Rocky the Otterhound: Cats, fresh air and bad hair days

Rocky has had another full week and the ongoing saga of dogs and cats goes on. Biskitt is spending every evening downstairs with us, which is nice. As a result there is slightly less hissing on her part and slightly more ignoring of the cat on Rocky’s part. Biskitt will tolerate them both sitting on the same sofa, but only if he promises to behave. Rocky tries, most of the time he is very very good, but not always ………… but you have to remember that he is only 7 months old and as Otterhounds mature later than most dogs (something to do with their longevity perhaps?), he is still very young. This tends to give him a bit of a clutsy look, a bit of “Duh George”, but don’t be fooled Otterhounds are very intelligent – even the young ones.



Occasionally Rocky will try the “Aw, please play with me” approach!

Of course Biskitt, being an old lady and quite crabby with him, just turns away after giving her “don’t even think of it mate” glare!!

I suppose Rocky is getting the ultimate lesson in Patience, but he does get a bit frustrated at times.


Bless him, he then usually slides of “HER” sofa and sits mournfully on his own (?).

This is where we are trained to entertain him; he has done a grand job with the old sympathy vote thing!!!!

Anyway, to combat our guilt for having a cat that won’t play! ………………….

We found this wonderful, heavy duty, cardboard roll.
How do you make a cardboard roll more interesting? ………………… Stuff his favourite (duck) toy inside it and challenge him to retrieve it!!

After checking it was, in fact, his precious duck inside the roll; he has hours, NO ………… days of endless fun with it.

He tried lying on the floor by it and trying to talk it out; when this failed he resorted to chewing bits of cardboard carefully from around his duck. This doggy chore is ongoing and, being heartless, we are leaving him to it. After all, can you imagine his sense of achievement when he finally retrieves his duck??!!

This week’s major expedition saw Rocky exploring the wonders of local woodland.

Like any youngster, exploring was carefully punctuated with the “stop and check they haven’t run off and left me” routine.

Mind you, I think the pocketful of Kibble helped!


He had endless fun running around smelling the scent of everything from bunny to fox to deer …………. And anything else that had wandered through his scenting range.

While Rocky was exploring the hound dog way ………….. Nose constantly down and leading the rest of him ……….. I settled down to a steady walk, enjoying the sounds of woodpeckers and skylarks ……….. And lots and lots of fresh air – lovely!!

What does a happy young Otterhound do after a smashing explore in the woods?? ………………….

Rocky has spent some of the last 7 months perfecting the “Oh good grief I’m so bored” look.

This is one of his favourite evening routines, despite the arrival of a duck in a roll!!

So this week, in order to keep him entertained, “Daddy” decided to do some face grooming.


Can’t have our boy looking a mess all the time you know!

Rocky settled back to enjoy the sensation and a lot of attention!

I don’t think Rocky thought too much of his daddy’s sense of style though!!!

“What have you done dad, I look like a right Muppet”!!!!!

A good old shake of the head didn’t seem to improve much ………..

“Thanks a lot dad, now I look like a pom pom on legs”!!!

“Although ……………….. Mum recon’s I look rather handsome …………….. Hmmm, maybe I’ll keep it like this”.

Keeping neat and tidy took just too much effort ………… so ………… Rocky went back to looking a mess and promptly fell fast asleep!!

Rocky the Otterhound: Sunny days and shopping.

Rocky has had a marvelous week, lots and lots of bright sunny days with very cold temperatures - perfect for early spring!!

He went for a lovely walk down by the river.

Unlike the last time he was here he seemed to be taking more notice of his surroundings and other creatures that live there.

Where the sun had failed to get through the trees it was all frosted, a weather phenomenum which tends to get Rocky all bouncy. Instead of walking at such times he gambles about like a spring lamb; which is very funny when you are on the other end of the lead, it can however get a bit dizzying as he tends to bounce in circles?!! No, he hasn't got one leg shorter than the other, I've checked.

Back on the straight and narrow Rocky inevitably met up with new friends. This is another time when he moves around in circles for some reason (I wonder if other Otterhounds do so much circling)? His new friend, however, wanted to charge about in opposing directions and we all got in a bit of a muddle.

