Hounds and Other Stuff

She's AWAKE!!

It's been a pretty slow day here in "the tropics". We are down to one day to go with the days in the 90's. It is suppose to drop to the low 80's until Saturday and a freezing 72° after some forecast of rain. I'll take it. I love hot weather but low 80's is better than mid 90's when there isn't a beach around.

Some readers have emailed asking if Heidi is okay since she has very few photos posted compared to the other hounds. Heidi is doing great and is slowly improving. She is gaining some weight back after losing 28% of her 46# this past year. She has hair that continues to grow back in areas the vet did not expect due to the skin damage. I know that red skin looks terrible and sore but it's soft to the touch and doesn't seem to bother her.

The thing is she is a 'couch potato' ... always has been. She will roll and bark at herself, she will run sprints in the house when she first comes back inside in the mornings ... as long as the other hounds are still outside. She sleeps a lot like most bassets do. Plus I think a lot of her energy has been zapped by whatever is going on with her. She will go on the daily walks when she wants to, which isn't often anymore. About the only time she goes outside is to do this:

I think you will see her coat is looking really good after eating Earthborn Holistic dog food the past 52 days. I can also feel some muscle along her spine coming back and I am seeing a little less of her ribs. So I believe she is gaining some weight.  The skin looks good one day and all it takes is for her to start chewing again for it to look the way it did this morning. Overall, believe it or not, the majority of her skin issues are healing.

I am tracking on a spreadsheet everything that is going on with her, adding things that might be the cause of her skin issues. It's really hard to tell what the factors are that irritate her skin. I still think most of it is caused by the environment from the pollen and dust in the air.

Stella is still doing great off the leash. This morning was a real test as we were all outside before the sun came up and she took off for the field faster than normal. I thought there might be another animal out there she had to chase but found out she was just in a hurry to dump her tanks. Still it was dark enough that you could not see any of the hounds without a flashlight and she came running when I called her name. She continues to be a great bloodhound.

Winston and Sadie made sure to know what had been walking around their yard while they were inside last night. Their noses seem to work overtime. By the way, Sadie is now spending time sleeping next to Stella different times during the day. Stella is also becoming a little jealous when it comes to attention and will nose her way into the lead if possible. She seems to have taken over the couch.

I think I read the pet food and pet toys industry is more than a $350 million per year industry. I've spent more than my share on kong balls, deer antler bones, cloth bones, pig ears, hard marrow bones and bones from the local butcher at the grocery store that is no longer in business .... yet ... Sadie spent more time and had more fun licking out the very last drop of peanut butter from the Jif Peanut Butter jar her last night.

She was determined enough at the end to slide that jar as far back into her mouth as possible so her tongue would reach the bottom of the jar. She still couldn't get all the peanut butter out but she had fun. Amazing isn't what hounds like to do or any dogs for that matter, with things that don't cost a lot?

Since I had a little time this morning to mess around on the internet and do different computer stuff I dabbled with Google+ again, looked at, downloaded and then deleted Picasa, and read about Wordpress blogs compared to Blogger.

First about the blogs.

I was able to find some pretty honest opinions from the blogging geeks and even though they were set up on the Wordpress platform, the majority of them said Blogger was the way to go for what I am doing. I would prefer not to move my blog. Blogger has unlimited storage for texts and photos, etc. Wordpress of course has a lot more templates, a more professional look but a limited amount of storage on their free version. If I would want to go to their .com and furnish my own server for it to reside on, then no problems. Been there done that.

I don't know why since I am on Facebook where I follow a lot of groups, keep in touch with some old friends and post just a few photos of the hounds ... for some reason this morning I thought of activating my old Google+ account again. I did some research to see if there were any new updates or changes, clicked all the buttons I need to set up the account.

