Stella Finds New Territory

Little did I know just how interesting Friday's morning walk would get. Needless to say Stella acted like her 'old self' today starting the minute she woke up.

We were up early again and while I was taking my first pictures of the day, Sadie and Stella were out trying to identify what had been in their yard while they slept last night. It was just a few minutes past 7am.

I know it will take a while for Stella to regain the weight she lost but it looks to me that I am seeing fewer ribs showing from the side. Heidi gained her weight back, so can Stella.

Being up earlier meant the coffee was consumed earlier, the reading finished and Sadie showing up at the corner of my desk chair earlier, letting me know we needed to get our morning walk in before the forecasted afternoon rains. With that early departure, the field was even wetter than normal.

If you do any reading about the breeds of the basset hounds and bloodhounds you will notice there is a difference in them, besides their size. Bloodhounds have one purpose if hunting ... to flush out deer. Basset Hounds have one purpose if hunting ... not only to find rabbits but to chase them into thick brush where the rabbit will panic, stop and catch them.

{my basset hound in 1990, named Sadie, did that exact thing. I saw brush moving, that was so thick I could not walk in it. I heard her baying and a little later a happy basset running back to the car with signs that she had a rabbit lunch}

I found out yesterday afternoon that the bloodhound writeup was absolutely correct while Heidi stayed back in yard.

Sadie was near this area yesterday afternoon, although this picture was taken in sequence this morning for Stella's venture, when not TWO FEET AWAY from Sadie's nose a rabbit hopped out of the ground and moved as fast as possible into the woods ... neither Sadie or Stella even noticed it.

This morning was a different story as you have seen from the previous two pictures. Although, NO rabbit was involved. Stella reacted so strong to a scent that she walked into the green brush. Ignoring me calling her name. I knew when Sadie joined the party in the previous picture I could have a major problem on my hands. I could tell that both were excited.

Stella sprinted into the wooded area and I had no doubts that she was headed off into the gully by the way she ran. As I tucked my camera, yelling her name, I sprinted into the same wooded area where I was barely able to catch Stella coming back from where ever she had gone.

Luckily I got both hounds back out into the field and finding out myself just how many of those bushes had thorns ... I'm glad they didn't tear my jacket sleeves.

Stella had to recheck that spot one more time before she left to catch up with Sadie. To see her jog, not trot, to catch up to Sadie was a blessing in disguise. She was going faster than a trot and looked like her old self compared to the past few weeks where she walked the whole way not much faster than a snail.

The deer scent was extremely strong this morning. They were both more active than normal, always out in front of me and at times past the line of comfort.

When Stella changes directions with her nose in the air I am aways ready to take off running after her. You never know what she has picked up and you never know if she is going to go after what she has smelled. That trip this morning into the woods proved that.

This morning was much different than past walks. It was the first time in a long time that she spent 99% of the of walk in front of me with Sadie instead of dragging her feet walking behind me. By her energy this morning, she has to be feeling better.

I added this picture just to show how far out in front of me they are. With Sadie's nose down like that I thought they might take off on me again so I started jogging up the path to catch them.

When they ignore you because of what they are smelling, that can be potential trouble unless you are in the mood to get some running in.

Stella is sure the deer went this way. She would be correct because that is a common place where the deer jump over a small hidden fence and take off into the corn field.

By the time I convinced Stella to turn around and head home, Sadie was trotting way in front of me. Again, it was great to see Stella take off running to catch up with her. I also like seeing her tail upright which shows she is feeling good.

Not quite a full run, but a jog faster than a trot ... and far enough away that 200mm zoom was needed to catch up to them.

Sadie reminding Stella to keep it at this pace.

Close to home and still moving faster than normal.

Sadie walked it in but was always on the lookout for a new scent to identify. The rain may or may not show up and that will determine this afternoon's activities. In the meantime Stella is back to destroying her Nylabone.

It can never be a good sign when a concrete truck pulls off the highway to check their load. I wonder if a warning light on his dash told him to pull over and get out to look or did he hear something out of the norm?

Not sure of my plans today but it feels like a day to read books, a game or two of Mahjong on the computer and an afternoon hound walk if it doesn't rain.

The temps are trying to crawl back to the 70's today but have a long way to go, here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Stella 's Left Ischium

We were up before 7am with a cool wind blowing strong through the open windows. If it stormed last night, I never heard a thing. With rain predicted for the next three days, the daily routine of the hounds will change.

Stella barely took a step off the carport floor, felt something wet and sat down. She had to think what her next move would be. She didn't move from that pose until we went back inside.

Sadie did almost the same thing. This was the second trip outside since it was daylight but she never left the gravel drive. I can see cases of bloodhound boredom these next three days as forecasted.

I took a look at Intellicast radar a little after 9am. That looked clear even though the skies outside were covered with dark gray clouds. If it was dry, then we could still get a walk in. Based on the ground, it did not look like it rained much at all while we slept.

