Stella Was Different Today

Those that are following the blog know that I decided a couple of days ago that I would walk Stella on the daily walk through the field – 20 to 30 minutes per trip – without a leash. That is different for a bloodhound, especially a bloodhound. Their nose is the strongest of all breeds. They are made to track scent and will become unconscious of everything else if they lock into one that is important to them.

Today was Stella’s 3rd day or walk in a row without being leashed. She was a little different today. It was one of two things, maybe a little of both.

• She liked what she had found so much that she didn’t want to leave
• She is starting to push boundaries already just to see how far she can go

It started with Heidi coming outside along with Sadie and Stella. She did not want to go on the walk and hasn’t in a long time, even before Stella arrived on the scene. When we returned from the walk, Heidi was headed to the tub for her 30 minute Epsom Salt soak and nail manicure.

It’s hard to tell but I can see her filling out again little by little.

Sadie was sure she heard the word “walk”. When she started running toward me, Stella followed. Sadie always likes to start the walk by grabbing my hand with her mouth and helping me get started before taking off at the top of the small hill.

 

 It might look the same every day but remember they are smelling new scent along the way. 

The first thing different that Stella did today was fall behind on the first part of the walk.

Yet by the corner where they turn right, Sadie was there waiting for her.

They were almost ‘out of bounds’ on this photo. To the right of the photo, is a large gully where all the deer stay.

Stella heads too far right due to what she smells. I thought there might be trouble ahead.

I could tell when I was taking her photos above that something might be different from the other walks. I was right .. she had found something interesting and she wouldn’t leave

Then she realized she had been left behind. Once again she followed our scent on the trail to come back to us instead of running to us directly. When Winston use to do this same thing, he would walk directly to us through the high hay at times instead of following the path.

You can see that Stella is following her nose.

She walked up behind me and acted ‘proud’ of what she had done. When I said “let’s go home”, they both get on that worn path to head home.

 They followed the worn path to the house and were asleep again within 5 minutes.

There are some bloodhound owners that would cringe at the thought of any bloodhound walking leash free, anywhere. I am still cautious and always keep an eye out for anything that would make her run off in that ‘unconscious’ state … yet with the area that we walk in, vehicular traffic would not be a factor, nothing but surrounding fields.

The Hounds Speak

Heidi … it’s ‘oh dark thirty’ and you are doing the full body shake with flapping basset hound ears??? That seems to be the new alarm clock. The only problem is, I stopped setting the alarm once I retired. It’s okay though, 6:30am isn’t that bad … plus once Stella wakes up she lets me know it’s time for breakfast by her howling.



I don’t have a lot to say this morning but the hounds seem to have a lot on their minds.

Heidi …

I know he used that photo of me sleeping yesterday, but it’s what I do and it’s what I’ve been doing this morning. The slave is wanting to wake me up to grab those blankets to add to the wash this morning but I’m not moving and I’m not giving up any blankets. The toenails?? It’s manicure day … he pulled the clippers out while we were all eating breakfast … LOL … Sadie took off to hide in the bedroom so I walked over to her bowl and ate what little food she left in her bowl, before Stella could figure out what all the noise was about.

Blogging?? I did receive a few emails asking where ‘my’ blog was. IT’S GONE!!! My blog presence lasted but a few days before the slave changed his mind about giving us all a blog. I KNEW it wouldn’t last so I wasn’t that excited about it … He changes his mind all the time … it’s what he does … I live with it!!

No plans for me today. It may have looked like I was sleeping but I heard him say he was giving me a 30 minute soak in warm water with Epsom Salts today. That warm water up to the bottom of my chin feels good. It has to be that deep because I have skin issues on my neck … then he will cut my nails afterwards. He doesn’t have any treats to give me to bribe any of us today … I saw him putting the box of treats in the recycling bin last night.

I’ll come back here at times and talk … I never liked that blog of mine anyway … I just like to sleep. Photos? eh … could care less. I wasn’t born to be famous, I just wanted to be a lazy basset hound.

Those antibiotics the slave gave yesterday worked. No eye gunk today and my eyes are red and clear just like any other basset hound you may see. If you had eyelids like mine, your eyes would be red all the time too.