After spending a few hours adding photographs, looking for communities, trying to set privacy settings I decided it was just more work than I wanted to add to my computer time. This blog and Facebook are enough. I didn't see any reason to have duplication between the three platforms and Picasa is not my main photo manager. So I deactivated the Google+ about as fast as I set it up. I know that the new Google Photos has unlimited storage but I have all my photos in the Apple Photos program that is on my hard drive and it's backed up every hour on an external hard drive.

Since all the photos on this blog are stored in Google's Picasa, I wanted to see how much data I had used, and how much was left. I never liked it when I looked before because it always wanted to download the 22,000 photos I have on my hard drive, before I could input just what folders I wanted it to download. I was curious enough to look at it again.

This is that type of morning I have at times where I mess around with computer stuff. The college football game tonight starts at 8pm so I have plenty of time to do nothing today. Plus it was giving me something to do between the numerous trips outside with the hounds. It's one of those days with them. They want outside but as soon as they get outside, it's too hot so they want back inside. At least I am getting a workout today, thanks to them.

Anyway I couldn't find anywhere to log into Picasa with my blog info from Google+ so I did the same thing I have done in the past with the same results. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

I downloaded the Picasa program and as soon as it was downloaded it started importing all my 22,000 photographs automatically!! There might even be more photos than that because my Photos file is 25Gb and many years old. So I immediately canceled Picasa and trashed it. Then emptied the trash.

I already put a lot of my photos on Flickr, I use Photos to edit all my photos and can use the Nikon camera editing system if I really want to get technical in photo editing.

So basically the morning was wasted doing things on the computer that I did not end up keeping. Here are a couple of photos I took this morning. These white flowers are blooming all over the field.

A few weeks ago I blogged about killing all the wasps that were in that AT&T phone terminal box for the neighborhood. I had also gotten rid of a couple of nests earlier in the summer when I washed the house siding. Well those wasps are back with vengeance. I need more spray where I can attack them from 20'-30' away. The war with them continues.

Where were the hounds through all of this?? Their normal activity .... sleeping!!

Not much going on, that's about all today from "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.

It Feels Like A Sunday

As I write this it's 3 minutes until 1pm. Three of the four hounds are sleeping, enjoying the coolness from the air conditioned rooms. I'll let you guess which hound is up, giving me the stare down ... because she wants to eat.

From the very first trip outside this morning, it felt like a Sunday. Not counting the actual first trip of the day because that took place at 4:30am when Winston decided to wake up and moan loud enough to wake me up because he needed to go outside. That's what happens when you sleep through the last trip outside for the hounds before bedtime just for this reason.

So once one hound woke up the other three woke up. Of course Heidi is the only logical one of the bunch and she isn't moving except to change her position and go back to sleep. So it was I and three hounds walking through the house, flipping lights on as we go, on our way outside. It was cool and beautiful that time of day. Clear skies, stars, no sound ... it was like camping.

It was back to bed until 7am and the daily routine starts. Most retirement days are like Sundays and that's the way I like to keep them. Maybe and that's a big maybe, one thing will get done, although it's a really minor thing compared to those working most of their daylight hours. No plans for today and writing this blog post early might be the only thing that gets accomplished today.

You can see that Winston is still tired after sleeping through most of the football games on Saturday and Saturday night. Heidi is still inside sleeping through this photo shoot, Stella is laid back and relaxed as usual and Sadie ...

Well Sadie started the morning excitement off by catching a scent as soon as she walked outside, went sprinting out of the house and around the corner at full speed ... I then saw a flock of geese launching from "her" yard airborne, never to return, although we could hear them talking off in a distance. Luckily Stella who was not leashed, walked in her normal slow motion right beside me and didn't react to Sadie's sudden burst of speed.

Since there were aliens in the yard, I felt it was best to keep Stella on the tether this morning. It didn't matter to her. She enjoyed the sunshine and a short nap while Sadie did recon making sure there was nothing else in the area.

Winston didn't care what all the excitement was about ... he is just the same, every day.