With tail wagging Stella took off out into the lead. She was trying to gradually veer toward the left of our route with hopes of returning where she went yesterday. About the time I started to say something, I felt small drops of rain. Looking at my jacket sleeve it was sprinkling harder than I could see or feel.

With the rain becoming a little heavier, I could tell it was time to turn around and head home. Sadie had not left my side the short time we walked. Stella had to find one more spot to pee before she called it a morning.

We gave it a little time to see if the weather would blow through and it looked like it was doing just that. Once again Stella tried to talk me into feeding all of them about an hour early, close to that 10:30am mark again.

After they were fed at noon, we saw the rain was gone, the yard wasn't that wet and Sadie thought it was a great time to walk. So we tried it again. To cold for Heidi so she sprinted back inside for her position on the couch for the afternoon

Stella trotted out to the front with Sadie. She seemed normal and looked normal. You will see what I am talking about later in this post. It was late last night that I thought we might be going back to the vet this morning. I'll explain later in this post.

With all the growth the past few weeks, the bushes are once again hiding most of the wooded area. You can barely see the chewed tree limb from last winter. Since we are getting just the right amount of rain, everything has gotten nice and green without a lot of rainy days.

So you might be asking what a "Ischium" is and where did I come up with that. It's part of the pelvis that you sit on or in this case that Stella, Sadie or Heidi sit on. The are sometimes called the "sitting bone" and are on each side of the tail. As Heidi's use to be when she was ultra thin, too skinny, those two ischiums are pretty visible.

The pictures will show below that Stella was having some swelling around her left ischium as of Monday morning. I'll tell more of the story below. How did I find the word "ischium" ??

Last night I did a google search on their images for "canine skeleton". On that picture I was able to identify the bone I was looking for and noted the name. I found it strange that when I went to petMD online they did not recognize that word when I did a search on their website and asked me if I had misspelled it.

Sadie was heading down the path home, stopped suddenly and looked over at the small wooded area behind the neighbor's house. With a strong 15mph wind I am sure they were picking up a scent of that large blonde cat seen last month.

Stella was practically begging me to let her head that direction and it took me a few times telling her "let's go" before she moved in the direction of the house. You will notice her left ischium protruding out and you might think that is not normal ... but since she is so skinny, that is the way it is at this time on both sides. It was like that for Heidi too when she was having problems with her lack of weight.

Monday afternoon as we were walking along the back edge of the field, I noticed that large lump to the left of her tail. I waited for her to take another step to see if it would disappear and was part of her hip rotation as she walked. It did not disappear, so I took a picture of it for reference.

When I felt it on Monday night it felt like all bone. There was nothing soft around it and when I pressed on it lightly, she did not react. With her getting that rabies shot Friday night a little after 7pm, I thought this might be a side effect of that shot but found nothing online telling me it was.

About the time I thought about taking her to the vet on Tuesday, she had been wagging her tail that morning. She was shoving Sadie out of the way with her hips when standing at the door. She does that when she wants to be the first inside. Her tail was upright and as soon as we started the walk she started running just a little faster than a trot.

So I figured things were fine and no need for a vet trip.

Yesterday morning during breakfast that lump looked smaller but I thought I'd wait until she moved around before I would claim it was better. While she was walking that afternoon it did look slightly smaller. When I got home I pulled up this picture next to the one taken on Monday afternoon to verify that yes, it was smaller in size.

Here you can see that both sides are the same size. This picture was taken early this morning. So comparing it to the one taken Monday afternoon I can see a lot of difference. Whatever it was, it's gone.

Last night as I was standing over her looking from a top view so I could compare the left and right side, both ischiums looked equal in size. Once again since she is so skinny right now I expected to see them more visible than normal. For example, now that Heidi has gained her weight back I do not see hers.

The thing was when I felt it, she reacted by turning her head toward my hand and maybe a slight whimper. That is when I went to the internet to find all I could about this area and what might be the cause. At that time I was planning to be at the vets office as soon as they opened at 8am.

I did not come up with a lot of information about that specific bone, the cause of swelling and if there were issues. Some of the worse things I read were about hip dysplasia, and bone cancer. Yet, she was not limping, she had been trotting in the backyard just a few hours earlier. Plus she did not yell in pain when I pressed on it, just a slight whimper.

This morning it looks like the swelling was totally gone. I felt around each one, they felt the same. As I pressed on the left one a little she did not response but wagged her tail and wanted her back above her tail rubbed.

I'll keep an eye on it and look for swelling or limping. She has no problems walking up the two steps into the house, hopping on the couch or climbing on the bed. Her gait has always looked like she might have a small limp but she is always dragging her feet when she walks slow, so it's hard to tell if she is favoring the leg or just walks that way.

All I know is when I saw her wagging her tail, barking and howling for breakfast, then pushing Sadie out of the way with her hips I decide a trip to the vet was not needed today.

