New Competition For Walter

With Sunday having a lot of what's in the photo, our activities didn't change much. A lot of food, siesta's, some baseball on tv, more food with the night ending with a tv show. Today was entirely different and back to normal. Lots of sunshine, and it was perfect to take Heidi and Stella out for a walk, returning  by 7:30am. While on our walk I could see that many of the business are not open. Traffic is almost non-existent where normally at that time of day we would have people pulling in to their place of work while we walked by their buildings. Heidi had a little hop in her step today and she loves giving her nose a workout as I let her set the pace for all of us as she sniffs every square inch ... I keep my eyes out for snakes or spiders along the way.

I've known for the past few weeks I was going to have to retire what was left of the cow hooves I bought back in April when I picked up Walter. They were way too small for Stella although she liked chewing on them. Too much of a chance for that to slide off her teeth down to her stomach. For Walter it was getting close because he could fit the hoof into his mouth and I couldn't see it. So this morning it was time to head to Pet Smart, put on my mask and head inside to buy a couple of chews.

I did a little research on Dentley's Natural Chews, looking for reviews on the internet and then customer reviews on Amazon. Nothing I found told me I shouldn't buy them. I bought a large one for Stella and a smaller but good size for Walter. Oh ... theses photos are from Sunday ... they enjoy sleeping.

When I unwrapped and gave Stella's hers, she headed straight for the backyard not caring it was already 91°. She didn't stay out there long chewing on it before she came back inside the cool house, leaving the bone in the yard. I later walked out to bring it inside.

Walter was in heaven with the new chew. I didn't see him for the rest of the morning ... that is until he decided that he needed both Stella's and his. I made sure in my research that these did not smell bad nor stained the carpet.

Walter was so happy that he would prance through the house with most of it sticking out of the side of his mouth. Heidi had sniffed each one but had no interest in anything more than checking them out.

He loves his new bone. Needless to day, those few cow hooves I had left were thrown away.

Stella did and didn't like hers. She did not lay down and chew nonstop like I expected. Her teeth are so worn down from her past attempts of escaping the chain link outdoor kennel one of the previous owners kept her in ... she doesn't have a lot of teeth left for a bone this size. That's my guess.

Of course once Walter saw Stella lay down and was chewing on something he sprinted from his bone across the living room to take Stella's bone. I knew when I bought these that they would want both bones or at least the bone that the other dog was chewing. No matter how many times I separated them and the bones ... Walter was back to take both of them.

After a short lecture, as if he understood what I was saying ... he decided he didn't want either bone.  There you see Walter in his bulldog pouting pose.

The pouting didn't last long before Walter was back at it ... trying to take Stella's bone away from her. Stella has never been a fighter and will walk away before she gets into a fight over a bone. If she is really interested she would have stay near and figured out a way to get it back. Today, she just wasn't that interested.

So I picked up the bone and waved for Stella to follow me. Off to the computer room we went closing the door behind us. There she was able to chew on her bone without Walter trying to take it from her. I could hear him outside the door listening to Stella chew on the bone he wanted with his bone just a few rooms away.

As soon as Stella was finished, Walter rushed in grabbed the bone and ran back to the living room. I don't think I have ever seen him spend this much time chewing anything so it was obviously a good purchase.

When you spend hours chewing, those new adult teeth and jaws must get tired. It was just in time for a siesta before lunch.

I heard snoring over the tv and looked down at my feet ... this is Walter having his after lunch siesta ... it's hard being a bulldog.

Sunday morning I received the weekly email showing updated photos of the new puppy and his 9 littermates. This week she took three photos apiece with the second face shot zoomed in. With most of his body being solid mahogany he looks a lot like Winston did at that age. All of the black you see will turn to mahogany as he grows.

After seeing two videos of him playing with his four brothers and five sisters, it's no wonder he looks a little tired in this photo. I wonder if he had just woke up. That is his 4 week old photo. As you can see he is getting a good start on those typical basset hound long toenails.

I am going to see if/when I can make another trip over to see him. He will be coming home around August 26th and that is when I'll tell you his name. From those same videos that were on their Facebook account, it looks like he will not be intimidated by Walter nor will be pushed aside. Walter will have a huge weight advantage and will mash him playing sometimes but what I mean is I see no signs of the new puppy backing down when the play gets a little intense.

