The Hounds Are On Strike

Stella and Winston sharing the couch

I'm not sure what the problem is but these past couple of days all of the hounds have been very low energy. When they go outside they sit, they search but there hasn't been the sprinting around the field and playing.

Stella and Sadie will play a little inside but it's the type of play that is quiet wrestling. The interesting thing is each time I try to take photos of them inside, they stop playing. The next interesting thing is, inside Stella will be the one on the ground with Sadie standing over her ... outside it's just the opposite.



One thing that Stella has taught Sadie is to take time to relax. Before Stella showed up August 30, Sadie would rarely if at all, just lay in the yard and enjoy the sunshine.

After letting the hounds outside Stella would just sit sniffing at the air but soon after lay down and sleep. Sadie and Winston would do their search and destroy mission in the field ... their way of destroying what they find is to eat it. I've given up trying to get them to stop, it's almost impossible with two stubborn hounds.

Stella has no interest in following along with them eating gross stuff so she would stare and watch them. She has more important things to do ... like a short afternoon nap in the breeze of a fall afternoon.

I may have spoke too soon on Heidi's skin stabilizing with the change back to a chicken and rice formula. Late Thursday night (after a week) her legs had been chewed on, some to the point of raw skin. The front paw that was full of hair, now had a hot spot from chewing. A lot of redness on her stomach, chest and neck.

Friday morning when she woke up, most of that was not red and looked like it had calmed a bit. By Friday night she was bright red on her legs, stomach, chest and neck. So we have gone back to the Earthborn Grain Free Meadow Feast blend.

These were taken around 12:30pm on Friday. The redness was much brighter later that night. The left front paw was almost full of hair before she started chewing and licking it, after the dog food switch from no grain.

Yes .. that is an extra toe nail growing on top

I still think we are getting close though where those light spots having hair fully grown back in these next few months. I believe the probiotic supplement is making a difference. It has not been 5 weeks yet, the recommended time before any changes would be noticed. I also see and feel a little more weight coming back.

It took longer than last year but the leaves finally brightened up a little. It was almost an overnight thing. Still not as bright as last year.

From the looks of things this morning, I could be raking a lot of leaves within the next couple of days here in "the tropics".

The Hounds Were Sunbathing Today

I was able to get the lawn mowed before noon on Wednesday. I probably mulched more leaves with the mower than cut grass, but at least all the grass is the same length now. It was such a nice day I grabbed a book and told the hounds we were  heading outside. They had just finished their meal and it didn't take them long to find the sunshine, find their spot and start napping.

Except the one that has the nose that works all the time ... so Sadie searched and searched and ate stuff. Heidi came out just long enough to dump her tanks and SPRINTED back to the door to go inside. For some reason she was not staying outside today ... so no photos of her. But she did lay in the sun that came through the living room windows and slept there in the sun all afternoon.

Sadie always looks up to see if I am watching her ... then will ignore my look and will start eating some of the grossest stuff the field has to offer. I've stopped trying to get her to stop and have decided she is a hound and some hounds eat anything they find and have for generations. Hopefully the other hounds will not pick up her habit.

Sadie eventually came back to the yard and actually laid down but it wasn't long before she was back up with her nose to the ground. It was some great weather. I read a lot, Stella and Winston slept a lot. I pictured sitting like this at a camp site and had no doubt the hounds would be doing the same thing as they were now, but would be trading green grass for sand or dirt to lay in. I think Stella will be a pretty good camper.

They woke up when I yelled Sadie's name

Maybe some readers can give me some ideas on what Sadie is doing. What started to be an occasional thing has now turned into an obsession with her. While she was laying down in the yard today she was chewing and pulling mouthfuls of green grass out of the yard and eating it, roots, dirt and all. Once the grass was gone then she would eat the dirt while digging a small hole with her teeth. At times to get the grass out, she was working so hard to get her back teeth at the right angle, almost like chewing on a bone.

I know when dogs go into a field and chew tall green grass some say its because they just like to eat grass, some say it's to help with their indigestion ... but in this case she and Winston are eating the dirt that is pushed up from the ground by the yard moles.

Bizarre behavior to me.

At least when I yelled her name when we were going inside, she did came running instead of ignoring me ... then headed straight to her water bowl ... lol

It was a beautiful day in "the tropics" of southern Indiana.

Summer Still Trying To Hang On

High energy right there

Even though the overnight temps are in the 40's and 50's ... daytime temps have been perfect here in the tropics. These next few days we will see high 70's and one day in the 80's. Because of that I put the jeans back in the closet and pulled out the summer cargo shorts and a t-shirt. I'll help all I can to keep summer around.

Those three things I listed on Monday that I planned to do ... never got started, except I did run out to replenish my coffee supply. Priorities right? With the simplest of tasks not getting started you can tell this has been a pretty laidback week so far.

The hounds played a little but not a lot. Winston has already started his winter hibernation activity ... a lot of sleeping. When they have come outside this week, they are mostly in the search and destroy mode. As you can see the frost last weekend killed a lot of the wild flowers in the field.

Heidi, that's normal for her. It's only been a few days since I changed her food back to include rice, barley ... all the good grains. I actually think I can see a little weight gain around her ribs. If so that is great news.

With the change from "no grain" dog food, her skin rash has not increased. In fact since I started adding the Probiotic Miracle to her food a few weeks ago, her skin has continued to improve and at the least has stabilized.

That tells me what I always thought, what my last vet thought back in February ... her skin problem is caused by environmental allergies, and is not a food allergy. I just hope these next 6-10 months she can regain her weight that was lost this past spring and summer.

Sadie and Stella had a short burst of energy this morning, but it didn't last long and within minutes after coming back inside, they were both in a deep sleep. Their inner clocks will get them up around 12:30pm, and they will let me know it's time to eat. Stella is doing more and more begging for food and is quite jealous in the attention department. She will do anything, anywhere, to get between me and Sadie when I am petting her.

I thought a few weeks ago I had mowed the yard for the last time. I had lowered my mower the next level which was a mistake. I've done that before and said it was a mistake. So today I am going to mow again, raising the blade back to the higher level. I have some grass in different spots that need mowing, plus it will mulch what leaves are on the ground.

I am still thinking about if I am going to leave for the winter this year. I have to admit, some days the urge to travel is there and some days it's not. Single digit temps later on may make that decision much clearer.

That's about all from "the tropics" today.