Can The Hounds Handle This Pace?

Just a couple of months short of 3 years, "we knew the job would be dangerous when we took it" ... retirement that is.

I knew I would be leaving days full of meetings, and deadlines to becoming a full-time 'doorman' for the hounds. Their day might change a little, while mine would be changing a lot. There was Winston at that time, no Stella. Only one bloodhound unlike now. Yet, Stella has adapted to the fast pace of retirement very well.

Long time blog readers know there isn't a lot of change from day to day here in 'the tropics'. This fast paced lifestyle even bores me at times and I find it hard to blog about it. Seeing all three hounds everyday is a motivating factor to keep blogging. Seasons determine how much gets done around here. One of four of them will determine if we are hibernating or doing new projects outside ... with some of those projects happening every spring. As long as the weather is good, we get two hound walks in per day.

Stella continues her new routine of walking with Sadie and I. She might lag back a little but now it's only for her to stop so she can scratch what is itching her. In between the walks all three of the hounds sleep most of the time, unless it's time for lunch. I read today the average amount of time a dog sleeps is 16 hours per day, that seems like a lot. They let me know when I have gone past meal time.

I'm not sure of the reason but it seems to me that both hounds have lost some of their energy lately. Is that because they feel it's still winter as they wait for the hot sunshine in the spring and summer to get them running more, playing more? We will see and it's something I have to keep an eye on I think. Otherwise they act normal for bloodhounds and bassets.

They didn't spend a lot of time in the far right corner this morning. Just a quick run through to check out some smells and they were back up with me. It was nice this morning, mid 40's, sun was out. There are many consecutive days in the 60's about 3 days away ... that should carry us through the month of February and very hard to believe after three months of winter.

It might be because they are female hounds but there has never been a fight between Sadie and Stella when they find the same thing in the field or eat the same kibble only a few feet apart. That's good because I am not sure I could break them up due to their size. Not only are they big but strong. Heidi holds her own when it comes to eating. Her bowl is a good 6' feet away from the larger hounds.

On the way back this morning I saw Stella behind us itching whatever is bothering her lately. Without calling her, she ran to catch up with Sadie and I. The leash has been in my pocket every walk but has not been used in a while. It would only take a deer chase to change this laidback pace.

I've had a slow leak in the rear tire of the Z4. I have been putting air into the tire on a more frequent basis, so I ran it over to the local tire shop today between hound walks to see what they could find. It was just a small bead leak and an easy fix.

Stella has been on a record pace lately as far as NOT causing damage while I am gone. It's been over two months now since her last separation anxiety attack. I hope she has realized that this is where she lives and that I will return after those times I leave the house. At 18 months living here, it is the longest she has lived anywhere in her 7 years.

To some it would be a pretty boring Tuesday but it's the norm around here. I have a lot of things I want to do this spring and summer around the house so it will be busier than last summer. With Stella's desire to 'drift away' while outside, I will have to put her on the 80' tether in the field while I work. She doesn't mind it.

This afternoon's walk was about as slow as you can imagine. Sadie walked close to me most of the the walk, not far enough away to take any pictures. Stella didn't run but walked most of the way a few paces behind us. I swear I can hear her dragging her feet when she walks that slow.

I've spent more time on the computer this week doing some reading and research, therefore my book reading has decreased a lot compared to the past two weeks. Maybe it's the subject matter that has slowed me down.

The reminder from the Cincinnati Reds page on Facebook tells me opening day is only 48 days away. Hard to believe they started spring training yesterday with pitchers and catchers, with the rest of the team starting in a few days ... with spring training games in a couple of weeks. It seems like MLB season gets longer each year.

The rest of our afternoon didn't change much. The hounds went back to sleep after their 2nd walk. I grabbed a salad and went back to reading on the internet while watching traffic on the highway outside the large window.

I was wondering if it will snow sometime in March? What did I tell you, it's a furious pace to try to keep up with.

One of the best winters ever here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Low Energy Day

Overcast skies always seems to bring low energy for the hounds. We might even get some rain the next few days so that will not only change the hounds but also what topics are blogged about.

Sadie and Stella were not out longer than 5 minutes after their breakfast. Heidi didn't follow but had been outside first thing in the morning. The cooler temps felt great, no humidity to speak of and the sounds of different birds filled the air. I could tell it was going to be a nice day.

It was time for the walk after following the normal routine. Heidi didn't respond when I asked if she wanted to go for a walk. She always does that. What was different today was after I attached the leash, she got up started to come and then turned around and laid back down. That told me for whatever reason she wasn't feeling good today.

Even with us leaving a little later than normal, the field was still wet as  you can see by my shoes.