In the meantime while one basset slept inside and two other hounds sat relaxed in the yard, Sadie did her complete sniffing expedition of the entire yard and field border ... then sprinted to the house when I yelled the words "milk bone". Stella woke up from her nap a little startled but followed Sadie to the house figuring something must be good if Sadie is running with her ears flopping in the wind.

Now ... four bowls of food, four hounds in four different locations chowing down for lunch.

That's about it for the day ... from "the tropics" of Southern Indiana

Hounds Maintenance Day

So before the kickoff time of 12 noon, this morning was time to clean ears, trim toenails, and brush all the hounds. Really, it doesn't take that much time to do all four hounds as long as it's done on a regular basis. The tool pictured on the left makes the hounds react different. The word was Stella would lay down and let you cut hers ... she did without any issues.

Heidi has no problems with it. I have to help her roll over so I can see the nail better and to keep from getting into the quick, thus cutting them to short. She came with very long nails and I've never been able to get them real short so we are trying a different schedule of more times with shorter intervals within cutting them and cutting very little each time.

Winston takes some bribing with food or a treat. He will not come to the spot to lay down but after I walk him to that spot, he lays down immediately and will roll on to his back, where I get a better view.

Sadie is a different story. She might let me do it one week but nothing is ever the same. Today and just seeing those clippers laying there outside, she took off sprinting around the field. She looked like next years 2016 Kentucky Derby winner. I went in to get the camera and when I came out I didn't see her. She was hiding around the corner, behind the giant ragweed that borders the field.

If she sees them inside the house, she will run to either her dog bed or under the living room coffee table, knowing that I cannot move 100#'s that easy with her laying down. I might try tonight as she sleeps, otherwise I'll have to have the vet assistants do it.

Winston is the only hound with bad ears. All the rest are clean, no infections and Stella won the "cleanest ears" award for this week. I use baby wipes to clean these long eared hounds. For Winston he has to have the 50/50 water/white vinegar in his ear, the massage the base, let him shake and start wiping.

I decide to move up Heidi's Epsom Salts soak to today. That would be only two days since her last one but this time I did not use any shampoo  after the 20 minute soak. I just rinsed her off with water and dried her. This was taken right after her soak and all that redness will calm down after it completely dries.

As long as she shows improvement, I am going to give those soaks to her on a more frequent basis. She is also a day or two away from finishing her first 28# bag of Earthborn Great Plains Feast with Bison Meal as the #1 ingredient. I wanted to change the protein source on the next bag to see if there was any change. So in a couple of days she will be eating Earthborn Meadows Feat with Lamb Meal as the #1 ingredient. Neither bag has any kind of potatoes.

I am seeing improvement since I started the Earthborn food on July 20. Her coat has never been better, really soft and shiny. Also hair continues to grow back where the skin was damaged.

It was another day of letting Stella off leash with no problems. She comes when called. There are no surprises with her. She is a typical bloodhound that has grown past the puppy stage. About the only way you can tell the difference between her and Sadie is their tails. If you see blackish it's Stella, otherwise since they are both wearing red collars they look like twins.

That is Sadie if you can't tell

I am pretty sure these hounds smell the yard mole traffic when they are sniffing the mowed part of the yard.

I took all of these photos from sitting in a chair at the corner of the house, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. I thought this photo of Sadie was interesting since it looks like I was kneeling on the grass when I took it ... but not the case ... sitting in a chair a long way away.

Well back to college football ... the next round of "good games" start in a few minutes. Shocking news is that I haven't fallen off my diet wagon. I am not drinking Pepsi, one after another like in past years, no chips, no dips....just water and raw fruits and veggies like any other day. I've lost 21 pounds since May 1 just by eliminating grains, bread, junk food, Pepsi and eating low carbs. I have a couple of days a month where I have a day where I can eat anything I want, including candy and Pepsi, but it's not the daily norm anymore.

