Stella Yelps In Pain

We had just finished our afternoon walk on Saturday when Stella stopped in the north part of the backyard, normal for her. I had not noticed anything different than other afternoon walks where she walks slower than she does in the mornings. Nor had I heard anything up to that time during the day. As I rubbed the top of her lower back on top near her left hip, she let out a loud yelp ... then started wagging her tail a little. I thought that was strange but she is taking hip/joint supplements and has shown signs in the past that her hips bother her at times.

What wasn't normal was when she tried to raise her left front leg to step up on the couch, she couldn't do it. I thought she might walk away and lay on the floor but bloodhounds are stubborn and if they want to do something they are going to find a way to do it, no matter what I say or what I do. A few minutes later she climbed on the couch like every night, circled and laid next to Heidi to sleep.

Around 10:30pm while I was still watching football games, Heidi hopped off the couch and either stepped on Stella's front foot or brushed her left rear hip ... whatever she did Stella let out another loud yelp obviously in pain. It wasn't continuous, just a short few seconds.

Looking a little closer I could see a difference between her left and right front leg. That left leg area was where she had three staples taken out last month after they had removed a growth. When I squeezed it to see if what she would do, she did nothing. I remembered it was her hip I had touched in the afternoon that made her yelp.

An hour later she was able to stand up enough to make a turn so she could sleep on her left side instead of the right and did not make a sound of any kind. I normally would have given her some Buffered Aspirin but had ran out last summer, forgetting to buy more. A long time ago a vet prescribe that for my first basset hound that had sprained his knee ligaments ... so I have always used Buffered Aspirin for any kind of sprains or back problems. 5-10mg per pound of dog weight is what they recommend for dosage.

The interesting thing was as she was getting ready to step off of the couch and head to bed, she hesitated. I put my hands under her stomach and front shoulders to kind help her for a soft landing and she yelped again when I put my hand under her front armpit. Maybe that swollen front leg has something to do with it?? If so, why was she yelping when I touched her left hip earlier in the afternoon?

So today I was going to keep a close eye on her, probably cancel any walking for her and keep her still as much as possible. But remember, she's a bloodhound and has a mind of her own. Around 9am, she starts that now familiar sound of whining letting me know she wants to go for a walk. She TROTTED outside like her back and leg were perfect ... what was going on?

That is until she heard rain drops hitting the big leaves of the Sycamore trees and then a roll of thunder. She stopped in her tracks and lost interest in walking.

What was different, it was raining lightly and I could hear thunder in the distance but to the south the skies were blue and the sun was out.

To the west there was a little blue sky trying to creep in ... but it was raining.

When we went back inside ... the rain stopped. I put on a light Columbia rain jacket over my fleece jacket and once Stella saw me grab the ball cap from the door hinge she wagged her tail and whined her way to the door. It wasn't raining ... really wasn't sprinkling ... just a few drops of sporadic rain drops.

Stella wasn't sure whether to go on or come back to the house.

Then here was the SHOCKER of the day .... I turned around to see what she was doing ... SHE'S RUNNING !!!

She proceeded to finish the half mile walk like nothing was wrong with her and trotted a few times along the way.

Just like older people, there are some aches and pains that never go away. Some days are better than others. I am hoping it was just a bad few hours where she might have tweaked her back during the day changing sleeping positions. I'll keep an eye out for the next few days and see what else she will do or not do.

These photos do not show a bloodhound that is in any pain.

High winds are in the forecast today ... 30-40mph, mixed with rain.

She can smell that large field cat that lives in the neighbors wooded area.

She was actually tracking a scent today.

After stopping and thinking about what her nose was telling her, she was sure whatever it was had walked through the yard.

With this pose I am thinking field cat.

With this pose I am thinking deer.

With this pose I am thinking field cat again.

What a difference a couple of hours make when it comes to weather. It barely rained as much as they predicted, although it's windy and the skies are now blue. Not only did Heidi make those steps, which are taller than her legs ... she hopped off the other side for her path to the front yard.

Sunny and blue to the west.

Sunny and blue to the northeast.

Heidi's normal after lunch routine. She follows this exact path through the front yard back to the house. If rains or snows of course that path changes to less than a minute and no further than 6" from the side of the house.

When I think back to what my fall Saturdays use to be like when watching college football ... I used to eat a TON of food from 10am all the way through 2am.  The day would usually start with eggs, waffles, peanut butter and a lot of maple syrup. Soon after, chips and salsa, sandwiches throughout the day and burritos during the night games. I didn't drink a lot of beer if any at all but I would drink liters of Pepsi during those 14 hours .... Over the past few years someway my mind and body have adapted to drinking ice cold water and instead of chips by the large bag ... I eat raw carrots during the games. My sandwiches are no longer beef or even meat based but avocado, sliced tomatoes and mayo.

