Deer Chase #4 In 2016

Sorry I'm a little late tonight posting this but I was busying doing other things after our early afternoon walk today.

Right after lunch it looked like rain but like I said in my first post this morning I was wanting to get my yard mowed before it rained. I also wanted to get in a walk for the hounds before it rain. The skies looked like rain was near but the radar did not show rain within a 1,000 miles of us. Doesn't that photo look like rain?

Right from the start both Sadie and Stella were locked in on something. It was more intense than their normal activity. I made sure my camera was ready and hoping it would work all the time. It does have it's moments of not cooperating.

Out of nowhere Stella takes off sprinting but I don't see anything on the horizon. Sadie was soon to follow her and before I knew it they were both around the corner and out of sight. I figured they were gone.

Then in somewhat of a confused state they both came back but were facing the woods across the field to the left where the deer was a couple of weeks ago. I am looking at the woods, the horizon and see nothing but the hounds were definitely agitated. There is definitely something they are smelling.

Before I could even catch up to them, they turned around and took off again. Just as I turned the corner there they were but there activity seemed normal. I looked at the the back of the field just in case there were deer there. I was in for a surprise.

As I reach where the hounds are, they are doing nothing out of the norm ... I glance up at the gully and out jumps a pretty good size deer ... probably the biggest I have seen yet this year.

The 4th deer chase of the year was on!!!

 

Stella instantly started baying and sprinting after it although way behind. Sadie for some reason did not know yet what was going on and didn't start running until Stella was away.

The deer kicks it into a higher gear and extends her lead over Stella.

Sadie is just to the right of that photo up above running as fast as she can. She was never close to the deer but her and Stella were close as they went over the hill towards the power tower.

I'd been walking on the path the whole time and not running. It would not have done any good to run after them. I knew most likely I may have to go find them for the first time this year. Glancing at the horizon I don't see them anywhere. I continue to walk, not running.

About the time I start walking straight toward the tower I catch both hounds off to the left and fairly close. I was really happy that they had not jumped the small wire fence that is in those trees. Once again like all the other deer chases, when I called their names, they came running ... proud of what they had accomplished.

They must have thought the deer might come back for them as they kept stopping and looking back in that direction, while on the way home.

They acted pretty proud again of what they had done.

Still after a nice after lunch run - it was time for the afternoon water and siesta.

I posted just a few of the deer chase photos on my Facebook page today. I was fortunate to find Stella's original owner on Facebook sometime in April. She is thrilled that she can see how Stella is doing. It was out of her control that she had to give Stella up ... but she told me something tonight that I suspected, but didn't know.

She said that chasing deer was one of Stella's favorite hobbies. When I asked if she had ever ran away, she said that Stella always came back yet her mom was gone for over two weeks before she returned home after one deer chase.

It might be because of the three different homes Stella has had but she seems to be really attached to the house and will not take off when she has had the chance to ignore me calling her. In fact she likes to stay pretty close to me where ever I go. Some hounds would have taken off running no matter how loud you yelled.

Heidi took the day off from the ointment. Tonight her skin is still red and what I call out of control. She has chewed four spots raw. I am going to give her an Epsom Salt soak early Tuesday morning. I have no idea what set her skin off this time. It was looking better the majority of the day.

Could you tell the difference in the three photos of her rear leg and paw the other day?

Yes, my lawn was mowed under sunny skies with rain predicted Tuesday afternoon.

A good night here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi's Medical History

I bought Heidi in July 2011 from the Guardian Angel Basset Rescue. Their link is on my left sidebar under "basset hound rescue". It was documented in her medical records and her paperwork that she had skin allergies and would need monthly treatment during the high allergy seasons. I had no problem with that.

July 30, 2011

Here is a list of medicines given to her with a short summary of each.

June 29, 2011
2.25 cc
Steroid - anti inflammatory for allergies and skin conditions.

Given only one time prior to my ownership.

June 2011 - February 2013
200mg
Anti fungal for fungus infections

Months Used - Oct, May, Sept, Nov, Feb

Stopped working after 7 days.

March 2013 - September 2014
Dose amount not known

Steroid - Rapid Relief, treats inflammation and skin conditions caused by allergies.

Months Used - March, June, August, October, November, May, September

Stopped working after 7 days.

New Vet
October 2014 - December 2014

Use along with Atopica Treatment. Shampoo was used until the bottle was empty around May 2015.

This shampoo irritated her skin more than it help as if it was too strong.

October 2014 - December 2014
100mg daily

Immunosuppressive to treat skin conditions. Plan to cut dose gradually.

