Stella Passes Her Last Test

It was earlier than I wanted it to be for a Saturday morning but it seems to be the norm lately ... woken at 5:30am by one or more of the hounds wanting to go outside. Of course since I am the designated doorman for them, they have to wake me up. This time, as I found out after it happened, a large bloodhound paw stepped on my ankle ... that woke me up.

By the time I had figured out what was going on ... one certain bloodhound was standing over me and staring down at me inches from my face. What??? Stella had jumped up on the bed, stepping on my ankle, and I guess needed to get outside pretty quick. It wasn't just her. She had also woken the other 3 hounds and now it was a joint effort ... it was time to get up with the clock saying 5:18am.


Outside we went ... it is beautiful that time of day, only today there was a slight drizzle. That's hard for me to say being a lifetime "night person". Yes, once again Stella goes sprinting into the field, as does Sadie. Heidi heads for her spot in front and Winston has his in the back. This wasn't the test that Stella passed, she already had yesterday by coming back to the house when she was finished, instead of running away following her nose.

No, today her final test was ... THUNDER.

Later Saturday Afternoon - Sun Is Out

That was part of her bio when I decided to bring her home to "the tropics". She had separation anxiety and was afraid of thunder. Well this morning not soon after the first cup of coffee was started, a nice loud piece of thunder passed through a little before 6:30am. My very first basset hound, Harry, was terrified of thunder and storms so I know what the worst looks like.

Stella didn't even pant in fear. She didn't whine, She didn't sprint all over the house trying to find a place to get out. She laid down behind my desk chair like she does every time I am on the computer (too much lately) and went to sleep.

There were more claps of thunder, some of it just faintly rolling in the background, but the loudest noise in the house at that time was Stella's stomach was growling as if she needed to be fed 7 hours early.

Stella and Winston found the wet tall grass very tasty so they added some to their diet for the day. The only thing Sadie wanted to do was get back inside the house. She wasn't interested in the dark overcast skies.

Sadie In The Lead

As far as the separation anxiety, I also have seen the extreme side of that when Sadie was a puppy. Stella shows none of those extremes while I have been gone. Of course she is now in a good sized room with three other hounds that are all free to walk, lay, sleep where they want, as is Stella. That probably makes a huge difference in her history of having separation anxiety.

It's another weekend full of college and pro football. The rain is scheduled for this morning but I can also see we are not getting much rain, nothing like the radar shows. That rain will be gone by late morning with a clear day afterword.

Here are some photos taken later Saturday afternoon as we took a break from football between games and prepared for the the daily dog walk.

Heidi is showing more energy lately. That's a good sign that she is feeling better. I have to thank a blog reader along with a local friend, both suggesting soaking Heidi in Epsom Salts for her skin issues.

Winston was back to his old self by last night. He wanted up on the couch and slept most of the night next to Stella and I while I watched a college football game and the Reds baseball game in Milwaukee.

Sadie is just Sadie. She spends most of her time at night in two different places. She either sleeps under the coffee table or takes the "big man's" chair. One thing I have noticed these past three weeks since I changed her dog food ... she no longer comes to get me, frantic to get outside ... frantic is the correct word to use. She would then sprint to the field and start chewing grass, or hay. I can only think it had something to do with the food I was feeding her before this month.

Reading some other blogs, some are seeing snow in the mountains, some are wrapping up their travel plans for the winter and have set their departure dates while others are stationary but have the ability to change locations since their homes are RVs. It will be interesting to see if the El Nino forecast will be accurate.

We will enjoy the next ten days or so with highs in the upper 70's, maybe a couple days in the low 80's ... that's some nice weather and the good thing is, it is just outside the door. I would be willing to trade a mountain for that corn field across the highway though.

That's about all that took place from "the tropics" of Southern Indiana on Saturday.