When you are a sports addict and there are too many games being played at the same time you have no choice but to do this to your tv screen. The top screens have a banner at the bottom showing scores of other games. That is Washington State and Stanford on the left, Washington and Cal game on the right.

After numerous trips off and on the couch, Stella never made a sound like yesterday afternoon and last night. Heidi decided she would play like a puppy but for her to do that I had to get on the floor as low as a basset hound. Stella stood and watched and no clue what was going on. After about 5 laps, back and from me to around the living room she decided she had all the excitement she needed for one day. I spent this afternoon inside reading while the hounds slept.

The winds are howling from the west/southwest and blowing all leaves out into the field away from the yard. With that and Stella back to her old self, all was good today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I Woke The Hounds Up Early

Is this the new norm ? Blogging earlier ? No, the weather, is this the new norm. April is 2/3 of the way over and my iPhone weather tells me it "feels like" 28° as we take our morning walk a few minutes before 8am. The Farmer Almanac last fall predicted this winter, spring and summer to be wetter than normal and so far we have had more rain than normal. It did NOT say anything about "colder than normal" .... but again, after today we have 10 more days of close to normal temperature average ... high 60's.

Some have asked about Heidi and the lack of photos. She is well and in fact looks better than ever when she is awake. It's just not 70° every day, which is her threshold to be outside enjoying the weather. If it's overcast then it's questionable if she does anything outside her normal winter routine. She does get outside a few times per day and once at night to relieve herself. The bloodhounds have never cared about weather ... they just want to walk unless they feel rain on their backs.

The only thing different today was we started our walk about an hour earlier than normal because I woke the hounds up about 2 hours before they normally wake me up. That is what happens when you fall asleep a little after 7pm and get 10-11 hours of solid sleep for the first time in a very long time ... you wake up earlier.

They followed their normal morning routine though, of eating breakfast and all of them going back to sleep while I drink coffee and read the internet. Sadie then sits at my computer room doorway letting me know when it's time to walk.

I must say that I feel so much better than I did 24 hours ago. I will never eat another frozen pizza again ... ever. With my new reader called Flipboard, where you can join for free and then pick the subjects you want to follow, I read an article where they had rated all the frozen pizzas and even claimed they tasted as good as a carry out or one that you would eat at the restaurant. My curiosity got the best of me ... I had to try their highly recommended one.

To protect myself from a lawsuit I will keep the pizza I had nameless. All I know sometime around 3:30am after I had the pizza for dinner, I thought I was going to die. I didn't feel much better until right before we took the only walk of the day yesterday around 2pm. Yet this morning I feel great.

Stella had a bounce to her step again this morning and trotted a little faster than her normal pace to catch up with Sadie. No verbal herding was needed this morning as she was on her own. She made the complete walk with a lot of tracking instead of eating. Maybe spring really is right around the corner. This is Sadie leading the way.

For some reason I had a hard time keeping Stella in focus even while hearing the camera beep telling me it was in focus.

Luckily no wind to make it feel colder. I was wearing layered jackets, wool ski cap and gloves again and was more than warm. I guess it is a good thing I took the 30 minutes yesterday afternoon to mow the parts of the yard that needed it. I am mowing it higher again so the root system can develop in advance of the hot summer months.

Stella decided it was time to catch up just after we passed the first corner. Sadie was way up ahead waiting for her.

After she tapped Stella's nose with hers, they both took off for the back of the field to track the deer path.

As I made the final turn home I always tell them "let's go home" and they will run past me from the back of the field and choose one of the two different paths we take home.

You can see the portion of the backyard that I have mowed twice this year. This back half of the field toward the north has not grown enough to mow. In fact some of the wild flowers from years past when it was like the field and overgrown, are sprouting up.

The difference is, one half of the yard has had winter hound fertilizer and the other half has not.

Their tracking changes from the deer path to the path of the field cat that is rarely seen.

Then it's back inside for a mid-morning nap until lunch and afternoon walk. BTW, Heidi has not moved from that first photo and it's been almost an hour since that photo was taken.

My Bob Vila newsletter this morning listed some annuals and perennials that will do well year after year just by dropping their seeds onto the ground. That is what I am going to do to the bank around the old fence post and the bank along the driveway. Here are the ones he listed. I hope I can find these seeds at the local landscaping place within view of the house.

Sweet alyssum, gazania, bachelor's buttons, California poppy, cosmos, bellflowers, bleeding heart and butterfly weed.

Nothing planned today except to enjoy another day of retirement. That never gets old, no matter what happens. Freedom each day and good health are worth more than anything.

A cool morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.