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.

Stella's Personality Begins To Show

One of the most important tools for a sports addict that does not have enough televisions to keep up with all the football and baseball games that are currently shown at times simultaneously ... is the tv remote control. In my case it is the DirecTv remote control. Believe it or not, from the photos, this remote control still works perfectly and will be used until it doesn't. Then a quick call to DirecTv's customer service and they will ship me a new one free of charge, no questions asked.

It all started sometime Saturday as I was sitting at the computer. Both bloodhounds were in their normal positions on the floor next to each other, chewing on various dog bones that have been bought over the years. There is a familiar sound when they are chewing on nylabone or a real bone. So it was pretty obvious to me when I heard a different sound, something was up and that sound made me get out of my desk chair to investigate.

What I saw shocked me!! I mean she is 6 years old and this was something you would see if she was 6 months old maybe. That DirecTv remote was held between Stella's two front paws and I could tell she was enjoying how the soft plastic felt as her large molars bit down. There was enough force from her jaws that both halves of the remote had popped open. My only concern was, did the remote still work before the games started within the hour, since I had 14 hours worth of games to watch and needed to be able to change channels from my seat on the couch.

I took the remote from her, said "no" loudly and gave her one of the dog bones, which she started chewing immediately. If you could have seen her face when she looked up at me with the remote between her paws, there was no way you could be mad at her.

I snapped the two haves of the remote back together, wiped off the bloodhound drool from the sensor in front of the remote and gave it a try. It worked perfectly.

Wasn't it just a few days ago I had mentioned I was waiting for her to do something, anything bad? I see now I should not have said that. It's like going on a long trip hoping and verbalizing you hope you don't get a flat tire and then for the first time in years, you have a flat tire on the trip.

I wasn't mad at her because she is simply a great and well mannered bloodhound. Every day or at least every week, as time passes ... Stella's personality continues to show. Just like any dog that is in a new home, it takes a while for them to get use to their new environment and routines. She is now whining to go outside when she needs to. Just today before I wrote this blog post, she started that bloodhound howl when I asked her if she wanted to eat.

It's usually Heidi that barks to let me know it's time for the hounds to be fed and she was today ... Stella decided to join her.

Not a lot going on but a lot planned. House cleaning, doing just a few dishes from last night, maybe some laundry today, but probably tomorrow ... the most important ... a run to the store to pick up some coffee and sugar.

Temps have been in the high 50's and is again today. Heidi was shivering when she came outside this morning. Still after the brunch, she came outside to lay in the grass in the sun. All four hounds seem to find the sun on a regular basis.

Stella and Sadie have been so focused on being fed today, they have not even played at all today. Currently all the hounds are asleep since they have been fed and made their after meal trip outside. Normal routine for them.

Here are a more photos from this weekend and today.

Heavy frost Saturday morning

Winston is eating dirt like pictured below

What is it about this dirt he likes to eat it so much????

"I wasn't doing what you saw me do"

Some Saturday morning playing ... then just like that they stop and go off searching new smells.

Some Monday early afternoon sunshine.

Stella even has Sadie laying down now ... she never did before

While I raked leaves in the backyard again Sunday, Stella stayed in this position for the hour. I had to rake around her, she never moved.

Another fast paced weekend in "the tropics".