Sadie & Stella Take Off

With weather like this every day it's hard to stay inside. Sadie and Stella felt the same way although for some reason Heidi is back in her mid-winter hibernation mode. High temps in the 70's make it perfect weather.

For our mid-day walk I had barely made it to the yard and saw Sadie and Stella both running toward the back of the field direction in back of the house. I have no idea what they had picked up but their noses were to the ground and they were off at a fast pace.

I continued to follow the path walking the same pace I always do, knowing that both of them would be within view.

I was not even close to the first corner and they were already in the middle of the field. It wasn't until Sadie stopped to look back in my direction that they slowed their pace. I expected them to head over the top of the hill and go toward the woods.

They were not chasing deer nor birds, just jogging further and further away from me. I don't recall this ever happening when they were not involved chasing deer. I guess they really do like the field cut. I still had not made it to the first turn.

By the direction Stella was heading along the back edge of the field I thought she was well on her way into the 'no fly zone' but I wasn't going to start running after her yet. I continued with my slow pace while keeping an eye on them to see what they were going to do.

Even with this much sunshine, it didn't feel hot. It's hard to believe it's almost July and we are having highs in the 70's for weather.

I cannot figure out why they were in such a hurry to get to this area of the field. They sniffed around a lot but didn't look like they had found any 'natural protein' to eat. I wondered how long they would stay out here if I didn't get them walking back to the house with me.

I wanted to take a picture of the tightly rolled hay but Sadie had other ideas. Evidently something she liked was wrapped up inside the roll.

A single feather out in the middle of nowhere.

After checking the mail, grabbing some water to drink, I headed back outside for an afternoon of reading. Sadie was checking to see if another walk was possible. It had been about 30 minutes since we returned from the mid-day walk.

Once she saw I was not going to get out of my chair to go on another walk, she decided to sneak up on me as if I couldn't see her.

Stella got to the point of indecision ... whether to answer my call and head back to the house or turn and make a run for it back out into the far field. After a lot of thinking, she decided it was best to return to the house.

It was another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

All 3 Hounds Enjoy The Afternoon Sun

I'll warn you ... a LOT of photos in this post. Heidi was the star of the show.

I had not planned on spending hours outside when the four of us went outside a short time after their lunch. I thought it would be a short trip. Heidi wasn't going to come with until I told her to get outside with a firm voice. She was happy though by wagging her tail all the way to the door ... almost prancing.

The wind was still strong this afternoon but the sunshine was really really nice. So nice I moved my cheap chair out to "Winston's Patio" of 6 red stones. I was still standing in different places taking photos. I noticed that I had the 18mm-55mm lens on the camera but didn't bring the 55mm-200mm zoom lens with me. It looks like that lens worked okay.

While Sadie and Stella moved out into the yard, Heidi wasn't sure what she was going to do nor which direction she was going to take. She thought about it for a while ... I was happy to see her head in the direction of the backyard. I think you will see that she is gaining some of her weight back and I can only assume it's not the food with grain she has been eating but the two meds that the vet gave us on the 5th of March.

One was a supplement for dogs coming out of surgery or older dogs that need a nutritional boost ... called Hema A Spike. She also prescribed one dose of Triwormer just in case she had worms although her stools did not show that.

She was almost headed for the yard and then started to change her mind.

 

Then she thought about it some more and turned back in the direction of the backyard ... the hopeful destination.

 

Stella had already grabbed her spot in the sun and anxiously waited for Heidi to show up.

 

SUCCESS!!! Checking out the grass.

 

I couldn't believe about the time she was in the yard, she did an abrupt about face and turned to walk toward the carport to go back inside. Or did she just want to sniff "Winston's Patio"??

She is still in the thought process deciding what to do.

 

In the meantime Stella and Sadie are screaming "come on"!!!

 

Heidi finally finds her spot and sits down. For new readers you may not understand the excitement so far in this post. I know it's only a basset hound that went outside to lay in the yard .... but for months Heidi has not had any motivation to even go or be outside longer than it takes to dump her tanks. Thus ... excitement shared by the bloodhounds and I.

Once Sadie and Stella saw their job was finished trying to get Heidi to come outside and enjoy the sunshine - they decided it was time to relax and soak up some rays.

I found it interesting after weeks of her constantly scratching, almost non-stop day and night ... during this photo shoot she didn't stop to scratch one time. Is it the blankets she lays on? Or the stale air from a house closed up for the winter?

She even got up to walk around and check out some of the backyard area. Of course whenever Sadie thinks she is missing something important, she will join the sniffing expedition.

Not long after the search mission, Heidi found a different spot to lay in the sun. I am really glad to see her outside and not wanting to run back into the house.

It certainly looked like she was about to head back inside ... but just like before, she made an abrupt turn and headed back out into the yard.

 

Throughout the 116 photos I ended up taking, Stella did a little roaming. She checked out the north side of the yard to make sure that drainage ditch by the neighbors house had not disappeared. She glanced back at me to see if I was paying attention to what she was doing ... then slowly walked back to a nice warm spot in the sun and took a short nap.

Nap time ... she has a procedure she likes to follow.

That spot must have been the wrong spot ... it wasn't more than 15 minutes she stood, walked about 5' to the left and found another spot to sleep in.

She also likes to include periods of deep thought between naps.

 

As Sadie was doing one of her favorite outdoor hobbies ... chewing sticks into 1" pieces and spitting them out ... I noticed Heidi had disappeared while I sat with my eyes closed. When I didn't see her standing by the door I knew she had to be in the front yard ... but where?

About the time I called out the trusty bloodhounds to help me find her ... Sadie had the scent ... out comes Heidi from the Yews.

Those are two proud bloodhounds knowing they had found her so quickly ... didn't even have to move.

The wind may be howling today but it was a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.