Stella …

Ah what a day. I just woke up from my morning nap. As you can tell I am not really motivated too much on this Saturday morning. It’s a cold day but I hear it should be 58° later today … LOL, right. It’s 37° right now, a cool breeze hitting me in my face from the south. My nose is picking up a LOT of scent as I sit there.

I think it’s those cows I can barely see. I hear them at night sometimes.

Sadie is already stressed out this morning. The slave tossed out the nail clippers on the floor early this morning … WHY THEN? … I have NEVER seen her leave food in her bowl but she did … sprinted for the bedroom, hiding behind the side of the bed. By the time I figured out what was happening, Heidi was already at Sadie’s bowl with her head buried deep in kibble. Not really … there were only a few pieces of kibble left but Heidi made it out to be a big deal … “Look what I did”

It’s Saturday so the slave won’t do much more than watch ballgames. I think “my” game is on at 2:15pm, so I am hoping for lunch at 11am and our afternoon walk around 1pm. BTW … I LOVE walking in the field with no retractable leash hooked to my collar. I’m not making any promises though on that “no leash” policy … if I see any deer in that field or down in that gully … I’ll BE GONE!!!

Then we will find out who can run and who can’t … any bets??  LOL

Sadie …

Can’t believe what a day I’m having and it’s only started. As you can see I don’t even want to go into the yard or field I am so mad. The slave tossed out the nail clippers onto the floor while we were eating this morning around 6:30am. Besides making me mad because he is cutting quantity of kibble in my bowl … he wanted to ‘torment’ me while I am eating?????  Really???

He could have waited, after all it only takes me 45 seconds to engulf 2 measured cups of kibble. FORTY FIVE SECONDS!!!! Hello … nail clippers????

I didn’t hesitate … heard them hit the carpet and I was GONE….sprinted from my dog food bowl next to the slave’s computer desk toward the bedroom. I HAD to JUMP over those clippers to get by them. I slid into my normal hiding place as I ran by the corner of the bed … laying on the floor as low as I could get, keeping as quiet as possible, between the side of the bed and the wall. He will never get me to move. I’ll play “dead weight” if he shows up.

So today should be exciting. I did let him cut my nails last week … why do it every week?? The slave says a little bit per week to get them back to being puppy short. He cannot bribe me today unless he pulls out those skinless chicken thighs he cooked last night … our treats are gone because I saw him flatten the box and throw it into the recycling bin. Sooooooo chicken it will be. I will put up a fight though, when it comes to cutting my nails.

I got a lot of emails last week asking where my blog was. Readers liked the red/green design. They liked hearing my point of view on things. It’s not going to happen though … it’s gone, not saved and not going to resurrect itself. I’ll miss it for sure. I loved blogging. I had big big big plans for my blog …. and now I am stuck blogging under the slave’s rules, no control of what is being said or what photos will be used.

Is there a union for bloodhounds?

Stella Passes Her 2nd Test

I really didn’t have any doubts that Stella would do okay off-leash during our walks. Of course there has not been any surprise deer jump out at us. We are also walking now mid-day, not late afternoon. Sadie was ready to go when she heard the word walk … she is waiting for Stella and I to catch up.

We are off for a Friday afternoon walk – Sella is not leashed.

 It seems like that same corner every time – Stella will stop and wait for Sadie to catch up.

 The follow their own same path every day, whether Stella is leashed or not.

Stella decided to stop in the same spot as yesterday. I walked on as fast as I could because I wanted to see what she would do once she realized how far away I was.

 Once she saw how far out in front Sadie and I were, Stella came running. Interesting that she didn’t run directly to us but followed the path that we take every day. I can even see a faint picture of the path on Google Satellite.

 As Stella turned the corner to head back to the house – She decided it was time to play.

 Although there are teeth exposed at times – there has never been any biting or growling.
There are times though that Stella starts to get a little rough, so I have to stop them.

Once I said “let’s go home” they both took off down the path.

 By the time we returned to the house they were ‘walking’  and were asleep within 5 minutes after going inside.

Heidi made her one and only trip outside right after lunch. With the temps below her 70° threshold, she shivered, raised her font paw – telling me she was ready go go back inside.

It was a quiet and relaxing day here in the ‘tropics’ of Southern Indiana