Sadie Fits In A Walk Between Storms

Once Sadie saw sunshine outside she thought she had a chance but we needed to go outside and take a few steps into the field just to see how wet the ground was. It looked and felt dry enough, although wet, that we could get a walk in today.

By the time I walked inside to grab the camera and came back outside, Stella was already starting the walk and was out in the middle of the field before the first turn, ready to go.

It was an afternoon of exploration. No trotting, no running and no jogging from either hound, including me. I have felt the field being wetter in the early morning dew last week than it was now. Hard to believe it had rained the the last 20 hours off and on. Yet it is nice and hot this afternoon.

Sadie was thrilled we were outside. It doesn't take much for her to get cabin fever when she cannot get outside a hundred different times a day. At least it seems that many from my doorman experience.

Stella's ischium is back to being the same size as her right one. I have to think that swelling over the weekend through Wednesday, had to be rabies shot related. She enjoyed her back rub with the rubber hound mitt that collected a small amount of shedding hair.

Not nearly all but along the edges of the field where the hounds walk, the grass seems to be getting taller by the hour. It will not be long before I'll have hard time seeing the hounds while they walk with their noses to the ground.

After hanging out left of us for most of the walk I was a little surprised that Stella slowly walked in Sadie's direction near the far right corner. I didn't have to call her by name thing but later on she turned on her stubborn feature and made the walk a little longer than planned.

Even with distance between them, still no trotting today by Stella.

She followed the edge of the field behind me and Sadie all the way up to the last turn. We had to wait on her to catch up, as she was in the ultra slow pace this afternoon. Maybe too soon after her afternoon nap.

I had walked quite a while not really paying attention to where she was. With Sadie right next to me I just figured that Stella was slowly walking behind me. When I turned to check on her, she was nowhere near behind me !!!! She was barely visible just on top of the small ridge of the field toward the north woods. It took my 200mm zoom lens just to look this close to her.

I called a few times and she never moved. I took this from a long ways away so I had no choice but to start walking her direction. She still did not move as I approached her. Then once I was about 10' from her, she raised her head and slowly walked toward me with not a care in the world.

So an unexpected walk was fit in the schedule today thanks to the actual weather compared to the forecasted weather last night. I have a feeling though that Sadie will still want another one later. We might do one without the camera but will have to see.

I still have the urge for some reason to go to Best Buy. There must be something over their that needs my money but I don't know what that would be besides some printer ink. Walmart is closer but they only have the box of three colors for $14 more than the same box at Best Buy. I don't need all three colors, I am not even close to being low on the other two colors besides cyan.

I do not need any computer stuff, no camera stuff so I can't figure out why I can't get that trip out of my head. The Epson scanner that scans negatives and slides in addition to pictures, does interest me quite a bit but I am not sure I am in the mood to jump right in scanning pictures or slides if it were sitting on my desk.

I guess the best way to sum up this afternoon is like when you are hungry but do know know what you want to eat.

Dr. Jeff's vet show on tv tonight may turned out to be the highlight of the evening here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Bloodhounds Walk Before It Rains

They predicted this and they were right .... it's cold !!!! Nothing like going from the high 70's on Thursday to the high 40's earlier this morning as we stepped outside. By the time we started our walk it had edged up over 50°.

That didn't bother Sadie at all, in fact she seemed a little more energized than normal but it might have been those new scents that were filling her nose instead of cooler temps. She did not even escort me to the field this morning and took off running from the very start.

With Wunderground being right on with their rain prediction time yesterday I decided I would believe them today. We needed to get outside and walk before 1pm when it was suppose to start raining.

Sadie spent the majority of the walk way ahead of Stella and I. We were cruising the path together, on a slower pace than I am used to.

By the time we hit the first turn, Sadie was almost to the far right hand corner of the field. I don't know what scent she picked up but she went from her head buried in the grass to sprinting around the turn. The pictures did not capture her speed.

Stella did not attempt to chase her. I have a feeling that Stella is feeling the effects of an annual rabies shot and a dose of NexGard yesterday. The vet office had the same offer as last year with a coupon, one that I did not bring with me. Nancy at the front desk fixed me up with free NexGard chews for all three hounds.

Last year after picking off over 100 ticks in the month of April from the three hounds and myself, a dose of one NexGard for the hounds only (LOL) eliminated the ticks for the rest of the summer. I decided as long as I didn't see any on the hounds, there was no reason to give them anymore doses.

As usual Stella was more than happy to eat breakfast as it was served about an hour earlier at 7:15am. Too early for a Saturday or any day for that matter but we were wide awake and coffee sound too good to pass up on a day that looked as if I was in Seattle, overcast cold and rainy.

Sadie cannot figure out where the deer are. By this time last year she and Stella had a couple of deer chases under their belt but so far in 2017 they are being shutout. It would be a good test to see Stella's response if any deer showed up on the horizon.

When Sadie has her head buried that deep into the grass, she gives off that strange sound that only a bloodhound makes with her jowls making a sound moving while Sadie is sniffing as deep as she can into the earth.

This wasn't a morning that Stella was interested in exploring. She walked at the same pace throughout the walk but did have time to check and see if I would catch her veering off to look at the neighbor's house where the mystery dog showed up last Christmas.

While Stella was doing that, Sadie was back on another adventure way ahead of us.

Once I yelled at Stella "over here" she slowly turned and started the slow walk toward my direction. It's her personality more than anything. She is just laidback and obviously has her thoughts on other stuff besides doing this walk.

