Temporary Anxiety ??

Just a couple of clarifications before I start. The title says "Temporary Anxiety" not "Temporary Insanity" and the old wrought iron posts are being replaced next spring or summer. I haven't made up my mind if I will reinstall wrought iron or wood posts. That project is in the Top 5 of my 2019 list. That's Heidi in one of her few outdoor activities lately. With the ground frozen hard as a rock this morning I don't expect much from her when she's outside. I have some good news on Stella's anxiety after Friday's results.

Because I am not sure if Stella's separation anxiety is temporary or if we are starting retraining for the next year or so I am trying a temporary first, non-destructive option. A couple of other reasons I have not attached a lock of some sort to the outside of the bedroom door to keep Stella inside is I don't like the idea of screwing a locking mechanism into the door and the wood door frame. It's a cosmetic thing with me I guess. Some would accuse me of being cheap and that might be legitimate. I hate wasting a dollar or two on something I might not end up using ... but strangely enough I never hesitate placing large amounts of money on a crap table. Go figure.

That cord is on a closet door handle about 10' or more from the bedroom door. I have a slip knot on the bedroom door handle, then I pull the cord as tight as possible toward the closet door, wrapping it as tight as possible. This worked three different times yesterday. On my last trip I was gone for two hours and when I returned home, the cord was just as tight as when I left. I checked the inside door handle in the bedroom for any bloodhound drool or wetness and find none all three times.

Stella had passed the test three different times yesterday and was back to normal. Temporary anxiety??

Sadie use to stare at me to get me on the morning walk around 8am. Stella will wake up and start whining in the doorway of my computer room to get me on the morning walk around 8am. This morning it was 21° with a slight freezing cold wind from the NE. My fleece lined Wranglers and the Mountain Hardwear parka did well in keeping me warm.

I was out of practice taking pictures while wearing ski gloves. Many of the photos this morning focused on everything but Stella because I was having a hard time pressing the shutter a second time halfway to focus in on the her. I also forgot to set the camera to 'single point' and it was too hard to adjust the settings with the thick bulky gloves on.

That's my excuse for bad photos today and I am sticking to it.

Two signs this morning that the Glycosomine supplements might be working, or is it the 1000mg of MSM, she was trotting away from me. When I caught up with her about where you see that path turning left, she stopped and crouching down on her front legs wanting to play. She would swing back and forth at me but never took off running.

Although, her walking feature today was to walk in front of me so slow I could barely walk and if I walked in front of her she would literally walk on my heels until I moved to the side to let her pass. Or she would trot by me and the walk as slow as possible. The funniest hound I have ever had I think.

I did not see any deer on the horizon so the only thing I can think that may have gotten her attention was her smelling the large turkey farm on the other side of the field that starts on the other side of those trees.

It was almost two years ago for some mysterious reason she lost so much weight, around 15 pounds, that she was skin and bones. She has gained all of that weight back plus a few more pounds to be where she should be for a smaller female bloodhound. I changed dog food at that time with hopes of clearing up Heidi's skin problems. The food fixed both hounds.

I let her do a little wandering today on her own time. I was trying to catch her possibly running toward me for some photos but that never happened. She eventually did catch up with me after I made the final turn toward home.

She always stops in this same place every walk and looks toward the small wooded area behind my neighbors house. I have not seen anything walk out of that woods in years. Then again, she might be smelling food the neighbors leave out for the stray cat.

By this time in the walk my face is frozen. I could feel it almost sticking to the monitor on the back of the camera when I was looking through the view finder to take a photo. I try not to remember last summer, with hot temperatures.

She has had enough for this morning.

I wonder how many people will make it to the end of this post to see my first Sadie on the left, rescued from the shelter and Harry on the right who was the first basset hound I had bought as a eight week old puppy. We were living out on San Juan Dr, about a mile from the Ft. Ebey SP on Whidbey Island. Sadie was a 'runner' where a door opened only an inch gave her enough room to take off sprinting.

Harry's personality was a lot like Winston's, only he was a 'wanderer'. While living in a condo downtown Oak Harbor Wa, one time he climbed over my fence gate while I was at work. My neighbor who worked at the BMV called me to let me know that Harry was taking his afternoon nap inside the BMV after he walked through the open back door to the office. He also liked looking for any kind of food.

After we moved to where we live today, the landscaping business that is within view of my house, use to call me to let me know that Harry was down behind their counter taking an afternoon nap. He lived a little over 13 years and survived all his 'wandering'.

That's about it for today. I have an IU basketball game to watch at 2:30pm and after that it will be what we've been doing most days ... reading books, surfing the internet, a few games of Mahjong with a possible siesta.

All is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Basset Hounds From The Past

Here are the basset hounds I have had over the last 31 years. Living in Washington, Colorado and Indiana, these hounds were able to handle any kind of weather. One of these is a mix Basset Hound / German Shepherd ... can you pick him/her out?

Walks Cancelled & Lots Of Old Photos

By the time I sat down to write this post it was 11:30am and the temperature outside was 'up to' 9°.  Consequently there were no early morning hound walks today. Heidi let me know that after her brief trip outside after she woke up, that she would not be leaving her bed of multiple sleeping bags under any circumstances. In the mean time, to come up with a blog post, I decided to post a LOT of OLD PHOTOS from current and past hounds I have had.

Stella had gotten to the point of needing to go outside bad enough that I heard her trying to open the round door handle with her nose. When I opened that kitchen door leading to the carport, the storm door was frozen over along with a handle that would not move due to it being frozen. At 10:30am, it was up to 6°.