I almost forgot ... while I went to PetSmart I decided to leave Stella and Walter out to roam the house. I wasn't going to be gone long. I hate leaving them penned up. I shut the computer room door and the bike room door just to make sure Walter could stay out of trouble. He likes to drag things out that are not his. I am not sure how long I was gone, 15 minutes? but came home to a normal house. Walter was panting as if he had been playing the whole time I was gone.

With the afternoon monsoons, and thunder ... it was another good day in the "Wild West".

A Fast Paced Saturday

Saturday was showing some promise early in the morning. We needed to get some things done before the forecast of rain at 2pm. A Reds game had been moved up to 10:10am MT to beat their rain scheduled later tonight. Motivation disappeared as we all took a short late morning siesta before the game. Then things starting going downhill soon after. The game as postponed in Detroit, our rain never showed up and was being pushed out further in the afternoon on my hourly weather app. So there isn't a lot to do when it's too hot outside. As you will see, Walter found the optimum sleep position for the loudest snores.

It was still a very good day in the "Wild West".

Walter's Game Of Cow Hoof

Walter got a little overconfident tonight while I was watching the Reds game. He had a cow hoof and started tormenting a sleeping Stella by laying the hoof on her foot then picking it up when she woke up and raised her head. This went to for a while until Stella decided she might be able to get that favorite toy of hers if she stood up. Of course Stella had not chewed any bone, antler or hoof for years ... until Walter showed up. So Walter kept dropping it on her foot, then picking it up when Stella reached for it. I think you will like some of Walter's expressions in these photos.

A fine example of bulldog puppy quickness, not only picked it off of Stella's nose but was able to move it out of reach inside his mouth.

Walter swung his head so hard to keep the hoof away from Stella that he lost control of it as it slid across the tile floor. Stella didn't move ... she had a plan.

Much like a batter waiting for his pitch to knock the ball out of the park, Stella waited for her move. She had observed Walter's overconfidence and knew when in a split second she could steal the hoof.

Just as Stella raised her head, moving the hoof that is too small for her to chew, to the back of her mouth where her strongest teeth are ... Walter seems to be looking at me for some help, maybe I could come to the rescue and take it from Stella and give it back to him. I just sat on the watch watching the "hoof game" as well as the Reds game.

So it was Stella's turn to torment Walter. She would lay her mouth on top of Walter's face or head while she chewed the hoof. Walter was now on the offense determined to get his hoof back.

A gallant effort using his jumping ability, bulldog quickness and body control. Stella would just raise her mouth a little higher just out of reach of the leaping bulldog puppy.

They stopped like Sadie and Stella use to, for thinking and analyzing what the next move would be of their opponent. I could still hear Stella's teeth mashing the hoof in back of her mouth. Her jaws are strong enough that she can break these hooves into pieces depending what the brand name is. When that happens, all those pieces are thrown in the trash.

Is that a little begging I see from Walter? The pup that is always in control and running the show.

After Stella let him know he wasn't getting the cow hoof back, Walter walked slowly toward the kitchen, turned to take one last look at Stella and literally plopped down on the cold tile and was out within seconds. He never just lays down anywhere ... he just falls into the spot he wants to sleep.

I was back on my bike this morning early for as short easy 20 mile ride with a route that is fairly flat but really nothing is flat around here when it comes to bicycling. It was good to get back riding. I have gained some weight from not riding. My pulse rate was much higher of course with this easy pace ride. That will go down the more miles I get under me. I returned a little before 9am and that 87° felt like a 100°. So the plan for tomorrow is to leave around 6:15am, an hour earlier than this morning.

Nothing much after that. A load of laundry and then three hours in different calls with Directv in my attempt to get my payment for MLB Extra Innings refunded back to me as per their letter April 24th. I finally found someone that understand what I was asking and that MLB Extra Innings was NOT a *&#($&*@ MOVIE !!!!! I have never been a fan of outsourced customer service half way around the world.

By that time it was time for baseball and a nice fresh skinless chicken breast I bought at the butcher counter instead of the packaged chicken I normally buy. So much more taste in those meats, chicken, shrimp and salmon from the meat counter wrapped fresh instead of packaged.

Heidi was very active today but I didn't get any photos. It's always good to see her running around the house or laying outside and enjoying the sun and heat.

A light short rain late this afternoon here in the "Wild West" ... unexpected showers.

I see that Blogger is still making changes to their new version. It's an entirely different process adding more than one label. When I checked the photo sizes via the HTML screen I saw there was no way of changing that size from s600 to s1600 because all the photos were automatically loaded at s1280. So you should see some sharper images on any blogs you read that are on the Blogger platform. They will eventually get it sorted out but I swear not one of those programmers have a blog on blogger, or anywhere for that matter.