Great results with daily does but bad for long term use and strong side affects.

While trying to reduce the dose to every other day, skin condition went back to where it was when started.

New Vet
January 2015 - March 2016
500ml

One time injection to treat demodectic and sarcoptic mange

Was recommended as a "just in case" situation.

No change in skin condition.

February 2015

Her skin was in such bad condition, the worse ever seen, this shot was given only for rapid relief.

It did give relief and reduced the inflammation.

February 2015 - May 2015
.1ml - 1ml
Non-Steroid
Regionally Specific Immunotherapy

A gradual build up in dosage, weekly shot. After 15 weeks no improvement.


Between September 2014 - May 2015 her weight dropped from 49 to 36 pounds. From May 2015 - March 2016 she has remained at 36 pounds.

After trying all of these different treatments and her skin showing signs of being the worse conditions ever from September 2014 to May 2015 I decided to take her off of any medication. I wanted to cleanse her system. I also wanted to go to a dog food that had just one protein source and off of grain free.

To help her immune system which was obviously out of sync, I bought Probiotic Miracle to add to her food. I told the vet what I was doing and he approved.

I started this supplement in September 2015 and still give it to her today. I am not sure there is any way to tell if it is working. The vet that I had in 2015 and her original vet that I have gone back to in March 2016 both said it would be good for her and wouldn't hurt.

During this time nothing has changed as far as her skin.

When I bought her in July 2011 she had been eating Purina One with Chicken. I moved her to what Sadie and Winston was eating. I was rotating Diamond Naturals and Fromm for Large Breeds ... both with grain.

From July 2011 until September 2014 her skin rashes were only mild due to allergies and most of the time the Ketoconazole and then the Vetalog did work. Her skin rash would go away. It was toward the end where it would stop working about 7 days with her skin going back to being bad.

For some reason that four different vets have not been able to figure out, her skin condition worsened in September 2014 and it has been an ongoing battle every since.

I have tried single protein source food, grain-free foods, grain free without potatoes. Vet #3 in February 2015 recommended duck or venison as a protein source. Neither of those made a difference.

Protein sources have ranged from chicken, lamb, duck, bison, wild bore, salmon, venison.

Different lotions, creams, salves, have been tried with a zinc oxide base. Aloe vera gels, K9 Klearup and now Wounded Warrior Ointment.

I have also checked to see if her bedding might be the cause. She has slept on Mexican wool blankets, flannel blankets, cotton sheets, nylon on the outside of a sleeping bag, fleece blankets ... there were no changes in skin condition.

As of this morning her skin does not look any different than it did in September 2014. Something happened yesterday to take away what little improvement was seen. As always during this 20 month period, her skin always looks it's best first thing in the morning after she wakes up.

Any comments or suggestions are welcomed.

Hounds Starting Their Day

Chances are slim for rain this morning, that is until around noon. Then we have a 50% for some rain. The hounds will not like that as they are already showing signs of boredom. They need their walks in the field as much as possible.

Although the ground in the field is really saturated to where the dog walk is cancelled so far today, I hope to have the yard dry off enough that I can squeeze in mowing the front yard before rain today. More rain is forecasted for later this week and by the time it drys out it will be too tall to cut if I cannot mow it today. I don't like cutting grass that is wet unless I have to.

After taking those first two photos like I do every morning, I went back inside to make coffee while Sadie and Stella went to search last nights animal traffic and to relieve themselves. As I stepped back outside to check on them I could barely see them. That's Sadie in the first photo.

Stella was still undecided on whether to walk into the field while Sadie marched on, did her job and then came trotting to the house. Stella eventually did but didn't step further than one step in the field. I wonder if she doesn't like the wet grass touching her stomach?

Remember that Sadie has the solid red, faded collar and Stella has the bottom half of her tail coated with black hair. It was the reason her name before I got her was Dipstick.

I will say that NexGard is working fantastic. The ticks have totally disappeared from either Sadie and Stella after they have been in the field. I can't remember pulling more than two ticks off of them this past week. The tick on Sadie was already dead and Stella's was close. Since Heidi rarely goes in the field I held off giving her NexGard at this time but I am keeping an eye on her for any tick activity.

When writing last night about the blogger that wanted to be "paid for his work", I may have confused some readers by what I wrote. I hope not. When I emailed the question to him asking him if I should also be paid since we both spent time with our blogs ... I meant not only me but ALL BLOGGERS ... don't we all spend time writing, maybe doing research based on the subject, taking photos and then having to edit them before posting on our blogs?

