Hounds Took A Day Off

The words wouldn't come on Tuesday when it came time to write a blog post. I had a few pictures but not the normal large number of them to choose from. I thought I'd wait and see if anything came to me by late afternoon. By that time Sadie, Stella and Heidi declared Tuesday was a 'day off', so no blog post yesterday.

That didn't mean I got anything done. The hounds slept, ate twice, took two walks and then an early evening break outside just roam in the yard or field. I had a very good afternoon siesta.

This morning they started a new routine or a new direction. Like last summer Sadie and Stella took an immediate left walking through the yard to the north side of the field for their morning trip, instead of straight back behind the house.

We could feel the warmth a little this morning. The sky looked fantastic as we started the walk and it was hard to imagine that we were looking at a 75% of rain by 1pm. It was the same on Monday but that did not amount to anything more than a light rain. They didn't even have to stop the baseball game in Cincinnati when 'our' storm move into their area.

These past few weeks, maybe a month, I have had Stella smell the rolled up 6' leash I carry in my pocket. I don't have any idea of that makes a difference to her but I cannot remember the last time I had to use it. She has been coming when I call her. If she lags behind she will trot a little on the path to catch up.

Sadie is just Sadie ... same routine on the walk every day. She is serious and is only doing it for one reason ... to track scents.

The dark spot on her lower front leg is a place that she likes to lick. She has been doing it for years and it doesn't matter if the brand of dog food is changed nor if the seasons change. Her vet checkups have had perfect results, so maybe it's just a habit.

I have to admit I am a little concerned about Stella's lack of running. She use to love running in the field. I'd have to go back through past blog posts or past photos to find out exactly when she stopped her running at full speed in the field. She might trot a little when she needs to catch up but no full speed running. Also, she has not tried to get Sadie to wrestle with her nor playing like they did last summer.

Since her facial expression rarely changes, unless she is being fed kibble or there is food of mine that she thinks is hers. Therefore it's hard to tell if she is feeling good, normal or bad. I have felt around her hips, shoulders and stomach. I have not felt anything abnormal nor has she let out any sounds of pain or shown signs of discomfort.

I wonder if it is just being a year older and her joints are starting to bother her? I may start giving her a joint supplement and see if that makes a difference and/or have the vet give her a blood test to see if something is going on inside of her.

Sadie has never been bothered by those sharp thorns when it comes to walking through thick bushes. As a very young puppy she laid open the inside of her ear and it looked like she had been cut by a razor blade. That is how smooth the cut was. That required a few stitches and the scar looks very clean almost 9 years later.

She was focused on deer scent today. I wonder if Stella would run full speed if deer suddenly appeared?

I was letting Stella do anything she wanted on the walk today. She could go anywhere at her pace. Every time she would catch back up with Sadie and I, then would continue her slow walking.

While Sadie had moved up along the edge of the field in back, Stella was taking her time slowly walking toward me ... that is until she heard that gunshot from the farm behind those trees.

She has always been 'gun shy' when there have been gunshots in the area. She didn't sprint out of control and take off but before I could get my camera up and focused she was walking right beside me. For most of the walk from that point forward she didn't get more than 6" away from me.

Sadie??  Doesn't bother her.

As I stepped off the path to get a side view of Stella for a picture, there was another gunshot. You can see her reaction by the way her ears are folded. By this time she is in a slow trot along the path.

Before she finished her walk home, she needed to take one final look toward the neighbor's wooded area behind their house ... I had a feeling she was 'looking' for that big blonde cat we saw the other day.

Checking the Intellicast radar I see our first storm is over by Effingham, IL. The forecast says we should expect strong thunderstorms in the afternoon with high winds. That is typical Spring weather here in 'the topics'.

With the world of sports kind of calming down to just one sport to follow, there is now enough time to attack the 'to do' list. It seems like it's a feeling I get every April but not until college basketball's Final Four is over, where I am motivated enough to get started again on annual house maintenance that needs to get done.

I'll work around the weather in the spring and then around the hottest temps in the summer. I had a list of 15 things to do a few years ago but I don't have that many different jobs to do this year. There are a couple that will take a week or so to complete. The time I pulled every weed by hand that was in my driveway made it and the fence line look really good ... I'll have to be pretty bored to do that project again.