A Trip To See The Puppies

I had reserved a time for this morning to drive over to Old West Bassets and see the litter of 10 puppies a few days shy of 4 weeks old. There are five males and five females. I had decided before I sent in my deposit I was looking for a mahogany and white male. With hopes of one having a laidback attitude and not the 'king' of the litter. It took about an hour and a half to make the trip and the morning weather was perfect to drive with all the windows down.

The bassets are living on a ranch about 6 miles off the paved road. Beautiful country and a place you'd think you could camp but this is all privately owned land. I had looked at the route on the satellite map last weekend to get a good idea where I was going. My maps on my iPhone were pretty accurate if I were to follow the verbal directions. Out of all the puppies I have brought home at 8 weeks old over the years, this is one of the few times I was able to see, pickup and hold, talk to and look into the eyes of the puppy I thought I wanted. But there were a few things that would have to fall in place for me to get that. I was #5 in line to choose out of the 10 buyers and am #2 in line for those of us that wanted males.

Before entering the area of the puppies and their parents I scrubbed the bottom of my shoes on a rubber mat that had a disinfectant and water. This would prevent any chance of me bringing parvo to the litter from the ground I had been walking on back at home. Most were sleeping as I accepted the invite to sit in the box with all ten pups if I wanted. The male I wanted is that mahogany and white straight ahead in the photo at the bottom of the picture with a little black on his tail. In the upper photo he is the mahogany and white in the middle. I thought I had taken a lot of photos of him today but when I got home I found out this was the only one ... instead I had a lot of hands on time with him.

One of the people that wanted a female had changed their mind and chose a male. They had chosen the male that the person before me wanted. So I figured my chances just got better. If they wanted a tri-color (black and whites at this age) then most likely they would want that one on the far left against the little boy's hand. That would leave me next in line to choose and I'd have the pup I wanted since the first day I saw photos of the litter.

1 week old -- since they don't have names, they are called "color of their collar male or female" Tan Male was my guy. They were a laid back group of puppies. Not fighting, no yelping but all of that might come next week as they get older. As I sat down on the wooden ledge 'tan male' walked right over to me, I picked him up and our eyes met. All of the puppies had beautiful markings. All of them have all the attributes they are suppose to have, even long ears at 3.5 weeks old. When I held him with his back against my hand he didn't fight to get away or move. He just laid there relaxed. While talking to Michelle he fell asleep in my hands. He reminded me of a basset hound I had once before. Some of you know who that is.

1 week old face

Two weeks old -- I still wanted to look at the other males and even the females. I wanted to see how they reacted when held, or petted. Would they stay around or try to get away. ALL of them stayed around and enjoyed the attention they got. I saw again that I could never be breeder because I could never sell the puppies ... I'd want to keep all of them.

2 weeks old face. Looking directly in the camera for the 2nd week in a row is a plus with me. It's not for blogging purposes although I bet he will love getting his picture taken in the future. He didn't seem shy and that is another plus with me. He wasn't the litter bully which I saw in a bloodhound litter once. Yet he was active while a lot of the others were still sleeping.

3 weeks old. The camera setting were a little off in that weeks photos. He was not that light of mahogany and after a half week most of the black you see was gone. That is normal for mahogany colored bassets.  All bassets should have a white tip on their tails. It is to see them better in a field when they are tracking rabbits and you cannot see them through the tall grass. It is the correct asset for a basset, the white tail tip.

3 week old face. Again not quite that light but looking directly into the camera again, something that a lot of the ten puppies did not do.

While I sat watching and touching different puppies I had two of the females lay next to my shoe to sleep. One put her head in the dog dish filled with kibble and slept. Would I have a 3rd dog in the house with the same shade of red/tan/mahogany? I would if I decided to chose "Tan Male".

Well I was 100% positive of the pup I wanted. It was the real reason I made the trip today. THEN she said "I have something that might confuse you a little in making a decision. I have a female from another litter of 4 that was born a week before. One person chose this female and then decided to wait until the next litter."

As you can see, she is beautiful. Her dad is all black like that. Some of that black on her hips will turn the same color as her head. As soon as I picked her up and she didn't fight to get away ... I thought I as holding a "mini Heidi". I began to wonder if I wanted her instead of the tan male. It was a good thing that Walter was at home, not that he would have not liked being here ... but if I did not have Walter I have no doubt that I would have taken this female and the Tan Male I came to see.

