Stella Has A 4 Hour Test

I don't have a lot of dialog for today's post. I left home this morning around 10am and didn't get back until a little after 2pm. We did get a walk in this morning before I left. Skies were clear, ground was soggy and the air was cold (38°). Stella came running each time I called her name. 





It was so nice early that we decided to take off for the morning walk and forgot about all the rain yesterday until I heard the sounds of the soggy ground with each step I took. It wasn't that bad enough to turn around and cancel the walk, so we continued.

Stella is running from the brush area where a lot of the deer hang out.

At her normal spot off to the right. I wanted to get pretty far ahead of her so I might be able to get some photos of her running, as long as my Nikon D3200 camera wanted to work.

When we got over to the tall high power lines tower, she kind of headed that direction of the "no fly zone" and when I called her name she came back on our path.

On the way back both hounds found time to play, instigated by Stella. It's funny to see them playing in an all out effort and then stop suddenly - stare - and then walk together like nothing has been going on.

While I was away from the house for a little over 4 hours, Stella actually was pretty good. No damage really but I could tell she and Sadie had been wrestling and running around the room. On the hardwood floor they were or she was able to slide the bed away from the wall, then pull all the blankets and sheets off the bed, down to the mattress. In the center of the bed were all of the bones I had left for them ... on the floor by the dog bed.

They must have had fun while I was gone. Heidi in the meantime spent her 4 hours in charge of the house with free range.

Great weather today in 'the tropics" of Southern Indiana today.

Stella's Fear Of Thunder

Can't quite see the rain drops

Since it had not thundered much between the time Stella arrived here in 'the tropics' (Aug 30) and now, she had to remind me this morning that her previous owner had told me "Stella's afraid of thunder". I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in last fall's storms so I didn't think much about it when the thunder started pounding loud this morning.

The skies were getting really dark, some lightning strikes near by and a blast of thunder ... just as my morning blog post was published, I lost my satellite internet connection. It wasn't a second after it published it went out. By that time the house was dark as night and Stella was pacing and whining. She ran to the door a few times and nudge the door handle with her nose as if she needed out -- it was just needing to 'escape' that loud noise.

View from the Mahjong game

While having a reassuring chat with her, Sadie came over and placed her nose on top of Stella's head to let her know that all is well inside the house when it is storming outside. Compared to my first basset hound, Harry, this was nothing in terms of a storm. Stella did not freak out, did not pace but stood in place a few times to listen. Harry would have been pacing a hour before the storm arrived and then he would have tried fitting his basset hound body under the couch, behind tables and crying the whole time he paced.

Stella decided this was the best alternative ... let it rain all it wants outside.

With my computer turned off due to the lightning .. I fired up the laptop, running on it's own battery, on the kitchen table so I could play Mahjong and watch it rain at the same time. Here is a screen shot of my addiction .. Mahjong Deluxe, the only app I've ever paid for ... 99 cents. I started last year to get each game completed in less than 7 minutes, then 5 minutes, then under 4 minutes, under 3 min 30 seconds. There are 4 different sections with each being progressively harder and more tiles to remove per game. So about 160 games are included. I play them over and over trying to remove all the tiles as fast as I can. My time ranges from 2:15 to 4:40 with most of them being between 3:00 - 3:15.

Along with that I had to do some weather research. Under normal sunny skies there is always a chance of Stella's separation anxiety going active while I am gone. Now with thunder and her being alone I might get the double whammy on this. She was going to be left with Sadie in the bedroom as usual while I went to the store for groceries and a stop by the library to check out some books.

Taking Sadie and Stella with me was not an option on this trip. They would have been okay in back of the FJ while I was inside but about the time I would have opened the back door of the FJ to load groceries ... I would have had two loose bloodhounds in the parking lot. I didn't want to chance that. Yet, what would I do if I were traveling and needed to buy groceries?

I put my weatherman's hat on, studied the local weather on wunderground, then checked the radar out to St Louis to see what was coming towards 'the tropics' ... it looked like I had a window of opportunity to 'escape' and buy some groceries. Heidi moved out the living room where she can roam the house while I am gone. She can drink all of the bloodhound's water, check their food bowls for any pieces of kibble that might have been missed. It also prevents the bloodhounds from playing too rough with her while I am gone.

I must admit when I pulled the FJ out on the highway I was expecting the worse when I got back. Stella had been okay during my short store trips at night only a mile away and my short trip to the library downtown and back ... so this two hour vacation I was going on would be a good test for her.

When I returned, there was NO damage when I slowly opened the door expecting the worse. All of the dog bones that were left were in a different location, the dog bed on the hardwood floor was slid across the room and Sadie's tongue was hanging all the way out of her mouth as she was out of breath and panting. Obvious signs that some bloodhound wrestling had been taking place.