Sadie was wondering what our problem was and why weren't we up to where she was. She waited and waited, then took off running for the house as soon as I caught up with her.

Stella did pick up her pace the closer she got to the backyard. I didn't have to call her to do that but she seemed anxious to end the walk and get back inside ... where she was back to sleep within minutes ... her normal activity until lunch is served.

I am not sure how long that nice blue 2017-18 rabies tag will last on her collar. It doesn't matter how tight I crimp them to the collar they always find a way to come off and get lost. In stead of scanning the vet receipts and rabies certification this year I decided to just use my iPhone camera. It's easier and faster than scanning plus gives you the same file as a scanner does ... a file that you will probably never use.

After talking to the vet yesterday I decided that I would give Stella even more food than the extra I was giving her the past few weeks to a month. It will double her quantity I gave her in the past and will end up 33% more than what a larger Sadie eats. Of course if I let her, Sadie would eat the 40lb bag in one setting.

As with any large breed dog, you have to be aware of them getting bloat. In all the years I have had a bloodhound, since 1997, I've been very fortunate not to have to experience that with any of the bloodhounds I've owned.

With the weather outside, all of us hid inside. The hounds slept, I watched baseball and read out of different books. It's too quiet for a Saturday.

BTW ... for those of you that read this far .... it didn't rain today and by that 2pm prediction time, it was nice and sunny outside.

It's been a good day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Stella Starts A New Routine

I am not sure if Stella's change today is a routine yet, but I'm hopeful.

After missing the walks yesterday due to rain I figured today that Sadie didn't need to wait for me to finish my 2nd cup of coffee before we walked. I could have it when we got back from our walk.

The first surprise was Stella charging out in front of us, leading the walk. In the past few weeks she never left a spot about 100' behind me in this picture. Still, there would be plenty of chances up ahead to see if she would be distracted by a scent ... or the woods behind the neighbors house.

That didn't mean she trotted all the way. She still had to stop a few times and check things out but I will say her 'eating' today was non-existent. Sadie on the other hand, was high energy and spent most of her time off the path, charging through the thorny bushes along the edge of the field.

I remember when she was only a few months old she was doing that and caught a thorn with the inside of her ear. The thorn cut her ear open like a sharp razor blade, luckily not all the way through but enough it needed stitches. The scar is barely visible today.

About the time I turned to see where Stella was, she sprinted by me and caught up with Sadie. It was like old times, just like walking last summer where Stella made the full walk every day.

Sadie was pretty intense today with the deer scent. She was focused and was having a lot of fun charging through the brush.

As we were walking the back edge of the field, Stella was heading our way. It was good to see that she was getting in some exercise instead of spending her time in one spot eating deer scat. It was also a pleasant surprise.

She still had plenty of places to check out, but was moving most of the time. I've been feeding her a little extra kibble each meal hoping to put some weight back on her. She was getting too thin.

Without saying a word, she came running toward Sadie and I.

I could tell by the way they were acting that it wasn't long ago deer had been moving in this direction. When Stella stopped and looked over the fence toward the field behind us, I could the deer had jumped the fence and headed that direction. In the past I have actually seen the deer do that.

She was very interested in walking in the 'no fly zone'. As she walked that direction, she would stop and sniff the air. The deer scent was thick today. I kept calling her name and that kept her somewhat in control to where she would walk out there but in my direction.

This next picture is pretty far away from me. She gradually walked in the direction of the woods to the north. She was almost in a 'quiet' mode so I would not hear her and she did get pretty far away before I said something to her that was not only funny but got a strange response.

I said "do you want me to put you on the leash" and she immediately started walking toward me. I couldn't believe it !! LOL Then she got on the path to the left of me, right next to me and started walking as if I had put the leash on her.

We were not quite to the corner where we veer left to head home when Sadie sprinted past me and Stella followed. She never stopped to look in the direction of the woods behind the neighbors and never headed to the middle of the field. She followed the path all the way home as if she was on the leash.

With temps in the mid 30s it still felt nice outside and the sunshine was trying it's best to poke out through the dark clouds. After having a high of 56° yesterday, the forecast is showing high 20's by tomorrow and then back up to the high 50's by the weekend.

I know all of my book reading right now is a 'winter thing'. Once it's warm outside and sunny I know that I will be spending most of my time outside this spring and summer. The list of things to do is much longer than last year. So it will be back to the warm weather routines for the hounds and I.

I checked eBay and Amazon last night for the Absolute Black mirror caps for the Mini Cooper. Absolute Black is the official name for the color of my car. No luck, which I find just amazing. Since I see other pictures of the same car in different colors, many of them have black mirror caps. It must be something you could order as an option when you bought the car brand new.

I am going to check with a couple of body shops I've used in the past, and see if I can set up an appointment for them to paint the ones I have. I think I am a good interior and exterior house painter but I have never done well spray painting anything. Therefore paying someone to do a professional job is the best option for me.

Not much is planned for today but it is beginning to look like the perfect afternoon to pickup the latest batch of fallen tree limbs and add to the burn pile. So far the burn pile is much much smaller than this time last year.

I've been having a strong urge lately to go play some craps at the casino. It might be hard to believe but when I get these urges that never go away, the results are pretty profitable. They don't happen often and my last trips to the craps table was over two years ago. Yes, I add what I win or lose to my spreadsheet tracking expenses and income.

For all the readers that are working, it's 'hump day' for you and another 'day off' for the hounds and I here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.