About the time I was getting ready to leave one of their 'pet' basset hounds was barking at the cows to stay in the shade and give me room to turn around.  As I drove slowly past the basset after making a looping turn, I saw the basset hound walk away from the cows toward the house ... he/she had done their job I guess of controlling the cows.

The person on the list before me had not chosen yet but Michelle had left a message for them. She also thought they would chose the black collar male. I told her I had some things to think about on my drive home .. which pup to choose when I thought for sure I knew which one I wanted, until I saw that female. I already knew which one I should choose. I had already picked a name even before the litter was born. I wanted him the first time I saw that 1 week old picture. Plus the way he walked right over to me when I sat down inside the box. All the signs and energy were there to make the choice pretty obvious.

Of course when I got home after being around a total of 14 puppies, 6 adult basset hounds and their one spaniel all three of mine attacked at my shoes, ankles and hands with their noses trying to identify all of those hound smells left on me. Water was trying to wag his tail but he doesn't really have one to wag so Heidi and Stella made it up for him. Their tails were going a mile a minute as their noses were pressed against my shoes, or ankles.  After things settled down, Stella decided it was perfect time and temperature for an afternoon siesta. Too hot for Walter so he didn't last long.

I'm not sure for how long but all of us fell asleep on the floor in the computer room. I sat on the floor with all of them because I had to explain to them where I had been and what was going to happen at the end of August. While I was "passed out" on the floor, Michelle had sent me an email telling me the person in front of me had chosen the pup we thought they would, the "Black Collar Male". So "Tan Male" was mine if I wanted him. She said I could have a couple of days to think about it since the female from the other litter had come into play.

While the hounds slept, I spent another hour looking through photos of both the female pup and the tan male. Would two males in the house get alone? I have had three males in the house once and they all got a long and they did not have contest marking their spot all over the house like I expected they might. I doubt that Walter cares what the pup is just as long as it can keep up the pace when playing. Walter will be a few days shy of 7 months old with the 2 month old basset walks into the house.

What will Heidi's reaction be? Will being the same breed make a difference to her or is she just a 100% loner? I still knew which pup I should and wanted to choose. About an hour after she had emailed me I replied back to her that I wanted the Tan Male.

I forgot to mention that during our one hour visit, she mentioned that both of her breeding females came from a basset hound breeder in Indiana. I had never heard of the town she mentioned so I looked it up when I got home. It is in northern Indiana, small rural town. I lived in the southern part of Indiana. The mom and dad of Tan Male were laid back and friendly bassets. They were also LARGE size bassets, bigger than Heidi and Winston. When she let them out to visit me they came right up to me to get petted and get some attention.

Walter spent the rest of his day chewing the last small piece of his cow hoof. It's almost too small and I am going to have to throw it away before swallows it. Yes that small piece is hidden in his mouth in all of his photos.

So it turned out to be a good day. I got to see a LOT of basset hound puppies, met the breeder and a couple of her kids that gave all the puppies as much attention as they wanted. Stella got to sleep under the sun, Walter got to chew his hoof in private and Heidi got to sleep all afternoon in the air conditioned bedroom besides having lunch. My Reds finally hit a baseball and won a game. I had a big thick steak and enjoyed the fairly strong wind out on the patio.

I will say I was impressed when I stopped for gas at the intersection of Hwy 90 and I-10. It's a good size gas/mini mart and busy. EVERYONE that was out of their cars either filling their vehicles up with gas or going inside to shop WERE WEARING A MASK. Maybe that is why Arizona is seeing a decrease in positive cases and hospitalizations. Whereas my friend went to Sam's Club in Indiana which started their state wide mandate this past Monday and NOBODY was wearing a mask.

I tried the downsizing and minimal living a few years ago. It felt good to get ride of a lot of stuff I had stopped using. But when it comes to dogs, bicycles and cars/trucks it's never been that way. I didn't last more than 10 months with just one vehicle in 2018. I think the last time I had only one hound was in 1990 when Harry and I roamed the PNW and Colorado before moving back to Indiana. Soon after I had a 2nd basset hound and a bloodhound, living with 3-4 hounds  since 1995. 

I guess our dog walks next fall when it's cooler and the two pups are big enough to go with Heidi and Stella will be very interesting and I'm sure there will be a few people that will want to stop us and meet all of them. I am not sure what my 'plan of attack' is to walking 3 hounds and a dog with retractable leashes. Ha Ha

A great sunny day today but I hear thunder now and an alert just told me that lightning is 10 miles away ... all is good in the 'Wild West'.