Stella Must Be Feeling Better This Morning

Her morning walk today proved she must be feeling better. She runs away deep in "the no-fly" zone!

If you look at this next picture you would think she feels terrible. The camera caught her at a bad time and I debated whether to post it or not. She woke up at 6:45am to go outside with her tail wagging as she trotted toward the door. A fast trot around the corner of the house and into the field. I stepped back inside after letting the other two hounds out to serve their breakfast kibble.

This picture was taken during our 2nd trip outside, which happens right after their breakfast while my coffee is brewing.

She then came back inside and slept up until the time Sadie decided it was time for the morning walk. I figured we would be taking it slow today based on yesterday afternoon's walk. She already looked better this morning but was totally out of it Saturday for most of the day ... due to my mistake.

I haven't in the past for many years, had my hounds get rabies shots. I made that mistake for some reason on Friday's vet visit but after the way her side effects were yesterday I will not giving her any more shots, nor Sadie and Heidi.

That is why this morning I could tell she was feeling much better so soon after waking up. Compared to yesterday she looked and acted so much different. Her tail was high and wagging as she trotted to the door. She howled loud when she came back inside knowing it was time for breakfast.

While Stella stood and posed for that terrible picture, Sadie was out in the field searching for the latest scents. We finally headed out a few minutes before 9am for the first walk of the day in 48° weather.

Stella was cruising at a speed a little faster than I had anticipated and I think it was a good sign seeing her tail held a little higher than she has recently. She was a lot more curious about what she smelled and a few times caught up with Sadie ... so things were looking much better for her today compared to yesterday's afternoon walk without the camera.

All the way up to the last turn toward home I suspected nothing out of the ordinary taking place. Sadie was pretty relaxed in her walk today and I saw no signs of deer on the horizon. Little did I know what would take place in the next 10 minutes.

This is just a little past the last turn, toward the back of the field, not 10' away. I decided I'd let the hounds do what they do as I continued to walk home.

It wasn't until Sadie ran up next to me, acting a little upset. I'd seen that look many times over the last 8 years and 8 months that I have had her. As I turn to check on Stella I can see what Sadie is upset about ... Stella has not moved from the spot that Sadie found. When I looked before making the turn home, I saw nothing but bare ground where the grass had been mashed down and moved by Sadie's nose to get a better look.

One thing to keep in mind when you are looking at this pictures, I am really far away. I am shooting them with a 200mm zoom and still not even getting close to her. Yet, I could tell that she raised her head to look for us to see or smell where we were.

It wasn't five seconds after I snapped the shutter, that she turns and starts walking to the left, along the edge of the field into the "no-fly zone". You can barely see her in the center of the picture as she walks with her head down. I can tell she is in a slow trot ... she is going places !!

I immediately turned off the camera, slide the lens back into it's normal position and took off running up the path. She had a real good lead on me and I knew by the time I got to that tower she could be either in the woods or sprinting after a scent in the cornfield just behind those bushes.

Sadie realized what was going on and sprinted past me like I was standing still while my run turned into a jog up the path. At this point I thought Sadie had found Stella and she would be in view.

When she took off running I thought she had found her and was running toward Stella ... I was wrong.

By the time I got just past the tower, Stella was nowhere in view. By the way Sadie was acting I thought Stella had turned right into the cornfield. I stepped a few steps over the tall grass into that corn field looking every direction, calling Stella's name and did not see Stella anywhere in the cornfield.

Just about time that Sadie and I started heading straight ahead to the right of those trees, calling Stella's name, I make one more search along the tree line ... there she was, staring back at us and sitting as quietly as possible. It was almost like she was trying to hide from Sadie and I, as we were walking north instead of west toward her.

She finally came when I called her.

As she pushed her nose up nudging my hand to let me know she was okay, we made our slow walk back to the path. You can tell by the yellow field in the distance just how much of an incline there is on the north half of the field when it looks pretty flat as you walk on the other side.

So her excitement was over for at least this morning. By the time I downloaded and looked at the 45 pictures I took during the walk, Stella was sleeping right up next to my desk chair while Sadie slept guarding her water bowl.

I thought I'd include a couple of pictures from yesterday. This is Heidi's normal routine after she comes back inside after her lunch. She sprints from the door to the other end of the house in the living room, nose diving into the carpet, scratching each side of her face while growling to herself ... or most likely wiping her mouth clean.

I can only hope that Stella regains her weight as well as Heidi has. I am taking Heidi in on Monday to get on the vet's scales for an official weigh session. I have a feeling she will be back close to 45 pounds.

As I sat playing some Mahjong on my laptop at the kitchen table early yesterday evening, it looked like the field was turning more yellow before my eyes. I was too lazy to go outside at that time, so I took the picture through the window.

If you look close in the dirt, you can see the recently planted crop is staring to grow.

With the temps climbing to over 70° today, we will be taking another walk and multiple other trips outside. The 6' standard leash will NOT be taken but a closer eye on Stella will be. I am off to read more about dog food protein, how much is needed, how much is too much and hopefully find out why a hound stops processing it.

It's a beautiful Sunday here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Get A Bonus Walk

Woke up this morning early to the sound of wind. Luckily the air was warm instead of cold like last week. I could tell at 7:45am we had a really good chance to reach above 80° today.

Most of the tree leaves were taking 90° turns due the 15-20mph winds from the SSW. That the opposite direction need to have the leaves in the yard blowing toward my burn pile.

By midday it was time for the first walk of the day. I was fortunate that all the high winds were not blowing all the allergens into the air, and unlike the days after they cut the field ... I had no allergy problems ... I was having a memory problem.

