So today as I was going to mow just the backyard and only part of the front since those were the only two places grass had grown out of control, I was going to let her roam the house with the other hounds instead of locking them in the bedroom. The basset hounds had already decided to sleep since they had been fed and it was nicer inside with the air conditioning than being outside.
After a couple of laps around the backyard, as I am bending over to pick up a small tree limb, I feel something nudge me from behind. There stood Stella, wagging her tail. Obviously I was surprised but more relieved that she was here outside and had not taken off in other directions.
As I led her back to the house, there stood Sadie inside the house looking out at us and the basset hounds were still asleep. I decided it was best to put the bloodhounds in the bedroom with the door shut, where they sleep at night.
She is a very smart dog, is starting to act more like a bloodhound every day and I can tell she is getting more use to this place being her new home and the other three hounds being her new roommates.
Here are a few photos from this morning and right after their early lunch. No matter what time of day they always have to see if anyone or animal has been in their yard since their last search and destroy mission.
Last night was also a time of "crisis". The first college football game was starting at 6pm local time and I knew I would be there on the couch for at least the next 6 hours watching multiple games. I will be doing the same thing tonight and Saturday ... it's my normal fall routine.
Yet last night the three hounds I've had for years, found out there is a new hound in the house that is beginning to act like a normal bloodhound instead of the shy dog that just moved into their neighborhood. She evidently decided the place on the floor by the stereo speaker she liked was just a temporary spot and that she prefers the couch a lot more.
That started the first problem. On the opposite end of the couch of where I sit, is where Winston has sat for his 11 years. He props his head on the arm of the couch or stretches out in the middle of the couch and sleeps the majority of time that I am watching ballgames or movies. After Stella stretched out, she took 3/4 of the small couch. It's a model where it is longer than a love seat but shorter than a normal couch.
Winston decided that since the corner was not available then the spot right next to me was the next best thing. There was no room available but Winston saw enough space he like any hound knows they can make room once they get up there. That didn't bother Stella in the least. She pulled her legs out from under Winston after he laid on them and put one of her arms over Winston.
Sadie took her normal position under the coffee table, Heidi in the other chair and things were good for the next few hours.
Of course just like me, the hounds will also get up to get a drink of water at times. In the old days before this past Sunday night, they could be assured their seat would still be there when they returned from the water bowl.
Not anymore!!
Once Stella got up to go get a drink ... Sadie out of her norm, jumped up on the couch and took her spot. Winston gave up and headed for his spot in the bedroom and Heidi only watched from a distant chair.
This is where it gets interesting. Stella comes over to my side, staring at the couch, acting like all she wants is to be petted while I am watching the game. Stella had other plans though. First it was one paw on the edge of the couch. Then it was both of her front paws as she glanced down at Sadie ... who even looks bigger since the thinner Stella has arrived.
That thought I had where she "might" try to get on the couch ... went to saying "no" multiple times and was fully ignored. Stella had jumped over Sadie on the couch and stood there over Sadie until Sadie slide out from under her and back to her normal position under the coffee table. NO growling was ever involved with all the changing of positions.
Soon after Stella had found the right spot for a few hours of sleep.
By the end of the night and the last football game finishing up, Heidi moved to her spot in the bedroom and as you see below, both bloodhounds found their perfect sleeping positions.
Although the photos are a little grainy from using the iPad Mini camera, the night ended well.
I am really happy with how Stella has adapted to her new residence. She has been absolutely zero trouble. She follows a very similar schedule as the other hounds. She hasn't whined or barked once yet is very observant of strange noises. Last night it was the football official's whistles she heard on tv.
She has had no problems with her dog food change from 4Health to Fromm Senior, with duck as the main ingredient. She poops and pees in the field, not the yard. She is not a runner, doesn't pull on the leash when walking and is just a normal very laidback bloodhound. She's a great smart bloodhound and I am glad I chose to give her a new home.
Heidi is doing better today with her skin issue .. no photos. Winston is just Winston, nothing phases him and he just cruises easy through each day.
I'm doing a little housekeeping on the blog today. I'm sure others that use blogger as their blogging platform has seen the notice in the overview section of their blog dashboard talking about some European law where European Union visitors have to be told how cookies are handled????
Do we have to add this to our blogs? I don't feel any kind of responsibility like that. I don't have any Google AdSense, you cannot buy anything from my blog and I know personally being an internet addict that if I visit any websites I'm leaving a "cookie trail". Nor am I a fan of all the visits I am getting from Russia and the Ukraine.
So to appease Blogger I added a tab up top of my blog for those visitors they speak of. What is Blogger going to do to blogs that don't have the cookie warning visible? I think the whole thing is bullshit.
In part of the blog housekeeping I am going to update my "about me" page, since a 4th hound has been added. When I read that page now it doesn't make a lot of sense. I never know how little or how much to put on the "about me" page.
Once again with the temps in the low 90's, the hounds don't like to stay out long, so not many photos. Forecasts shows after 4 more days of the heat, we start having highs in the 70's ... so it's nice weather within a week.
Nothing new from "the tropics" of southern Indiana.