Afternoon Winds Are Howling

It wasn't long after their lunch we went outside as usual. Like I said in my post this morning, I was going to take up the rope tethered to the anchor and put it back into the FJ.

Like they always do, no matter what ... if the back door to the FJ opens Sadie and Stella are jumping in without me saying a word. 

They like to ride and the past few months I have been taking them with me on short trips around town. So far Stella has not tore up anything when I spend time in a store but she does move to the front seat and looks out the front window for me. You can see in these photos it didn't take long for her to get in the driver's seat.

After I talked them into getting out of the FJ, they headed for the field while Heidi spent some time in the front yard. She seemed to like walking around but didn't get to far today ... not even into the backyard.

Sadie is becoming addicted to her walks as much as her food ... to the point that she wants to go for a walk every time she goes outside. That will never happen. Both of them don't seem to roam the field as long as they use to. This is the 'stare down' that Sadie gives me inside or outside when she wants to go on a walk.

Later in the afternoon I decided it was time to burn off some of their energy, after all they had been sleeping all afternoon while the winds outside were strong enough to move the large branches of the tall sycamore tree and rattle all of my vintage storm windows. 

As Stella shakes her head ready to go, Heidi wants to stay outside but she doesn't want to go with us on the walk. Once I would walk toward the door to let her back inside she would turn around and head back to the driveway, wanting to stay outside. So the bloodhounds and I took off.

As we got near the corner where Stella likes to veer right and take her time, I called her to 'come on' to keep her near me as much as possible. I didn't want to wait or have to go get her if she got too far behind. I still had Heidi loose at the house and even though it would be very rare for Heidi to get in trouble I didn't want to take that one chance of saying "what if ... ".

When it got to this point I was telling Sadie that I was walking home and Stella could show up when she wanted. I was tired of calling for her and being ignored. She finally figured out that Sadie and I were not waiting on her and she came sprinting, fast enough that I couldn't catch her with the camera for more than a couple of photos.

I guess it is easier for her to turn left running full speed if she holds her left ear up. The thing is she would never be able to hold her ears up on her own. Not possible. Flopping ears and fast speeds.

As we got near the house Heidi could be seen. I really expected to find her in the front yard enjoying the sun but she must have spent the time we were on the walk, just snooping around the house. 

Of course with Sadie being the 'leader of the pack' she had to make sure that Heidi was okay when she returned.

She might have a clean bill of health with her blood tests but for many months I have thought her back legs must be bothering her bad enough that she doesn't want to go on the walk in the field, when she use to love doing that. She never missed the chance to take the daily walk. 

The vet and I have rubbed, squeezed and moved those rear hocks but she never reacts as if they are painful. They look painful and swollen but they have looked like that for many years. The skin on those are very soft like they should be. I guess I couldn't tell when they were covered in white hair.

I've been discussing with a friend how can you help a large breed dog lose weight. Some people say cut portions of food and supplement with green beans. Others say weight management food or portion control and others say raw food. Any suggestions?

Sadie has been losing weight but I cut her portions many months ago and at the same time with warmer weather she is getting two walks per day. By the way she looks in the photos and the way she feels on the sides, I can tell she is losing some weight but she is a big hound. My friend's mastiff is 136#, so we have been discussing what to do with him. Their vet says the mastiff has to lose some weight.

I may go back and update older posts and hope when I push the update button that Blogger does not move that older post to the top like the newest post ... it did that to me a few times in the past.

It's above 60° but really  really windy here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.