so we are trying a different schedule of more times with shorter intervals within cutting them and cutting very little each time.

Winston takes some bribing with food or a treat. He will not come to the spot to lay down but after I walk him to that spot, he lays down immediately and will roll on to his back, where I get a better view.

Sadie is a different story. She might let me do it one week but nothing is ever the same. Today and just seeing those clippers laying there outside, she took off sprinting around the field. She looked like next years 2016 Kentucky Derby winner. I went in to get the camera and when I came out I didn't see her. She was hiding around the corner, behind the giant ragweed that borders the field.

If she sees them inside the house, she will run to either her dog bed or under the living room coffee table, knowing that I cannot move 100#'s that easy with her laying down. I might try tonight as she sleeps, otherwise I'll have to have the vet assistants do it.

Winston is the only hound with bad ears. All the rest are clean, no infections and Stella won the "cleanest ears" award for this week. I use baby wipes to clean these long eared hounds. For Winston he has to have the 50/50 water/white vinegar in his ear, the massage the base, let him shake and start wiping.

I decide to move up Heidi's Epsom Salts soak to today. That would be only two days since her last one but this time I did not use any shampoo  after the 20 minute soak. I just rinsed her off with water and dried her. This was taken right after her soak and all that redness will calm down after it completely dries.

As long as she shows improvement, I am going to give those soaks to her on a more frequent basis. She is also a day or two away from finishing her first 28# bag of Earthborn Great Plains Feast with Bison Meal as the #1 ingredient. I wanted to change the protein source on the next bag to see if there was any change. So in a couple of days she will be eating Earthborn Meadows Feat with Lamb Meal as the #1 ingredient. Neither bag has any kind of potatoes.

I am seeing improvement since I started the Earthborn food on July 20. Her coat has never been better, really soft and shiny. Also hair continues to grow back where the skin was damaged.

It was another day of letting Stella off leash with no problems. She comes when called. There are no surprises with her. She is a typical bloodhound that has grown past the puppy stage. About the only way you can tell the difference between her and Sadie is their tails. If you see blackish it's Stella, otherwise since they are both wearing red collars they look like twins.

That is Sadie if you can't tell

I am pretty sure these hounds smell the yard mole traffic when they are sniffing the mowed part of the yard.

I took all of these photos from sitting in a chair at the corner of the house, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. I thought this photo of Sadie was interesting since it looks like I was kneeling on the grass when I took it ... but not the case ... sitting in a chair a long way away.

Well back to college football ... the next round of "good games" start in a few minutes. Shocking news is that I haven't fallen off my diet wagon. I am not drinking Pepsi, one after another like in past years, no chips, no dips....just water and raw fruits and veggies like any other day. I've lost 21 pounds since May 1 just by eliminating grains, bread, junk food, Pepsi and eating low carbs. I have a couple of days a month where I have a day where I can eat anything I want, including candy and Pepsi, but it's not the daily norm anymore.

Three more days of temperatures in the 90's and then it will drop to low 80's to high 70's here in "the tropics" of southern Indiana.

Thanks for the emails and comments telling me how you look forward to reading the blog and seeing the photos of the hounds. So far their popularity online has not gone to their heads ... yet ... otherwise they may ask for more food, less maintenance and more couch time.