Three more days of temperatures in the 90's and then it will drop to low 80's to high 70's here in "the tropics" of southern Indiana.

Thanks for the emails and comments telling me how you look forward to reading the blog and seeing the photos of the hounds. So far their popularity online has not gone to their heads ... yet ... otherwise they may ask for more food, less maintenance and more couch time.

Bloodhounds Off Leash

I had to try it ... of course it would be under my watchful eyes and a feeling of when to know that I would have to go get her. The previous owner told me the day I picked her up that she would stay around me if I were outside with her, that she wouldn't run off. Hounds will wonder off based on my experience but it always seems to happen when they see you are not around, some are bred with that wander gene.

She had been showing signs that I could trust her and also responding to her new name when called. I know that's hard to believe she is doing that within days of changing her name but it also happened this afternoon while she was off leash and pretty far away from me.

The time of day will also determine if I let her off leash with me around. I know that early in the morning and dusk it may not be possible this fall due to the amount of deer that are in the field in back. There isn't a lot but it only takes just one for bloodhounds to take off chasing it.

Although there was a time last fall where there five deer at the tree line in the field. I thought for sure Sadie was gone but she didn't see them and evidently didn't smell them. By the time I was able to round up my camera, the deer had seen Sadie and took off back into the woods.

Today I sat in my chair with camera in hand the whole time we were outside. At first Stella went all the way to the left side of the property, where I was mowing this morning when she found me after breaking out of the house. I was about to get up to go get her but instead yelled her new name. She came running immediately.

Her and Sadie headed for the field and eventually split up. Here are the photos of that test of Stella being off leash.

Can you tell which bloodhound is which?

That is Stella thinking about a nap

Here Sadie is looking for Stella

Looks at me as if asking for help

On to other smells

 It's cooled down a little and Stella decides it's time for a nap

Here I ask Sadie "where's Stella?"

Once Stella heard her name, she jumped up and came running towards Sadie

I can't say she will always be off leash, even coming outside from the house due to my fears of her taking off after a bird, squirrel and in Sadie's case  ... butterflies. Still she seems trustworthy and will probably get a little more freedom as time goes on just like I have done with the other three hounds.

Is it confusing to you if I have more than one blog post per day? One writer I follow has numerous posts per day with different photos. Almost all of the blogs on the left sidebar only have one blog post per day.

Well I am off for the night ... football starts at 6pm and I have some things to bbq.

Stella Proves She IS An Escape Artist & Musical Chairs

I was warned by the previous owner that Stella could open doors that have a handle that is a lever instead of being round. I have only one of those in my house and it is the main door I use to go in and out. It is the door from the kitchen (end of house) to go outside. There is no way I can lock that aluminum screen door once I leave the house.

So today as I was going to mow just the backyard and only part of the front since those were the only two places grass had grown out of control, I was going to let her roam the house with the other hounds instead of locking them in the bedroom. The basset hounds had already decided to sleep since they had been fed and it was nicer inside with the air conditioning than being outside.

After a couple of laps around the backyard, as I am bending over to pick up a small tree limb, I feel something nudge me from behind. There stood Stella, wagging her tail. Obviously I was surprised but more relieved that she was here outside and had not taken off in other directions.

As I led her back to the house, there stood Sadie inside the house looking out at us and the basset hounds were still asleep. I decided it was best to put the bloodhounds in the bedroom with the door shut, where they sleep at night.

She is a very smart dog, is starting to act more like a bloodhound every day and I can tell she is getting more use to this place being her new home and the other three hounds being her new roommates.

Here are a few photos from this morning and right after their early lunch. No matter what time of day they always have to see if anyone or animal has been in their yard since their last search and destroy mission.

Last night was also a time of "crisis". The first college football game was starting at 6pm local time and I knew I would be there on the couch for at least the next 6 hours watching multiple games. I will be doing the same thing tonight and Saturday ... it's my normal fall routine.