Sadie was excited of course. She thought once she saw my camera that we were headed out for her daily walk ... but not today. I wasn't going to take the hounds out in single digit temps ... only bathroom runs today.

By the time I walked around the corner with the camera, Stella had already walked out into the field to dump her tanks and was waiting for me on the red tiles. She wanted to get back inside. With the wind from the NE, those cold temps were like cutting me with a knife ... even Sadie did not venture toward the field.

About the time I reached for the door to go back inside I glanced over at the carport thermometer. It's protected from the wind since it's back in the corner with two walls guarding it. Just a few degrees warmer without the wind blowing against it.

But Heidi wasn't moving. She had gone out to start her day around 7:45am when it was 3° and a wind chill of -7, ate breakfast in less than one minute and sprinted for her bed of multiple sleeping bags. I have found out that nylon does NOT irritate her skin like the Mexican wool blankets I have used for years.

So, with these being the only pictures I had taken this morning, I had to come up with something I thought you would be interested in looking at. I was going to just post a picture of each hound on the today's date one year a part ... but I didn't have a lot of good photos to choose from. I kept finding better photos I wanted to post, and some of them had never been on the blog.

Here are 22 of them, mostly of Sadie with a few of Stella, Heidi and Winston scattered in.

I didn't realize that I was still keeping Sadie on a tether and walked her everyday on the retractable leash until 2015.

Taken 3 years ago today.

Just a few hours after Stella's arrival from Kentucky. Sadie wasn't sure what was going on.

Winston loved the snow. It's been a lot of years since we had snow this deep.

Sadie enjoys any kind of weather. You may notice that dead brush area along with the sapling to Sadie's right ... is the area I cleared in April 2014 and planted grass to expanse my yard.

I can't wait to feel the weather as warm as some of these photos.

Four hounds at one time are my maximum number but almost too many for one person. I didn't plan it that way but after seeing pictures of Stella needing to be rehomed in August 2015, I couldn't resist.

It was a great move bringing Stella home ... it gave Sadie a friend that was as big and strong as she was. She had not played like this since she was a puppy in 2008. Definitely great for Sadie, she was turning into a couch potato before Stella arrived.

Taken last year on this same date. It was much warmer than today but you could never tell by Heidi's expression.

As sad month only two years ago, 2015. Winston had hurt is back, was paralyzed and Sadie didn't know what to do.

Taken a year ago today ... much much warmer last year.

One of the few walks taken by Heidi anymore. These are from just last April ... 2017.

I remember letting Sadie out one Sunday morning at least 5 years ago, as I poured her breakfast kibble. I am not sure what bit her or what she snorted but her whole body was covered in these bumps. Benedryl solved the problem and she was back to normal within 30 minutes.

Both pictures above were taken a year ago today.

Sadie loves chewing sticks in the spring and summer. She doesn't eat many of them but when she does she enjoys them by biting them off about a 1/2" at a time. Most of the time after biting them into smaller pieces she spits them out.

Still under control of the retractable leash as late as November 2014.

This was just a year ago ... after dark.

Winston and Sadie trying to stay warm on the couch sometime in 2014.

The first day of Heidi's arrival ... June 28 (?) 2011.

After going through and selecting those 22 photos, I decided 'why not' add a few of hounds I have had in the past before I started blogging, plus some pictures when Winston was younger. Here are the final 11 photos.

Harry was my first basset hound in 1987. We lived out by Ft. Ebey State Park on Whidbey Island. That is between Coupeville and Oak Harbor Washington. He followed me to Breckenridge Colorado, back to Whidbey Island and then to Indiana in 1994. He spent his last two years at the house I live in now. He was always a roamer, could never find him ... liked to take naps at the Landscaping business just down the road (they'd call me) and even walked in the back door and slept once at the Oak Harbor Washington DMV (License Branch) ... they also called me to let me know where he was.

Maggie was my first two tone basset hound, lemon and white. She loved the field that we walk though currently but cancer took her at 7 years old.

Arthur was before Winston. They had the same mother and the exact same personality. He and Bertha (bloodhound) were great pals plus the Mini Dachshund we would pet sit for me niece.

In the summer of 2004 I decided to pick up Winston at 8 weeks old. As you see he wasn't much bigger than a 16oz Pepsi.

Bertha started playing with him the first day he was at home ... they were inseparable for the next 4 years.

Yes ... same field, same houses, different camera ... notice how much of the field is grass without any kind of weeds or wild flowers that have overtaken the field in recent years?

Not in the correct order but this is Bertha at 13 weeks old. By one of the few date stamps I have on my photos, it confirms it was August 1999. That is her and Winston in the photo below.

Some would say I bought Sadie as a 12 week old bloodhound puppy too soon after Bertha died, but Winston really was affected by Bertha's death in July 2008. He was affected enough that I had to take him to the vet because he had stopped eating and howled all the time. The vet suggested he might need a new puppy since he was then solo and had grown up with Bertha.

My PC crashed back then so I lost all of my photos of Sadie when she was a puppy. I had a lot of photos of her playing with Winston in the fall of 2008 and she proved to be exactly what Winston needed to get back to his old self.

This is the only photo I have of Sadie when she was a puppy, date unknown.

It will be another day inside, with Sadie going crazy with 'cabin fever' but no way will we take any walks today because it's just to cold. We'll keep warm inside, might watch more moves or football games or continue reading a few books I have started. Heidi will only get out of her bed to eat lunch ... which btw I need to do for them since I have Sadie and Stella standing right next to my right elbow wanting to eat.

Sorry if all of these photos were slow to load or used up to much data for those on limited data plans. I hope neither occurred.

Sunny but the coldest day this winter to close out 2017 in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.