Each of us spends time blogging just like he keeps reminding his readers. I have never felt that I needed to be paid for my time. Blogging is my choice just as it is his choice ... yet he is needing the income to replace his loss of book sales. Is that justifiable?

I was trying to point out to him and to my blog readers last night ... what makes him different than us, that he needs to be paid compared to all the other bloggers?? Just because he has published books and that market has tanked for him, in his own words, does that justify putting his readers through a guilt trip to be paid on a monthly basis?

All bloggers spend just as much time as he does in writing, taking photos, editing photos and then publishing to their blogs.

I guess it must have been a dud as a subject since I didn't see any kind of feedback this morning. I'll drop the subject.

I am working on a couple of future posts, where photos will show/tell the story. One of them will be on Heidi's medical history as well as the food she has been fed these past 20 months when her skin allergies became bad and uncontrollable.

I hope to get that posted sometime today. She had what I call a relapse last night where her skin looked as if there had been zero improvement that was shown just a few days ago. I had not seen it so red like that in quite a while. I'm once again confused on what to do.

The other subject is something I have thought about for a while but it would definitely fall under "Other Stuff" in the blog title. It will not be pretty but the photos I will take will show a sad story of the slow decay of a small town based on the increase in empty business buildings around the town square as well as a couple of major businesses surprisingly going out of business in today's economy. They were both business you would never expect closing their doors.

The sky may be gray this morning but the birds are in full volume here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Photo Comparison & Humorous Stories

Tonight's blog is very very long but includes some pretty good humor.

To say the hounds were affected by the weather today would be an understatement. They were out of it basically.

Heidi came outside just once and just long enough to relieve herself ... then scrambled quickly back to the door to be let in.

Stella and Sadie went outside a couple of times and only by my invitation. Sadie did nothing but stare at Stella. Stella did nothing but wander and deciding the field was too tall and too wet that she walked out of the field within two steps.

One thing about a day like this, cool temps and overcast skies ... it leads me to a lot of reading. I mean hours and hours of reading. It might be books or it might be on the internet. Today it was mostly internet searching about questions I had, finding a lot of information about those questions and then reading too many websites.

I spoke a few weeks ago about cutting the lawn. In other locations and in other houses I lived in, my yard was flat, green and nice ... I could cut it low and it would look like a golf fairway. Another house was tucked back in the pine trees so deep that my yard was nothing more than the forest floor of pine needles and never needed mowing.

I would like to cut this yard low and I have tried in past years as well as just last Thursday ... part of it anyway. Do I cut it high or low? I cut the back low (2") but when I made the first lap across the top of the front yard I stopped and raised my mower blade a notch to 3" and cut the front that tall. Here is a photo showing the difference today, 4 days after I cut it. Or did I mow it Friday? See what I mean about retirement?

After searching for my answer, Scott's Lawn care says I should cut my yard between 2-1/2" - 3". Since my mower can only do 2" or 3", then the taller grass is correct. That will keep it green during the hot July summers but longer than I like to walk through. It will keep the weeds out though.

Another blogger I follow that not only ticks me off but 1,000's of other readers with his attitude towards dogs, people, other pet owners, facebook readers, his blog readers ... was talking about a 35mm lens he wanted to buy that was going to cost him $2,000. Instead of setting up a 'gofundme' account where people could donate money toward the purchase of his lens ... he decided "this time" to come up with the $2,000 himself by trading in 4 of his lenses.

He must have finally felt guilty from his last request of his blog readers, although he would never ever admit feeling that way ... this lens is to go with his brand new Cannon that shoots monochrome black and white photos ... nothing else. Based on recommendations from other photographers he settled on on that cost $3,000 instead of $15,000. He is a blogger, not a professional photographer.

He didn't have the $3,000 to buy the camera so it worked before on his previous camera that he just had to have, that he set up a 'gofundme' account and let his blog readers donate the money for him.

Evidently he raised a lot more than $3,000, which he can legally keep ... because he now has enough money to have his old farm house scrapped and sanded, repair the wooden slats if needed and then paint the whole thing. I can't think of any other way he could afford a house painter in today's costs since he just declared bankruptcy this past fall/winter.

Personally I don't think it's right to raise money for causes like that. So I sent him an email that surprised me that he not only read my email but replied.

I explained to him that I was not an author like he is, I've never written a book or books nor am I a professional photographer like he thinks he is. I AM like him in that I spend time blogging every day, taking hundred's of photos and then the time it takes to edit them. I also put my photos on the blog for readers to uses as they see fit ... just like he does. So I asked him:

"So does that mean I can also ask my readers to pay me for my work and sign up to pay me a subscription to read my blog and also donate money so I can buy a better camera because of the time I spend blogging with photos?" ... like he says "be paid for my work".