Yet last night the three hounds I've had for years, found out there is a new hound in the house that is beginning to act like a normal bloodhound instead of the shy dog that just moved into their neighborhood. She evidently decided the place on the floor by the stereo speaker she liked was just a temporary spot and that she prefers the couch a lot more.

That started the first problem. On the opposite end of the couch of where I sit, is where Winston has sat for his 11 years. He props his head on the arm of the couch or stretches out in the middle of the couch and sleeps the majority of time that I am watching ballgames or movies. After Stella stretched out, she took 3/4 of the small couch. It's a model where it is longer than a love seat but shorter than a normal couch.

Winston decided that since the corner was not available then the spot right next to me was the next best thing. There was no room available but Winston saw enough space he like any hound knows they can make room once they get up there. That didn't bother Stella in the least. She pulled her legs out from under Winston after he laid on them and put one of her arms over Winston.

Sadie took her normal position under the coffee table, Heidi in the other chair and things were good for the next few hours.

Of course just like me, the hounds will also get up to get a drink of water at times. In the old days before this past Sunday night, they could be assured their seat would still be there when they returned from the water bowl.

Not anymore!!

Once Stella got up to go get a drink ... Sadie out of her norm, jumped up on the couch and took her spot. Winston gave up and headed for his spot in the bedroom and Heidi only watched from a distant chair.

This is where it gets interesting. Stella comes over to my side, staring at the couch, acting like all she wants is to be petted while I am watching the game. Stella had other plans though. First it was one paw on the edge of the couch. Then it was both of her front paws as she glanced down at Sadie ... who even looks bigger since the thinner Stella has arrived.

That thought I had where she "might" try to get on the couch ... went to saying "no" multiple times and was fully ignored. Stella had jumped over Sadie on the couch and stood there over Sadie until Sadie slide out from under her and back to her normal position under the coffee table. NO growling was ever involved with all the changing of positions.

Soon after Stella had found the right spot for a few hours of sleep.

By the end of the night and the last football game finishing up, Heidi moved to her spot in the bedroom and as  you see below, both bloodhounds found their perfect sleeping positions.

Although the photos are a little grainy from using the iPad Mini camera, the night ended well.

I am really happy with how Stella has adapted to her new residence. She has been absolutely zero trouble. She follows a very similar schedule as the other hounds. She hasn't whined or barked once yet is very observant of strange noises. Last night it was the football official's whistles she heard on tv.

She has had no problems with her dog food change from 4Health to Fromm Senior, with duck as the main ingredient. She poops and pees in the field, not the yard. She is not a runner, doesn't pull on the leash when walking and is just a normal very laidback bloodhound. She's a great smart bloodhound and I am glad I chose to give her a new home.

Heidi is doing better today with her skin issue .. no photos. Winston is just Winston, nothing phases him and he just cruises easy through each day.

I'm doing a little housekeeping on the blog today. I'm sure others that use blogger as their blogging platform has seen the notice in the overview section of their blog dashboard talking about some European law where European Union visitors have to be told how cookies are handled????

Do we have to add this to our blogs? I don't feel any kind of responsibility like that. I don't have any Google AdSense, you cannot buy anything from my blog and I know personally being an internet addict that if I visit any websites I'm leaving a "cookie trail". Nor am I a fan of all the visits I am getting from Russia and the Ukraine.

So to appease Blogger I added a tab up top of my blog for those visitors they speak of. What is Blogger going to do to blogs that don't have the cookie warning visible? I think the whole thing is bullshit.

In part of the blog housekeeping I am going to update my "about me" page, since a 4th hound has been added. When I read that page now it doesn't make a lot of sense. I never know how little or how much to put on the "about me" page.

Once again with the temps in the low 90's, the hounds don't like to stay out long, so not many photos. Forecasts shows after 4 more days of the heat, we start having highs in the 70's ... so it's nice weather within a week.

Nothing new from "the tropics" of southern Indiana.