Knucklebone Day & Flooding

 

With high winds and rain in the forecast I thought it might be time to reach into the bottom cabinet drawer, the dog drawer, and pull out three brand new knucklebones. When they cannot go outside they need something to occupy them. I bought three last month to store not knowing then I would need four, but it has all worked out. Oh ... those high winds and rain have not arrived as of this morning. Typical for this area. A lot of times storms blow around our location and that is always a good thing.

Google Blogger has reversed my photos again so I will talk backwards again. I didn't even try to fix or do other attempts. Walter did not get a bone right off the bat. You will see him pouting in later photos. Yet when he had his chance for a new bone, he didn't hesitate to claim it as his. Watson thought he might walk back in the room for that bone until Walter gave him a growl as if he would hurt him. 

Henry had walked away from his bone in the bedroom so Watson brought that one in the computer room. I can tell where everyone is by the sound of them gnawing on their bones. So far no fights or arguments over these popular bones.

This is when Walter first approached the bone when he finally had a chance. As always ... he presses his flat nose against the object he is trying to smell. Then he will lick it and then start chewing it.

It is always amazing to find something on the floor that you have never seen and have no idea where it came from. This is a piece of metal. Maybe slid into something to make it stable, like between seamed cloth or leather ??? I guess that will give me something to look for today while I clean the house. Any ideas what that might be?

Samson took his bone to the patio door rug. Henry, and Watson were in the bedroom and computer room, their choice. That cheap rug saves a lot of wet paw prints in bad weather. Combine that with the towel dry and it's not bad on the floors in bad weather. More work but worth it.

This is Walter right after the hounds took their new bones in different rooms. He let me know I was one bone short. He wouldn't even come to me when I called him.

I would rather buy local, but after making trips to three different dog stores a few weeks ago I guess I will have no choice to buy what I want from Amazon. That is one "loop" leash for training purposes and a red collar for Watson. Or a red rope type collar for Watson ... not sure if they even make those anymore since "choker" collars are not political correct. They are not to strangle the dog but to train them with a sudden light tug on the leash. That tug does work, as none of the hounds drag me down the street when walking.

The bone craze this morning started when I heard Samson barking while lowered on his front legs and his nose in the small space between my chest of drawers and the floor. He had obviously found something of interest. There isn't anything a bloodhound cannot find, even when I can't. I moved Henry and Watson out of the way and got down to look under the chest to see a small round piece of a knucklebone from months ago. How they get under there is hard to fathom since the space is barely wide enough to slide my hand inside. It was what I consider to be too small of a piece so I threw it away and brought out the new ones.

They did take a break from gnawing on the knucklebones long enough to take their individual walks under a light sprinkle of rain. Once again Samson was the perfect gentleman when I introduced him to my friends around the corner on their front porch. It was a light sprinkle but the radar showed a storm heading our way that was so large on the radar screen there was no way it would blow around us.

After a short nap the hounds and the dog were ready to be fed. Mixing in the new food with the last of the food I bought for Watson, 70# worth, 50/50. Since everyone will eat whatever put in their bowl, the transition to other food was not a problem. Samson came with some of his food to mix in what I had. I had not seen any digestive issues the week he has been here. Today he didn't mind being out in the light rain after his lunch. Walking in slow motion, exploring the area, he finally did come back inside.

Just inside the door, Watson walked off with Walter's bright orange REI bone in his mouth and shoved it in Samson's face ... so the tug of war was on. They walked all over the house nose to nose, a little playful growling and neither one letting good of their half of the bone.

Those three hound walks have been putting me to sleep for an hour or two and today was no different. All the hounds and the dog were sleeping in the computer room as I snuck away from the desk. A coupe of hours later it was time for my lunch and possible dinner. A delicious plate of pasta while a crockpot of beans were slow cooking on the counter.

The rains came about 2:30pm and an hour and half later it is still raining. Not hard but steady yet hard enough that I don't want to go anywhere outside the house.

In the 40+ years of house ownership and 25 of those in Indiana, I have never had a flooding problem like this. It was like this last year and I added top soil, leveled the ground and planted new seed everywhere you see it flooding. For some reason the yards on each side of me do not flood. I have talked to each neighbor about it and they both say my yard has flooded all the time since they were small girls. Both are in their 60s.

I am out of ideas on how to fix this. There is nowhere to run a drain. In either direction are the neighbors yards. The street drains are on the other side of the street and two houses in each direction. Neighbors on the right have a valley between their yard and their neighbors ... "it gets like a small river sometimes". 

The only way I can have a landscaping company come here with trucks of new soil, plant seed and keep the hounds and dog off of it ... is to take them on a month vacation while the grass would grow. They now stand at the door wondering why they cannot go outside as it continues to pour rain.

Well the rain let up so I thought ... let's see what happens.

They stop and analyze.

Walter turned around at the open door ... he analyzed all he needed to know.

Samson did not care.

Watson came back inside.

Samson was bribed with "milk bone" to come back inside.

A dark, dreary wet day here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.