We headed outside for them to dump tanks and I could get a few photos after the storm had blown through. Heavy winds the other night had gusts up to 45mph, it looks like that took out part of my fence .. where did that top piece go?

I am not sure how much rain we received. I don't have the high tech rain gauge that Greg has down in Texas ... it either rained a lot or I have a low spot on my makeshift patio.

Sadie and Stella took a while to find that perfect spot ... dog owners will know what I am talking about ... these two walk forever sometimes just to find it. Luckily they have plenty of room to add new spots if they choose to.

Heidi had gone before I took the trip to buy groceries. She was only out long enough to stay out of the rain (behind the yews) and get her job finished. There wasn't time to lock and load the camera. By the time the bloodhounds had gone outside Heidi was asleep for the afternoon.

I decided to follow the Paleo Diet shopping list. That makes shopping pretty easy. It consists of the aisle for meat/chicken/fish, straight over to the the vegetables and then the fruit section as you proceed to checkout. I had to make two trips into the packaged food aisle ... Seattle's Best Coffee #5 and some extra virgin olive oil. I like that kind of shopping.

Of course since I have not decided yet if I or they will change the FJ oil, today the line and time to wait at the Walmart Automotive department was zero. I found that out with a basket full of groceries and no time to get my oil changed. If I decide to get my oil changed there, the place will be packed and the wait long. Maybe I'll try on some Sunday morning when 90% of the county is at church. Otherwise I might stop at the Toyota dealership or just do it myself.

So the fridge is stocked, a couple of new books to read plus finish Area 51. There is an IU basketball game to watch tonight. All of the hounds are in their deep sleep mode ... should be quiet here the rest of the day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Rain - Dog Food - Rambling

Yesterday after lunch turned into more lazy time ... for me and the hounds. Heidi made it outside after lunch and after her Epsom Salts soak. I did something different after the soak. Instead of shampooing those areas of bare skin or spots with little hair, I only rinsed those areas with water. What a difference that made.

Whereas before when using the shampoo at the end of the soak and then her skin being right red, possibly irritated for a day ... her skin yesterday was normal skin color soon after she dried. There is new hair trying to grow on the sides of her stomach, that was much more evident yesterday than last week. Plus her energy level is way up ... I take that as a sign she is feeling much better. Nails were trimmed as I am trying to get them shorter with weekly trims.

The bloodhounds didn't do much either. They slept a lot even with great weather outside. I am not sure why but the urge for a siesta hit me mid afternoon and that led to a 4 hour deep sleep. I slept the sunshine away. That has been the trend for the past 7-9 days ... a daily siesta. I'm retired, I'll go with it.

Consequently there were not a lot of photography taking place yesterday afternoon.

Today we were up about an hour earlier than normal. It gave me time to take a few photos before it started to rain. It's early but from the way it looks early this morning, the weather radar, the forecast and the rumble of thunder I just heard .. it looks like both walks will be rained out today.

Soon after taking those photos big drops of rain started coming down ... the hounds still wanted to stay outside ... "milk bone" gave them the initiative to head home.

I am going to be checking out eBay today. For about 5 years I was a full-time eBay seller, with 3 of those years working at home. I can't really remember the last time I listed anything for sale, it's been years. So with the rain starting to lightly fall, it will give me a chance to read about any changes on how eBay operates. I do see that a lot of the sellers I followed are no longer on eBay.

Basically I have some stuff to get rid of that should sell. I won't list everything here, most of it is garage sale type stuff. With my location on this high speed highway it would not be safe to have a yard sale. I like selling online better, although I will not use Craig's List. I've rarely had any luck selling there, plus I am not a fan of having strangers at the house. Selling on eBay is better and I always use USPS Priority Mail for shipping, unless I have something heavy.

After 9 months being on a personally designed Paleo Diet ... basically all fresh veggies, fruits, chicken, fish and beef .. with coffee and sugar being the only packaged food ... I started thinking at the urging of a couple of friends, to go vegan. I was a strict vegetarian in my 20's and had many friends on the vegan diet. They never looked really healthy to me. During that time I continued to eat fish, chicken .. I guess they were calling it "lacto-vegetarian" then.

I have stabilized my weight on the Paleo Diet, after losing 20 pounds. I've felt much better right from the start, than when I did using the diet suggested by Dr. Fuhrman. There was no meat in that diet but I was finding that grains, beans, even certain fruit was giving me bad cases of indigestion. The Paleo Diet effect was immediate ... I was no longer living on Tums anti-acid tablets. It was hard to adjust to lower carbs and more fat. Even eating beef again on a regular basis was an adjustment ... but I felt much better with no acid-reflux issues. I also wasn't hungry all the time on the new diet.

