Basset Hounds Forum banner

Fall and changes

3K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  2hounds 
#1 ·
Fall with it's beautiful colors is a great time for changes in other areas as well.

Moe and Tally are very happily out and about once again, now that the cooler weather is here. All summer they lounge around trying to stay cool. Moe's appetite usually falls off and this past summer he lost five pounds. His appetite is back now and he devours his morning cookies and his dinner as if he's starving. He and Tally are both happy to have the schoolbuses to bark at again (we live on a corner where three buses stop each weekday morning and afternoon). Moe has taken up his yard warrior ways once again with Tally as his faithful sidekick, loudly letting me know whenever a jogger, a dog-walker, or a young mother with a stroller passes by the house. There is a lot more napping on the porch now that it's no longer uncomfortably warm, too.

Tally never loses her appetite, which is a problem. She steals Moe's cookies, finishes his dinner for him, and raids the cat's food dish whenever someone leaves the cellar door open. Also, more than one person in the house feeds her, somtimes. Back in June she had the figure of a pot-bellied pig... very very bad for a long-backed little dog (she's a Dachshund for those of you who don't know us). She waddled around and had trouble taking the two steps up to the porch without toppling over. :( We spoke to the vet about correct portion sizes and healthy snacks (she had a little dog with a big appetite, too). We began July with a newfound resolve to slim the little rodent-dog down. Two months later she had lost two and a half pounds and was looking almost like a real Dachshund, though two more pounds ought to put her in a healthier more normal weight range for a critter her size. She is much more energetic, too, hunting for mice in the woodpile (and terrorizing my daughter's pet blind mouse at every opportunity :rolleyes: ) and she actually caught and killed a squirrel in the woods. :( She is attempting stairs once again (I have to block the stairs to the second floor to keep her from using them), and she has stopped snoring (YAY!).

I finally painted my doors again yesterday. For years they were badly scratched and looked horrible because Moe jumps on them to let us know when he wants to come in. I was hesitant to paint them because he'd only scratch them up again. We recently changed the house trim color and I found a beautiful burgundy color to compliment the new darker blue, but I was at a loss as to how to keep it looking good. We opted for brass kick plates and a sheet of plexiglass on the lower half of the six-panel door to protect the paint without hiding the color. The full glass doors will get kick plates, too. They look elegant while offering scratch protection. I also bought a deckbox to put my recycle bins in - it looks neater and keeps Moe from stealing plastic containers and scattering them all over the yard.

Now the only thing that needs fixing is my job. In March I got a full-time job for the first time in twenty-one years but my working hours vary greatly - some times I have to be in by 6AM and sometimes I have to work till after 11PM and I frequently work overtime and weekends (today I work 2PM to 11PM). The dogs and my human family hate not having me home. :( While I excell at what I do and I like all my coworkers, I do find the hours brutally difficult. I'm looking for a new job that will allow me to work more normal hours and be home with my family again. My husband is beginning to feel that it may be worth it for me to just quit and not work at all... I get the feeling that Moe feels the same way. Even when I'm home I'm too busy catching up on chores to spend much time with him. :( He and Tally follow me everywhere when I'm home. :( :( Perhaps there'll be a change coming soon...

I hope everyone enjoys a beautiful, long Fall season and may all your changes be for the better.

Terry
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Autumn is the best time of year in the desert--planting time! :) The dogs are much happier and more active, now that temps are down to the high 70s-low 80s.
 
#3 ·
Betsy, I think that there is no better sight than a happy Basset enjoying the outdoors... except perhaps a WHOLE PACK of happy Bassets enjoying the outdoors! I'm glad yours are enjoying the seasonal changes, too! :D

I'm looking forward to the fun-run so Moe and Tally can run free with other dogs through the woods in a safe environment. I'll have to find out exactly when it is so I can make sure I have that day off from work. Our one experience with off-lead walking ended disaterously. I had gone with my friend and her Bassets to a beach in Little Compton during the off-season. She frequently lets her dogs off-lead and they were having so much fun. I figured Moe couldn't get into any trouble so I let him loose, too (we didn't have Tally yet). He was fine for a while, happily chasing the other dogs, when suddenly he did an about-face and ran back up the beach the other way. I ran after him franticly but he left me far behind. I began to panic when I couldn't see him anymore. :eek: I finally did catch up to him because he found a dead, putrid fish and was rolling on it. :blink: My friend and her dogs caught up to us then and HER dogs began to roll all over the dead fish, too! It was a very... interesting... ride home! :p :p :p :p I haven't walked Moe off-lead since then...

Terry :)
 
#4 ·
My favorite time of year, too! And Yogi's, as well. Yogi looooves roasting in the sun - when it's boiling hot outside, he'll bask in it for what seems like hours. But the minute there's the least hint of cool in the air, he goes bonkers and starts running around like a maniac.

As for me, I may be going through a job change - I'll know pretty quickly and, if I do, I've already decided my first task will be finishing the back porch and getting it all screened in. I can't wait. Screened porches are nice in the summer but this time of year, you can live in them!

