Familiar Times

 

We didn't do anything special, no hats, no ice cream or doggie cakes. It was Walter's 3rd birthday on February 1st. I remember sitting down at the computer on a rainy Saturday in Sierra Vista AZ in April 2020. I was looking for another bloodhound but they all seemed to be east of the Rockies and I wasn't going that far for a hound. Then I thought, what about an English Bulldog? I had always liked them and wanted one. So I found an ad in Tucson. I made a phone call, he was still available and I headed up there to see him. He is the same color as his dad who was huge and the size of my mom, which was small. So he is a small male by AKC standards but a great dog.

I decided I'd see what the Nikon zoom would do for just a portrait. That's Watson, he and Samson will be 2 years old on April 26th. He has spent all morning around two naps, playing with his new friend. Chasing each other from one end of the yard to the other end. 18° at the time and I couldn't get them to come inside.

Once they did, Samson did a few circles under my desk and decided that was where he was sleeping for his first nap. Again, another start to a great day for him. He acts like a new dog and one that has been here for a long time. He has already fallen into the routines of the other three as far as going in and out, feeding time and siesta times.

I didn't get to the camera soon enough to capture their springs across the yard. When I walked up to the patio to see how they were doing, they were wrestling on the patio, then stood up and started chasing each other. 

All of these photos are shot inside through the patio door. Too cold for me. 

Walter turned down Samson's request to play. He was outside for only one reason and when he was finished he sprinted back to the door for me to let him in.

They had just moved past an hour and a half of sleep. Both were snoring. They played hard this morning. The other two are in their favorite sleeping spots.

The photos below were of some of their playing outside in cold weather after their nap and lunch. It sure did bring back some memories of Sadie and Stella playing all the time when they were not sleeping. It reminded me how they acted once Sadie decided that Stella was okay, within the first couple of days of Stella's arrival. 

Watson continues to like Samson even more and is now on the offensive when they are playing. The ground is still frozen and I am not too happy knowing that in a few days when it all starts to melt the backyard will be back to a swamp for a few days.

First it was a game of tug of war with an old rope bone that had not been played with in who knows how long. Once they were back inside and still rough housing, I put them outside to burn up some of that energy and that led to chasing each other and some wrestling.

Henry was watching the tug of war from the deck. Plus that sunshine was keeping him warmer.

They both howled at the neighbor when she was outside filling her bird feeders. Samson can bay with a little deeper voice and can last a little longer than Watson with his head pointed straight up. When she went back inside they continued playing. 

Of course with all that high energy playing with someone your own size possibly for the first time since they left their breeder in June 2021, that means an afternoon siesta where nothing wakes them up. Not even the beep from a camera.

I am not going to have time to write tonight so I am taking my fingers away from the keyboard at 2:55pm and call it a day for blogging. I think that last photo says it all ... Samson likes living here.

A very cold day but a sunny day here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.