I am thinking of putting her on the Taste of The Wild dog food with bison as the main protein. That has 35% protein and 18% fat which would help her regain the weight she has lost, barring there is nothing else wrong with her.

It's a quiet day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana today.

The High Temps Hit The Hounds

Heidi snuck off to one of her favorite places after lunch. She turned down an offer to go on the walk and did not move an inch during the 30 minutes we were gone.

Things went as planned this morning after I posted the morning post. The load of laundry went smooth and for the 2nd time in a row after not cooperating the time before that, the old wash machine went through the spin cycle without a hitch. Maybe that belt realigned itself.

The hounds were almost to the point of revolt when they did not get fed lunch when they wanted but I'm not going to feed them lunch at 10:30am. Don't you think that is a little early for lunch??

So by noon they were more than happy to run to their bowls of kibble. As always, all of us headed outside ... Stella found her a spot while Sadie needed to scratch her back by rolling on the hot grass. You can barely see her legs in the air on the right side of the picture.

But they wanted more, not food ... they wanted to go on their walk right now, and not wait for a few hours. Stella looked at Sadie for the call.

Sadie was already giving me her stare down but I knew they didn't realize just how hot it was. I could really feel the heat for the first time this spring. I found out later it was 85°.

I checked with Heidi to make sure she didn't want to go. Walking was not an option with her today. She had moved into one of her favorite spots out front and was going to enjoy the quiet sunshine for as long as she could.

Needless to day, Sadie was more than thrilled when she saw I was walking toward the field with my camera in hand. She went from jumping up in excitement to hitting me in my left knee in a full speed sprint.

Stella did follow us this afternoon. I didn't think there was a chance of that when I saw her through the camera view finder. The hotter it is the slower she moves.

Sadie was sure she must have missed something in her investigation in this same area this morning. She ran directly to that spot and started her search all over again. She was going in figure 8's all over those bushes to the right of her.

She glanced over at Stella for a little help, but Stella was heading off into the opposite direction, her nose to the ground.

Since I couldn't be in two different directions at once, I chose to go with Sadie and let Stella go where she wanted. Sadie had stopped and glanced in the direction of the gully so I needed to make sure that was not going to happen.

Stella didn't get far. It is another one of the stops she does not miss. The times I have walked over to see what is so good to her, I don't see anything but some mashed wet grass ... maybe the deer scat is gone by the time I check.

By this point on the walk I thought the hounds would probably sleep the rest of the afternoon. It was hot and both of them were dragging now on the walk. Sadie was already panting before we got back and Stella put it in first gear to finish the walk. I was beginning to think she might not make it back to the house until after dark.

No matter what ... Stella will always go at her speed.

After being on the walk for almost 30 minutes, I stepped out front to see if Heidi was there. The only thing she had moved were her eyelids, which were almost closed when I snapped the shutter.

The bloodhounds and I went back inside. They wanted water and I wanted some ice tea. Heidi stayed out front in that one spot for almost an hour. By the time I finished folding clothes, she had moved to the backyard and sat in the sun for another 30 minutes.

With everything finished inside it was time to go outside and enjoy the hot sunshine. Sadie was back to investigating the whole backyard inch by inch while Stella headed way out into the field.

Sadie rarely lays down in the backyard and won't just sit in one place. With her DNA, she cannot sit still outside and is almost in constant motion. She was only walked less than an hour before this but ran to go back outside.

I put the book I was reading in my chair and walked out into the field to bring Stella back. If she was going to roam I needed to put her on the tether today. It wasn't a minute after I returned to my chair that she walked into the yard, found her sleeping spot and took a short nap, tether and all.

The thing is ... If I were to take the tether off of her while she slept, she would wake up and then wander out to the field again.

It wasn't 15 minutes later that Stella decided it was too hot to sleep outside. I could see her panting and I knew a long string of drool would not be far behind. I also decided the gnats had won another war but Sadie wasn't concerned about the heat nor the gnats.

The urge hit for a Z4 drive. The hounds must have heard the keys when I walked in because Heidi ran for the couch and both bloodhounds headed for the dog bed in the corner of the bedroom ... they were more than anxious to sleep in cooler conditions.

After my 42 mile loop where I didn't go faster than 60mph longer than a minute, the sky was filling up with gray clouds from the west. Just like they said it would happen last night on the local tv weather. I did not have all the yard to mow but half of the backyard was tall enough to mow and if I waited the next three days for the rain to stop I would not be mowing the yard but baling the yard like hay.

So, a pretty productive day today considering it's been a week or more of procrastination. Next on the hit list will be giving Heidi a bath and trimming nails of all the hounds. That might take place in the morning but I'm pretty flexible when it comes to changing plans.

Looking at the weather radar it looks like the storms will be here later tonight.

I can't believe the week is half over here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.