I have to tell both Sadie and Stella to 'go on' to get them past those piles of soft dirt. For some reason they like to eat the soft dirt pushed up by moles, even in the yard.

They were happy to move on though and get into their walk.

It was about this time that I remembered I had left the hot water running in the bathroom sink, with my wash cloth blocking the drain plug, preparing for a shave. I knew the sink had a drain opening at top that would probably work ... but 'Murphy's Law' and I have never had a good relationship.

I told the hounds "come on we have to go" ... and started trotting back to the house to cut the walk short. Of coarse this confused the heck out of Stella because she had not finished her walk yet ... Sadie only heard the word "go" and thought we were trotting to go ride in the FJ, so she was right beside me.

Stella wasn't happy about the situation but trotted behind me all the way to to the house. I was right, the water was at the top flowing through the emergency opening at the top of the sink. I decided while I was there and the wash cloth was hot, I'd go ahead and shave. (Harry's is the best razor blade I've ever used)

Both hounds laid by the bathroom door watching me ... so I thought 'why not'?? Why not go back walking at a leisure pace so they could finish their walk? Off we went ... Sadie was thrilled, hopping up and down trying to grab my hand with her mouth. While Stella started with her lumbering slow walk into the field.

These next two photos don't show the sharp drop off in the area of about 50' deep just past the trees.

It didn't take long for Stella to get back where the deer must spend a lot of time during the night. That is her favorite spot of the walk.

As Ed said ... too warm for vibrant leaf colors this year.

Since I had not forgotten anything else, I went at the hound pace of slow and even turned into the far right corner of the field. That also gave me a different angle/view of the field looking NW, where you can barely see our path left of that roll of hay.

There are so many scents in this field from start to finish I really believe that Stella would spend the day exploring each one if I were to let her roam on her own. Yet, with that freedom she would eventually get herself in trouble or have possible highway problems by following her nose and curiosity.

I wanted this photo to show the color of the mahogany trees to the right of my house. That tall tree on the left side is a sycamore tree and the last of three trees that tall that did not blow down in June 2008. Those other two trees that tall were on the bank along my driveway.

I played around with some suggestions from searching the FJ forum and a Google Search to reset the 'check engine light'. I'll find out if it worked the next time I take the FJ for a short drive. The gasket inside my gas cap looks in good shape and fairly new. I need to crawl underneath the FJ and look around ... find those O2 Sensors and see if dirt or corrosion is the problem.

As far as changing gasoline, that won't happen soon since I still have 3/4 of a tank left and no more than a little local driving planned.

After the 2nd hound walk at 12:34pm, I shut Sadie and Stella in the bedroom, Heidi roamed the house and I took off in the Z4 for a drive on the 42 mile loop. The top was down but with high winds that's all I could hear ... the wind. It was great to come home and see that Stella added to her days of "no damage while I am gone" to her record. Her last episode of separation anxiety was June 24th, this past summer.

The day was so nice even with the high winds, all of us spent the afternoon outside. Evidently I have thrown away my 2nd water hose that I use to connect and make it stretch out to the wood pile. I would have it to use in case my fire would get out of hand. I can't find the second water hose anywhere, so the burn pile will stay as is until I get another hose.

The hounds enjoyed being outside but since I cut that area last week, both of them have been more interested in that spot than roaming the field.

When Sadie and Stella came back and were either sitting or standing by my chair I decided it was time to head back inside. I could play some Mahjong and fix some late lunch. It was a few minutes later that Heidi was at the door wanting outside.

Lately she likes to go outside by herself and enjoy her time alone. When I didn't see her in the driveway or the front yard, I glanced through the bedroom window to see her sitting in the shade enjoying the breeze. The picture was taken from the inside, shooting through a screen window.

After a late lunch and a lot of games of Mahjong, I decided it was time for the 3rd walk of the day. I had to wake both bloodhounds up to make that walk ... it was a decision I wish I had not made.

Along the woods that border the field right behind my house.

Just by the way Stella was acting I could tell this walk might not turn out well. She was going places she was not allowed to, multiple times. Remember if you 'give her an inch she will take a mile' ...

That proved to be the case tonight.

As they both followed the deer path and headed to the right corner, I decided I would continue my walk and stand where we turn to go to the house and wait for them.

This is just before the point I stood to wait, along the back edge of the field.

Through the camera lens I can still see both hounds, so that's good. Sadie never likes to lag behind for too long and you can see she starts to run toward me. Stella is to the right of her and as long as I could see her, it was okay.

Of coarse before Sadie can get to me, there is one spot that both hounds like to spend time at and in this case Sadie turned right to that spot.

Stella is still in view so that is good. I am standing pretty far away using the 200mm setting to see them.

I was looking the opposite direction toward the north part of the field, trying to find a good picture to take ... when I turned back around Stella was nowhere to be seen.  NOT GOOD!!!!

I knew she had disappeared down "the deer highway", a path I posted here last night. So I sprinted from the top of the field, past Sadie toward that 'deer highway' in hopes of catching Stella before she wandered down into that gully which leads to a country road between these fields and the landscaping business you see pictured.

When I start walking on that deer path I still cannot see Stella. Calling her name she shows up and had been a little future on the path and "down" into the gully a little bit.

It would be an understatement to say I wasn't happy ....

The walk stopped immediately and all three of us walked a direct route back to the house. She knew she was in trouble because she sprinted into the house and headed for the bedroom instead of the computer room. She is still hiding as I post this.

Other than that ... it was a great day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.