Ava Limping This Morning

Our daily routine started early, very early this morning at 4:00am. Same routine including feeding them breakfast because Cletus was howling for food. The change was, as I let the hounds and Ava back inside from the dark cold backyard she was limping. It was her left front leg, the same one she cut in July. No signs of a cut. She let me examine her paw and there was nothing stuck in the pad of the foot.

Ava Outruns Them All

Before I get into the mornings play session outside in 21° weather, I want to backup the past few days to show you how we have been beating the coldest temperature so far this winter. Although it was 2024 last January and February, like now, I still call anything from November to February as "this winter". Ava continues to grow, has developed her own routines but she loves to be outside most of her time.

Cold & A Little Snow

It started snowing lightly Saturday afternoon. I was set up for Saturday Football as were the hounds. They had spent most of Saturday morning outside running all over the yard. It was the first time Ava had seen snow. Cletus is still doing great but he has shown me that he lived on the streets for a few weeks as a stray and probably had to raid garbage cans to find food to eat. He is on Wholesome Sportmix like the others and is gaining weight. His ribs are slowly disappearing as well as that scar on his neck. 

Cold Temps Have Arrived

Cletus shows you just how much he loves Watson's love seat. I think you can tell he finds sleeping there much more comfortable than sleeping in the streets during the weeks he was wandering the streets of Salem Indiana before they caught him. August 23rd the bloodhound trainer and manager of the Greene County Shelter picked him up and took him to his house to train and live.

Early Morning Cardio

They would have started an hour earlier with their DAILY early morning cardio if I had let them. So a little before 8:30am I let them outside after I heard Cletus's big deep loud bloodhound bark, wanting to go outside. All three of them sprinted from the door to the yard and the game was on. I am going to buy some of this "Dog Turf" for my bare spots. Grass seed can be planted below it and grow through it. Should be interesting. 

A Slight Change Of Direction

I will probably end up getting back to writing what's going on, or a rant etc ... eventually. Right now I am thinking about changing the blog direction a little bit. Like a paragraph of content, then 15-25 photos. I have done that before here. Years ago I had a Wordpress blog where that is all I did. So we will see.

Cooler Temps Don't Bother Them

The past few days have shown some new developments with the hounds and dogs. Watson has finally accepted that there is another bloodhound in the house. He is now one of Cletus's best friends. I did not get a photo of it but it was official Saturday morning when Watson had his front paw on the side of Cletus's head when he was laying down, while licking and cleaning Cletus's face. They are also playing more outside one on one.

Strangest Thing Happened

This gives you a good idea what it looks like when the hounds and dogs want to come inside. They don't bark. Henry or Watson might scratch on the door window, otherwise they will sit quietly until I show up. In this case they saw me walking to the door and they came running from different directions. Is there a dog missing?

Not Much Went On Today

I cannot get over how well Cletus is settling in here. He came housebroken and I had a test for him today. I needed groceries plus a run to The Donut Bank to buy some celebration pastry to eat. I was gone for almost an hour, where I left him and all the adult hounds, and dog in the house with access to the backyard. When Ava saw me getting ready to leave, she grabbed her Nylabone and went into her crate without any command.

Ava & Cletus Start Early

This is my second or third time I have tried to post a video on the blog. Not sure if it will work or not. Ava and Cletus started playing early this morning. I heard her playing at 6:44am so I grabbed my iPhone while needing my second coup of coffee. I see the video didn't work when I looked at "preview". So this is a photo right before I started a video.