He didn't say hardly anything in his reply except that decision would be up to me.

LOL ... don't worry, I will never ask readers of my blog to donate money for anything. About once a month when he wants to raise the number of subscriptions he will repeat his old story of how publishing has changed, how much time he spends blogging and posting photos, the blog will remain free to those that don't wish to donate but he should be paid for his time .... guilting many into donating anywhere from $5 on up on a monthly basis. His blog claims to get a million views per month.

You do get my point though don't you?

So today I was reading his blog about his new $2,000 35mm lens or was it $3,000 ... anyway he traded in 4 of his lenses to get it. They told him the lens was great for portraits, landscapes and scenes. So here are a few that I shot today at the 35mm setting on my basic beginner Nikon D3200 camera and the stock 18mm-55mm lens.

Landscapes (my verison)

Portrait

The photos of the cut grass and Sadie above were shot with the lens set at 55mm.

While I was playing around with that, I got a shot of Heidi's rear hock on her back leg as she was walking in the house but at 55mm. That had me once again going back through her photos in the folder "Heidi's Skin" ... all dated so I can compare. Over 18 months worth of these "skin" photos, it ebbs and flows like that tide ... from good to bad, stable but not normal ... just messed up skin.

So here are three photos for you to compare just by looking at the photo. I don't want you to click on the photo to see the file names because they are all numbered in sequence by the camera  ... just look at the photos and tell me which one is the best looking skin or is there any difference at all. One, Two or Three.

These 3 cover 33 days and some with the new ointment and some without.

#1

#2

#3

I think these photos show why sometimes you can hear in the background of me beating my head against the wall ... LOL

Getting back to the cleared area from the photo's on this morning's photos ... there was another reason that was overgrown for the longest time. Not an excuse but a reason why it got that way in the first place ....

Property Lines

See the pole a little to the right of center in the photo? Now see the fence on the left?  Well that left to right property boundary is different on two different surveys'. 

So almost all of the brush that was not mowed I was told belonged to owner of the field. Based on the survey that came with with my paperwork when I bought the house in 1997, my property only goes not even to the fence and not all the way back to that pole.

A few years ago the new owner of the field and neighbor had the field surveyed during the purchasing process. I came home from work one day and had wood stakes with bright orange flags pressing up against the side of my house on this fence side in the photos and then on the opposite side, they were right up against my old Chevy truck that I use to park by the utility pole. I couldn't open the door to the truck to move it.

I was pretty sure that something was wrong but didn't say anything. They also had driven in steel stakes with those orange flags in my front yard on the north side or left side facing the house.

A couple of day's later the stakes are moved away from my truck and a corner property pole is located on top of the bank and off to the right of my stick/limb burn pile. They moved the stakes out of my front yard and off the side of my house and made the corner property pole where you see it, right of center.

Based on my survey ... it's still wrong. Luckily the new owner doesn't make a big deal out of it.

The old neighbor but younger in age, that owned the house on bank side of the driveway almost caused a 'civil war' over a stupid property line. After I showed him a copy of my survey and pointed the line out to him ... he let me know "in this county I can pay $500 and they will make this property line anything I want .. including your driveway"

Nice eh? He was very very lucky that I have a good ability of recognizing stupidity when I see it or even hear it.  :)

That is the same guy that I am told got into an argument that almost came to a fist fight with the guys surveying the field property, OVER the corner stake they put in on top of the bank along his property line.

Back in the 1940's before they dug it up, there was a railroad that came from across the highway where that wooden frame for a sign is in my daily morning photo. That railroad ran along the base of the bank on the other side of my fence. My survey paperwork and two previous owners of my house say, my property line runs to the base of the bank.

Or if you want to be specific, I took a tape measure with me one day while reading the survey and found it to be 13.5' past the fence. Two owners ago, the lady that had the fence installed told me and the stupid neighbor the fence was put in at the top of the bank because the land was always wet at the base of the bank ... to this day there is standing water in some places.

So the fence builder recommended to install the fence at the top of the bank to prolong the life of the fence. Back to that survey .. it says my property line and the neighbor's run to the centerline of the railroad right of way ... with an empty house instead of the neighbor, that battle is at least temporarily on hold.

See what bad weather does ... makes me read and write. If you made it this far, more power to you ... now, leave a comment.  :)

No worries ... all is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.