All 3 Hounds Enjoy The Afternoon Sun

I'll warn you ... a LOT of photos in this post. Heidi was the star of the show.

I had not planned on spending hours outside when the four of us went outside a short time after their lunch. I thought it would be a short trip. Heidi wasn't going to come with until I told her to get outside with a firm voice. She was happy though by wagging her tail all the way to the door ... almost prancing.

The wind was still strong this afternoon but the sunshine was really really nice. So nice I moved my cheap chair out to "Winston's Patio" of 6 red stones. I was still standing in different places taking photos. I noticed that I had the 18mm-55mm lens on the camera but didn't bring the 55mm-200mm zoom lens with me. It looks like that lens worked okay.

While Sadie and Stella moved out into the yard, Heidi wasn't sure what she was going to do nor which direction she was going to take. She thought about it for a while ... I was happy to see her head in the direction of the backyard. I think you will see that she is gaining some of her weight back and I can only assume it's not the food with grain she has been eating but the two meds that the vet gave us on the 5th of March.

One was a supplement for dogs coming out of surgery or older dogs that need a nutritional boost ... called Hema A Spike. She also prescribed one dose of Triwormer just in case she had worms although her stools did not show that.

She was almost headed for the yard and then started to change her mind.

 

Then she thought about it some more and turned back in the direction of the backyard ... the hopeful destination.

 

Stella had already grabbed her spot in the sun and anxiously waited for Heidi to show up.

 

SUCCESS!!! Checking out the grass.

 

I couldn't believe about the time she was in the yard, she did an abrupt about face and turned to walk toward the carport to go back inside. Or did she just want to sniff "Winston's Patio"??

She is still in the thought process deciding what to do.

 

In the meantime Stella and Sadie are screaming "come on"!!!

 

Heidi finally finds her spot and sits down. For new readers you may not understand the excitement so far in this post. I know it's only a basset hound that went outside to lay in the yard .... but for months Heidi has not had any motivation to even go or be outside longer than it takes to dump her tanks. Thus ... excitement shared by the bloodhounds and I.

Once Sadie and Stella saw their job was finished trying to get Heidi to come outside and enjoy the sunshine - they decided it was time to relax and soak up some rays.

I found it interesting after weeks of her constantly scratching, almost non-stop day and night ... during this photo shoot she didn't stop to scratch one time. Is it the blankets she lays on? Or the stale air from a house closed up for the winter?

She even got up to walk around and check out some of the backyard area. Of course whenever Sadie thinks she is missing something important, she will join the sniffing expedition.

Not long after the search mission, Heidi found a different spot to lay in the sun. I am really glad to see her outside and not wanting to run back into the house.

It certainly looked like she was about to head back inside ... but just like before, she made an abrupt turn and headed back out into the yard.

 

Throughout the 116 photos I ended up taking, Stella did a little roaming. She checked out the north side of the yard to make sure that drainage ditch by the neighbors house had not disappeared. She glanced back at me to see if I was paying attention to what she was doing ... then slowly walked back to a nice warm spot in the sun and took a short nap.

Nap time ... she has a procedure she likes to follow.

That spot must have been the wrong spot ... it wasn't more than 15 minutes she stood, walked about 5' to the left and found another spot to sleep in.

She also likes to include periods of deep thought between naps.

 

As Sadie was doing one of her favorite outdoor hobbies ... chewing sticks into 1" pieces and spitting them out ... I noticed Heidi had disappeared while I sat with my eyes closed. When I didn't see her standing by the door I knew she had to be in the front yard ... but where?

About the time I called out the trusty bloodhounds to help me find her ... Sadie had the scent ... out comes Heidi from the Yews.

Those are two proud bloodhounds knowing they had found her so quickly ... didn't even have to move.

The wind may be howling today but it was a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Go On An Early Morning Walk

After having winds all night between 20-25 mph, the temps had dropped about 25 degrees by the time we were up at outside. It was still windy, air was cold but the sunshine was out and there is nothing better than that. It was the normal morning routine but I can tell that the change in time has also changed me and the hounds just a little this week.

After their breakfast, a short nap while I scanned the internet while drinking coffee ... we we were ready to head out for a walk. Heidi turned down the offer. She had piled her blankets up a certain way where she would lay and sleep with the sunshine hitting her directly through the window ... needless to say, she wasn't moving.

The ground was still saturated and at times I could feel the water go above the soles of my Nike's on the side. The hounds were pretty energetic this morning. Evidently there was a lot of deer traffic last night because they rarely stayed in one spot very long before taking off for another. As you can tell from the clouds, it's windy and even looks like the low 50's ... still good weather for a morning walk.

Sadie and Stella stayed in front of me for most of the walk. They didn't investigate very long at different spots. Always on the move.

I'm not sure what Stella found to either get a good wiff of or to eat ... but she had her head buried in the thick grass and I could hear that noise that bloodhounds make with their jowls and nose when they are locked into a scent.

She sprinted past me so fast I had no chance to catch her with the camera. She went directly where I suspect deer may be sleeping. As you can see the bushes are really turning green fast with all the rain the past few days.

Without saying a word to her, she sprinted past Sadie and I again and headed to one of her favorite spots, to the far right corner of the field that borders a large deep gully. She was beside herself going back and forth and eventually came back to the corner of the gully. At no time did I have to call her name.

About the same time that I turned to see where she was and what she was doing, she was already right behind me at full speed. She veered around Sadie and I once again and it definitely looked like she was headed to her "no fly zone", until I yelled her name. She stopped and Sadie joined her waiting for me to catch up.

 
Yes ... she is headed 'that way' but when she heard her name, she turned and came toward me. Once again she did not look happy. Unlike a few days ago where she pouted and walked following Sadie and I at her own pace ... she sprinted by us again ... I guess she decided today to get in some interval training for her cardio workout.

Sadie and Stella take off, faster than just a trot but both stopped to wait on me when I yelled their names. I guess all of that built up cabin fever made both of them pretty energized this morning.

Still waiting for me to catch up ... they never moved from that spot until I was with them. Still a lot of interest in that area of the deep drainage ditch that Stella visited the other day. I can tell she would love to head that direction.

It was Sadie today that decided to hang back. She had found something very interesting to her. I did not have to call her name but when she saw Stella and I continue our walk towards the house ... she came sprinting towards us. She will be 8 years old in a couple of months but still does an occasional run at times.

As I post this, all three hounds are sound to sleep and the place is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I am thinking of taking all of them with me today when I go grocery shopping. The times I have done that on short trips, Stella has moved all over the inside of the FJ trying to see me or find me by looking out the window but she has not chewed anything nor damaged anything inside the FJ while she waits.

I have decided to leave 3-5 posts on the first page of the blog. A lot of readers only scroll through the photos and that may be their only reason to show up, to look at photos of the hounds. That's fine with me. I love taking the photos and know that people enjoy looking at them. I thought this morning I'd go back to one post per day but for some reason I feel like writing multiple posts per day.  Like everything else with me, I am sure the number of posts per day will change in the future but I will leave more than one post on the front page.

It looks like another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.