So, being inside most of the day today I will review some different diets ... if I change I'll probably move to the "Mediterranean" diet.

As far as the diet for the hounds ... huge difference in changing Sadie and Stella from Diamond Naturals for Large Breeds to Fromm for Large Breeds. Both of their coats went from very soft to softer. Both of their energy levels increased. Sadie stopped licking her leg obsessively and no longer sprints to the field at night to eat grass. Stella did not have any digestive issues.

I know that I said I was going to keep Heidi on the Earthborn but when she finished her bag of food last week I put her on the same food as the bloodhounds were using. I am hoping the grains and other carbs will help her gain some of her weight back. The strange thing is, Heidi 's skin has had NO reaction to eating grains. That was the main reason for moving her to a grain-free food in past years. So I think for a while that is the direction we are going to go, giving her the same food as the bloodhounds are eating.

As far as the Mini Cooper -- headed to the local mechanic for oil change, possible repairs after they get the drain plug off and a 3 week waiting list, as always with him. Biz is good in small town USA. As far as the FJ ... funny way of thinking, easy to get under the FJ, easy to change the oil but it's cheap ($30) to have it done, so I'll take it in.

Oh, while it is raining today I may start my research or go back through my previous research about cameras. I can find some of that documented right here on this blog. Blogging makes it easy to find information, although I did actually find a pdf file on Sunday in a file on my computer, inside a folder called 'Mini Cooper'. I know that doesn't sound like to much happened there but I seem to remember not only at home but at work ... it was always the file you or someone was looking for on a computer that couldn't be found ... it was always hard to find.

Work? ... I don't miss that one iota.

As you can see if you made it this far ... there will not be a lot of outdoor activity here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today. The thunder is rumbling loud and the skies are really dark ... it has the feel of April today.

Stella Crosses "The No Fly Zone"

The blog starts off strange today when I open the bookmark to the blog and the title is in a different font ... how does that happen? A cache problem?

The early morning walk is now part of the daily routine. Sadie is the leader basically and knows the routine has changed. The second time they go outside, they don't take off for the field with their noses to the ground like they use to do until a few days ago ... they stand and stare at me ... I know what they want from that look they are both giving me. So a walk it is.

The air was cold but at least the strong 30-40 mph winds had died down sometime last night about the time it started to rain lightly. I have a lot of sticks to pick up today out of the yard and add to my burn pile.

With blue skies and a lot of clouds, we took off. Although we follow the same path, now twice per day, every walk is different. Each walk has different things happening within that 20-25 minutes. It didn't take long today to see that, when Stella was walking on the return path out away from the brush line.

When I said "Stella, come on" ... she went trotting over to Sadie ... back to the normal trek. Today she decided a break in the walk was needed so her and Sadie could play a little. Due to the short distance between my zoom lens and them, I was unable to fit them into a lot of photos.

In a split second, they stop playing and start walking together.

It is routine for her to head right after the area of what I think is the deer sleeping area. Only today she was all the way to the corner of the field after making that right turn ... each day she had been going a little further out. It wasn't a big deal because she always comes running when called ... just like today.

When I started letting Stella walk with no leash a few months ago I knew there was a possibility she might take off sometime and I would have to run to get her. No ... in fact I knew it was a sure thing, that it would happen eventually. It wasn't that big of deal, it was just the shock of turning around and not seeing her. The last time that happened was a few days ago when she had ran and snuck up behind me by the time I turned around.

At the place we turn to take the return path she has always wandered to the right toward that big tower holding the power lines ... even when she was on the 25' retractable leash, that area was always an interest to her. She will always hangout in that area as Sadie and I continue walking. I can then turn around and get some photos of her running.

Something different happened today though.

I turned around and didn't see a bloodhound anywhere. I checked behind me to see if she had snuck up on us ... she wasn't there, only Sadie. I was pretty sure I knew where she had headed. In prior years I had seen groups of deer running north and then jumping over the fence into the woods. I was hoping after I crested the small hill that is where I would see her.

As you can see in that last photo ... she is WAY outside of her boundary. 

I wasn't in shape nor the mood to be running through the woods trying to find her. Luckily as I crested that small hill, my camera picked her up sniffing the ground a long way off but at least not in the woods. I yelled her name and she came running ... almost knowing she may be in trouble because she had crossed "the no-fly zone".

When I said "lets go home" both her and Sadie trotted out in front of me for the slow walk back to the house. Each time she started to veer off the beaten path, he would return each time I said "no". They took their time but ended up making it back to the house with Sadie finishing with a short sprint.

With the temps in the high 40's and well below Heidi's 70° threshold, she remained in bed sleeping while the bloodhounds and I walked. The two walks per day should help Sadie lose some weight this spring, summer and fall.

It's another beautiful morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.