The next improvement: hound proof fencing. I gave up a pup a few months ago because she was part hound and I knew my fencing couldn't hold her. She was darling! Some crazy mix of **** hound and cocker spaniel maybe? Just a puppy. She showed up here one morning when I was leaving for work and moved onto my front porch. I knew there was no way the fencing could hold her, though, so I took her up to my vet when I got home so they could find her a new home.

That was sad! She was darling!! :( But she got adopted almost immediately to someone who found her as darling as I did, so it all worked out.

If I get good fencing, though, I can begin thinking about houndies again. !.
 
#5 ·
Here's hoping the job change happens for you and a hound is in your future. I miss the prolific and humorous "Biscuit" posts and look forward to hearing more from you and your pack. :D Best wishes to you.

By the way, I saw a show about catfish noodling not long ago... that topic always reminds me of you. ;) :lol:

Terry :)
 
#6 ·
Fall is my favorite time of the year too. It was in the mid 80's here today and just a perfect night out there now. I just brought Laci and Shami in from the fenced in yard. They were out there for a good hour just laying about sniffing the smells and of course napping. Laci and I had a good game of fetch with the raunchiest tennis ball you ever saw before Shami joined us. Now, we have two content Bassets who will be snoring before we know it. Fall in New England is the best. Can't wait for the leaves to start turning. Of course the down side is we can't find the land mines as easy when the leaves start falling!
 
#7 ·
Oh, someone please send some fall weather to Cincinnati! We broke a 99 year old record yesterday with a high of 94, I think they said. It was over 90 again today. Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler - only in the mid-high 80s! :lol: I am a teacher in a building WITHOUT A/C, & this heat is getting to be a bit much! I am afraid we are going to skip fall & go straight to winter. At this moment, Spencer is laying in front of the vent, soaking in the A/C.
 
#8 ·
Oooo, noodling! :lol: :lol: I've been avoiding catfish here lately because it's all scary stuff from China anymore. But I really do miss it (although I really wouldn't want anyone to lose an arm catching it for me :p :p ).

And the job is almost mine, as soon as I sgn the contracts. I've already been talking to someone about finishing that back porch --- and installing new fencing. !!!!. Soon enough, I'll be a posting fool again! mwahahaha!!! :ph34r: :ph34r:
 
#9 ·
Biscuit, good to see you back. I'm glad you got that job, I know that your old job was getting on your nerves.
Terry, I know what you mean about the change in the weather but with Francis it's the opposite, he slows down so much in the heat that he gains weight, hot or cold his appetite remains the same: BIG!
Those couple of days in the 90's this week were a bit much. They knocked both Franny and I out and it was a drag putting the a/c on again.
 
#10 ·
Oh, Bev, I know! Wasn't that miserable? It was mid-eighties here for a couple days and it got progressively more humid each day till the air was juicy with moisture. :p But today was heavenly! And tonight is supposed to get into the forties - perfect for a flannel nightie and snuggling under the comforter! :D

Biscuit, you lost me on the "China" thing... :blink: ????? :)
 
#11 ·
Our record breaking 87 degree heat is finally over here in south central Pa.!It's in the 60's and 70's this weekend!

Murray supervised while I took the bird houses down and put our lawn furniture in the log shed for the winter. I saw a flock of geese overhead yesterday, and some hawks flying. My mums are perking up.

We took the dogs for a long walk in the afternoon, and Murray seems to be perking up too. He actually runs along the trails when the temperature gets below 70.

I love fall! :lol: !
 
#13 ·
I don't think I'd eat anything from China after that whole pet products fiasco! :p

But, if you were to 'noodle' a local catfish ... that I WOULD eat! :lol: I've never had it before but I hear nothing is more tasty than catfish, and I LOVE fish. B)
 
#14 ·
WELL ... I'm not sure you want a thing to do with local catfish either, given the toxins from a Superfund site (Tar Creek) have been found to have seeped into fishing streams and lakes miles and miles from the original site.

:blink: :blink:

We're talking lead and the like.

:blink: :blink:

I don't eat a lot of fish these days.
 
#15 ·
I'm glad its fall too! Field trial time! Although this past summer wasn't too hot and miserable in the pacific northwest, it was a tough one. I took a nasty spill down the stairs in June and broke my foot and was in a hard cast for 2 months. I am now in a walking cast which is much better. The hounds were getting kind of sick of me not being able to play with them much or take them for walks since I was on crutches and had to sit in a recliner with my foot propped up. I am determined to drag my sorry butt around the woods for field trials in my walking cast, already did 2 weekends ago but it was tiring and couldn't do the whole day. The rains are back and now the hounds have to get used to going out in the wet grass to go potty. God forbid they get their dainty paws wet! After a couple of weeks they get used to it again. Scarlet says YAY its fall!


CTG
 
#16 ·
It's fall here too! No need to use air conditioning, windows open and almost feeling cool at night and in the a.m.

We all sleep better when it's cooler in the house too.

I loved fall in New England too! Except for the raking up and bagging all of the leaves tho every week. :p

Janice and little Ruby
 
#17 ·
Unfortunately we are still experiencing high 70's/low 80's @ here. I want it to feel more like fall.

~Heather
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top