Hank Returns

It was an exciting day Saturday as Walter's new friend Hank dropped by for a visit. This one moved into darkness and by that time both hounds and both bulldogs were half asleep on the patio deck in the dark. They had played all afternoon and early evening. I will get to his visit later as I try to catch up from Friday where the hounds and the dog enjoyed weather in the 70's. On Friday they spent 5 hours outside while I made a short 200 mile roundtrip excursion.

I am not sure what has happened to my grass. It was like that before it flooded. Not that it is dormant for the winter but how short and worn it is. I know the hounds and the dog would wear it down a little but I know for a fact I never cut it that short last fall when I finished the mowing season by mowing leaves. With the recent rain over night, it is showing a lot of green this morning, so maybe it will make a comeback.

Besides running and chasing each other from one side of the yard to the other, this is what they do most of the time when they spend time outside.

At times it is hard to convince them, that I own the couch and have a seat on it somewhere.

Early Saturday morning it was so warm and nice by 8am we all were outside enjoying the warm temps. Watson is getting older and slowly but surely is calming down a little ... that is until he sees people in or outside of the house, or seeing dog walkers pass by the house. He is the loudest baying bloodhound I have ever had. Is it because he is a male instead of the quiet females I had in the past?

Little did Walter know, that a few hours later his new friend was coming to see him.

While I sat on the patio enjoying the sunshine, the warmth and the sounds of a lot of birds ... the hounds and the dog moved around the backyard to different sleeping spots.

Walter playing watchdog ... always making sure that no one comes near his property.

Mid afternoon Hank shows up. I was watching the end of a close basketball game with our heated rivals, while talking on the phone about some information the caller needed ... and then MADNESS !!!!

Matt comes walking in the house holding Hank up high because Watson is going full ballistic with the surprised visitor. Henry is no better when it comes to greeting people. He will also jump on them to be petted and of course with three jealous dogs, they want all the attention. I was trying to hang on to my phone, hold Watson by his collar and trying to move Henry out of the way so Hank could be set down on the floor to be mauled and sniffed by two hounds and one excited bulldog.

As Hank spent time in the backyard holding his own against the larger hounds and Walter, we noticed he had his own favorite things to do ... like finding one bone at a time in the yard and bringing all of them up to the step on the patio, "claiming" they were his. He didn't back down when Watson tried taking his bones back.

He ran and played with the others, explored the yard on his own at times, swore that he had found something to eat in the cracks between the deck board and always went out in the yard to pee. With is big feet and his body size I expect he will be bigger than Walter in a couple of years. He also presses his face against anything he needs to smell just like Walter.

Sorry for the lack of photos but I was enjoying watching them run all over the place and it wasn't long after they arrived my phone was down to 10% battery life and needed charged.

Walter would coax Hank into playing with him, getting Hank to chase him. It was in the 70s but not really hot, yet Walter was panting so much from his cardio workout that you would have thought it was in the middle of summer when it's hot and humid.

With all the excitement and action yesterday, the hounds and the dog slept about an hour and half later than normal this morning. They got up, did their normal out and back in, then ate breakfast. Instead of the hounds playing, they joined Walter in the computer room and went back to sleep. While I write this blog post they are still sound to sleep, approaching the two hour mark of solid sleep. The windows are open, sun is out and the sound of birds fill the air.

It is going to be another great day here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.