That blue sky with sunshine has turned to overcast skies and there is now a feel of rain ... the hounds are telling me it's time for their lunch here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Enjoy Sunday Morning

We had just gone outside for their 2nd trip and my first. With camera and and coffee in hand, it was a beautiful morning to sit outside and let the hounds roam the field.

There was one problem though.

Stella is 'gun shy'. I hadn't had but two sips of hot freshly brewed coffee when I hear a gun shot in the distance. Sadie was out in the field and turned to look at me ... but Stella had different plans.

Before she could even get to the field, as she sniffed the southern border of the yard, she turned and immediately trotted for the door with her ears back in an unusual position. All of us headed inside. Stella ran for her hiding spot in the bedroom closet.

It then turned into the normal 'inside' routine with me reading sports online, some emails, some texts from friends and drinking my daily two cups of coffee. Stella later came out to lay and sleep beside my desk chair with Sadie sleeping just a few feet away.

Once Sadie was up, she begged and begged to go out for a walk. She does that in two different ways. One way she will sit and stare at me, if that doesn't work she will walk over and nudge my arm with her nose, while I am on the computer. By 11:30am it was time for our first of two walks for the day.

With the temps barely touching the 60° mark, and the first 1/3 of the walk in a shaded area. I knew my feet were going to get wet and it was going to be cold but we continued. As you can see the first part of our walk is in the shade and that means heavy dew and very wet feet.

Stella immediately headed the wrong direction to check out that one specific spot in the field that has caught her attention this past week. I thought I might have to call her but once she saw Sadie had found something, she took off and ran toward Sadie, moving into the correct direction as far as I was concern.

I used a few "come on" to keep her moving as I didn't want her to lag behind today. Last night during the halftime of the Washington / Oregon football game I connected the 25' retractable leash on her. She doesn't mind it and I never have to pull on it to get her to move. She seems to know to keep moving when she is wearing the leash.

They were both anxious to turn that first corner and get to their favorite spots of the field ... on the right side in tall grass, beaten down by deer traffic during the nighttime hours. I was too actually because it would be in the sun.

By the time I made the first turn, my New Balance mesh shoes were soaked, socks were soaked and my feet were freezing. It was good to get into the sunshine and it made a big difference.

Stella was pretty good in her exploring, she kept moving and didn't stay in any one spot too long.

As I glanced to the left of me, I realized this field that looks so flat from a distance really has a good size incline in the back end of the field. The field as a whole all heads towards the SE corner of my backyard to drain all of that underground water. I do see a little difference in elevation in the yard when I look back at photos from ten years ago.

Stella headed back to the right corner of the field. She had not been up there in a while. I walked over to check out the wooded area, too see if there was a drop off or was it fenced. She has not gone into the woods but likes to check out the edge of that wooded area. I might change the path to include that corner into our daily walk.

A couple of photos of the wooded area behind Stella.

Out of nowhere, Stella took off in a sprint to catch up with Sadie. This is along the back edge of the field, bordering another corn field that stands between us and a turkey farm.

As you can see, the deer traffic must have been heavy last night as they both rarely took their noses off the ground.

From year to year I try to keep the same path. Right after the field is cut it is hard at times to see the worn path. It is finally coming into view today on the way back. At no time is the path worn down to dirt. 

Stella heads back to that same spot she went to when the walk started.

Until April 2015, this part of the yard up to just past the trees on the right side was nothing more than overgrown bushes, tall saplings, wild rose bushes that never bloomed, and thick under brush.

Once the neighbor surveyed the field after he bought it, planted that metal pole to show the corner of the property, is when I decided to clear out the brush and plant grass. I consider this area around the trees the best part of the yard and is much cooler in the summer. My survey in 2000 does NOT show that area as being part of my property.

The typical fall Sunday afternoon is planned ... different food within my changed diet mixed with NFL football. The hounds seem okay with that schedule ... Sadie is snoring loudly as I type this.

With the temps below that 70° threshold that Heidi has, she has declared it winter and is wrapped up in her sleeping bag while she sleeps on my bed ... that is basically her bed that I borrow on a nightly basis.

Wunderground is showing a good 10 day forecast for 'the tropics' ... I have a few plans this week and one of those is washing and thoroughly cleaning the two tons of dog hair out of the FJ. All of the dried hound drool will clean off easy from the plastic dash but I might have to put some effort in getting those hound nose smudges off of the windows.

Another beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.