Familiar Times

 

We didn't do anything special, no hats, no ice cream or doggie cakes. It was Walter's 3rd birthday on February 1st. I remember sitting down at the computer on a rainy Saturday in Sierra Vista AZ in April 2020. I was looking for another bloodhound but they all seemed to be east of the Rockies and I wasn't going that far for a hound. Then I thought, what about an English Bulldog? I had always liked them and wanted one. So I found an ad in Tucson. I made a phone call, he was still available and I headed up there to see him. He is the same color as his dad who was huge and the size of my mom, which was small. So he is a small male by AKC standards but a great dog.

A Good Day For The Hounds And Dog

 

Google is up to its old tricks again reversing the order of my photos no matter how I load them. It takes too long to load them per content so I have always loaded them all at once, and type between them. So I will think in reverse order as I write. It's been a really good day for the new bloodhound and it's only 2:15pm local time. All four of them are in a deep sleep with Walter snoring loud from his spot in the computer room. Here you can get a better idea just how tall a bloodhound is.

I Knew Watson Would Change

Just a short quick post to show that Watson finally decided Samson was good this morning. Just like Sadie did with Stella in August 2015. They all ate this morning without a dog fight over food. They drink out of the same water bowl. The larger one from outside has been brought inside to the mudroom. I had just walked to the patio door to check on them outside and they were sprinting on the slick icy yard .. by the time I got my camera they had moved over to the side yard to wrestle.

Nothing but photos. Samson in the choker collar, Watson has his black collar and of course you are already know Henry. 25° Walter is inside where it's warm.

Samson Arrives After All

 

Like always when I decide to do something I keep thinking about it, did I make the right decision? I kept thinking with his breeding, a littermate of Watson, he should be a good bloodhound. After 21 months maybe he could use a different environment. I was pretty sure my three would be okay with him. Their only experience of having another dog here was last spring when the bulldog Hank stopped by to visit.

So sometime after 10am and about the time I was going to text the owner to tell him that I had changed my mind and I would take him. The picture above showed up from the owner. How could you resist a face like that ??? LOL

I Deleted The Post About Samson

 

I deleted the post I wrote yesterday about adopting Samson because it's not going to happen. The later the night got, the more thoughts of common sense came into my head. Various reasons to adopt him a just as many not to. A few years ago when I was thinking of rescuing a basset hound or bloodhound, I can't remember which, a friend told me "Steve you cannot save all of them". That rang true last night.

The problem was with him, unlike Stella in 2015, Samson has a biting problem. Some things might be consistent in what causes him to turn aggressive but it was said he could at a "flip of a switch" for no reason. THAT would be hard for a non-profession trainer (me) to fix. It would take a lot of time and training to get him past that.

For all the time it would take would be less time I spend with Watson, Henry and Walter. Less attention for them to give attention to the new bloodhound. No matter what anyone says, you can only give 100% and it's hard to spread that out evenly.

Watson has really responded to his new training. I would hate to change his routine right now and have him compete with a new bloodhound that would be in a lot of training. Even if Samson got along with all my hounds and the dog, who's to say one of mine would not like him moving into their territory or want one of their bones. I am afraid it would turn into a hound/dog fight that I could not break up.

This morning I notified the owner and the lady that is trying to place him. I have not heard back from the owner but I have from her. She understood but it was hard to read "you were the best chance he had".

I may have been but those words ring in my head "Steve you cannot save all of them".

Just An Update

This a different kind of post and really nothing more than letting you know I have a pulse. The hounds and dog continue their normal routine although most of the days this past week they were dodging standing water when they went outside. The large rug inside the patio door is doing its job, thus the hound and dog paw prints are at a minimum on the floor when they run back inside. 

A Long Discussion About The Yard

It was darker outside when I took these four photos. It is the first trip outside for the hounds after they woke up. Walter always stays inside until after he eats. You will notice though, the standing water was already gone at 6:30am, soaked into the ground after all the rain we had up to midnight light night. It was good to see, with sunshine and mid 50's today, at least for part of the day.

As Predicted - A Wet Wednesday

Warning ---- only one dog and no hounds photos tonight in this short, unplanned post. Two --- I know all about the rain in California and this is nothing compared to that but California rain has nothing to do with this blog post. Three --- Walter will NOT go outside no matter how long he has to wait to poop and pee. Luckily he went out after his lunch and right before the rains started around 12:30pm. It is 5:16pm local time as I write this with solid rain until a little past midnight.

Wow Was I Confused ???

 

I was confused yesterday when I said I did not have any new photos because I found some this morning on my iPhone. Then I am still confused today because when I uploaded the photos I took this morning (shown here) plus the "missing" photos, I saw I had used the "missing" photos here on my January 9th post. I had used my iPhone, Nikon, and Cannon in the past 8 days. Luckily when I load them into my "Import" file here on my iMac they are sorted date taken.

Blogger is also confused today. I have uploaded the photos in this post 4 different times and Blogger still puts them in reverse order than the way I loaded them. I even shut down my browser on the last two attempts but it did not work. So all these photos except the last two, were taken this morning.

Some Old Hound And Dog Photos

It might say it's 51° this afternoon but it still feels cold while having a day of light rain off and on with an overcast damp feeling to the air. So when I checked the photo import folder for recent hound and dog photos, I did not find any new ones since my last post. I felt like blogging today so I went back into my photo library and found a few older ones.

This is Heidi in July 2011. It was one of her photos on her adoption ad at Basset Hound Rescue. I made arrangements to drive up to met the foster mom and her in a parking lot in back of shopping center in Merrillville Indiana. She was happy to sit on the extended bed in the passenger seat for our 4 hour drive home.