Neither Sadie nor Stella ran a lot. Stella did not even go to her favorite area in the far right hand corner, nor the bushes next to the gully. All the scents seemed to be out in the field or along the back side. They both spent a lot of time with their focus on tracking.

Even though it was a much slower paced walk ... they both were sound asleep soon afterward.

After I posted last night, Heidi's skin became red and inflamed again. It looked just as bad as it did good when I posted about her improvement. On a scale of 1-5 I would have to rate her skin last night and this morning as a 4 ... 5 being the worst.

It could only mean two possible causes ... the shampoo or the field grass. Yesterday was only Day 4 with her walking in the field. I will have to go back in this blog to see what her skin was doing this time last year. I wasn't using a spreadsheet then to track her skin condition but I do have dated photos that will give me a good idea.

The ointment due to arrive in the next day or two will have it's chance to prove that it is as good as claimed ... because her skin is not the best right now.

It's a day of birds chirping full-time here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

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This portion is the afternoon side of the day, all in one post instead of two. I didn't feel like going back to change sentences or word structure to fit 'current' conditions. This is easier ... I'm lazy today ... as were the hounds.

Heidi and I made our monthly trip to the local recycling. I can hand them my 39gal bag of trash for $2 and then dive through the building to unload my 32gl plastic trash container of recycled glass, plastic, paper, carboard, for free. With their new policy of the past 5 months I no longer have to sort it.

The bloodhounds cannot go because the back is filled with the two trash cans. Plus it gives Heidi and I some time alone ... she also enjoys the ride.

Pulling back into the carport what do I see on my clean concrete floor???  *#(@#*@# oil !!!!  I had it changed at WallyWorld yesterday instead of Toyota which is twice as far away. It was convenient since I was shopping for other stuff. Maybe this is way I never have them change the oil.

Looking under the FJ, the aft skid plates were dripping with oil. To say the least I wasn't real happy with what I saw.

I put the hounds in the bedroom, their normal room while I am gone ... grabbed my oil change receipt and headed back to WallyWorld to have them double check and clean up their mess.

They explained everything. Cleaned everything up and I checked it when I got back. It looked like there wasn't a drop of oil anywhere. I'll not bore you with their story ... they also gave me a free gallon of industrial concrete cleaner to clean my concrete floor. I'd prefer not to go through all of that when I get it changed again.

The Wounded Warrior Ointment was in the mail when I came back. I immediately found Heidi and put on the first application. I hate posting photos of her with skin this bad but it will give us a starting point to see how the ointment does. Her skin has not been this bad in a  while even though in February 2015 it looked a lot lot worse than this.

Luckily all of the red skin is not hard and crusty, and dried out. It is soft and flexible. You can see the skin flakes she scratched onto the couch.

Sadie and Stella were not too enthused on their after lunch trip outside. They barely walked slowly around the field most of the time.

We didn't do much the rest of the day. If they are not eating, or outside they are usually sleeping. With the low energy day, sleeping was that much easier for them.

With the wind picking up and the skies becoming a little overcast, I went outside to enjoy the breezes at 80°. Rain is definitely in the air but it is not suppose to arrive until late tonight. The owner of the house next door must have heard me talking about their yard yesterday ... they came in today and mowed it, in two different directions.

With the winds picking up, I decided to head out for the afternoon walk. They didn't respond until they saw me walking toward the field with my camera ... then they came to join me. Supposedly dogs cannot see well so evidently my movement is what they remember and associate with going for a walk.

This was the pace about the whole walk. They were not searching too much, kind of casual until they either smelled something or were just trying to leave me to go to their favorite corner.

My curiosity got the best of me, so I walked over to see what Stella likes so much in this area of the field ... that she never wants to leave. That is Sadie checking it out with her.

These ground photos are three different spots that Stella had her nose buried with the bloodhound sniffing and snorting sound.

I don't think she liked me following her but it was nice walking the outside border of the field ... maybe that will be the new way.

They had enough excitement and headed back to the house. That's an AT&T tower. Living that close to the tower I rarely had more than 3-bars of phone reception before switching to Verizon in June 2014.

It felt warmer to me although I had no idea what the temps were. Stella's tongue hanging out told me it was close to 80°. She joined Sadie walking next to me and that is how the walk ended. They never were far enough away to get a photo of them.

I cannot believe that Wednesday has come and gone ... how fast this week has gone. I am going to study Heidi's skin photos of these past 18 months and try to find out again what might be the reason for the outburst of raw skin. I would hate to think that by her walking in the field did that. She slept through the afternoon walk.

It could be book night tonight. My Reds have already won an afternoon game and unless it's a movie or a ballgame I am not much of a tv watcher.

Rain is coming in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.