I'm sure they would have both got it together if they had not been on leads, but as there were sheep grazing nearby we remained responsible. They did get rather tangled up but we eventually got the other owner disentangled from Rocky's lead, but only after we both stopped laughing. It's lovely when dogs seem so pleased to see each other, you'd have thought they had been life long friends.

Talking of sheep, Rocky was more interested in them this time around. He sat for quite a while, watching them and leaning his head from side to side. However, when one started to move towards him he let out a whispered "oof" and moved swiftly behind my legs - just to make sure the sheep couldn't see him you understand!!

It's not that he's a scaredy cat, he just likes to make sure he isn't too challenged until he's made up his mind what exactly it is that is headed his way. After the sheep lost interest and walked in another direction he was fine; he seemed to make up his mind to remain confused and we walked on.

Rocky did take time to investigate the water a bit more this time.

After all, being an Otterhound and having webbed feet and a strong (and extremely long) tail for use as a rudder; it is inevitable that we should encourage him to come to grips with the wet stuff!

My plans came to nought again though, as having examined it from every angle possible, without actually going in, he semed to decide that it was not for him.

I can accept this, it is after all only February and I'm sure the water would be very cold indeed. However, come late spring/early summer things may be a little different and we will have to get serious about our encouragement. All our dogs have had tremendous fun in water and I'm sure Rocky will be no different;, he just needs to make that first and most important jump (so to speak)!

We had some more visitors this week as well and Rocky enjoyed all the attention and fusses that came his way. He was of course keen to make a good impression so decided to do his ultra cute act!!

He settled down to play very gently with his new toys, carrying them around proudly and gently (but firmly) dodging out of the way of anyone who tried to catch them in order to play with him.

It is only after people have appreciated how much he loves his toys that he will allow you to take them and throw or roll them away for him to chase ......................

This is one of his particular favourites, only played with when we are around (as it has batteries inside it). This one will roll about on its own with the fluffy felow attached seeming to roll around the ball. It never ceases to confuse him and when he has caught it and picked it up .................. it thumps him when he shakes his head from side to side.

I'm not sure why he likes it so much but he gets very excited when it comes out of the cupboard.

Once he was sure that he had his audience captivated he went in for the kill ............ so to speak.

Rocky still loves dressing up and this time he went for the cool dude look.

He seemed particularly proud of the fact that despite everything in the room suddenly becoming darker, he could still locate and set about destroying some of his toys. You gotta admire the lads talents!!

Lastly, I must tell you about Otterhounds love of routines. Being problem solvers it helps to have owners who have a routine - that way you can plan and execute strategies without too much complication.

We tend to do our shopping on the same day each week and Rocky finds this one of the most exciting days of his week. When unloading the car we tend to put the bags on the kitchen floor in order to leave our work tops free for unloading them. Rocky is not one to miss an opportunity and has developed a habbit of "having away" a small sample of goods (just to ensure we are buying top quality you understand). This week however, he bit off more than he could chew (if you'll excuse the pun)! He had run off with a spring onion ...........

As you can see, once he bit in to it (again to check quality) he decided it wasn't quite to his taste .........................!!!!!

Rocky the Otterhound: History and reverse gear!

Rocky has had a very interesting week. He has a new car to galavanting around the countryside in, but to an Otterhound this is no simple thing!


This photo of Rocky happily in the car doesn't do justice to the side splitting and long task of getting him into a new vehicle.


Unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to photograph the 3/4 hour hullabaloo but take it from me, it was funny. Rocky discovered reverse gear............... !!


You see a new car (or anything large and new) is a bit off putting to an Otterhound, big in body does not necessarily equate to big in bravery. It was a case of "Blimey that's big, it doesn't smell right and there is no way you are getting me in there"!!! It started with the simple reverse gear dog action, then despite jumping up and down and making sqeeky noises it lapsed into the reverse and cuddle the nearest wall act ..................... So, to hurry things along a bit, I got in and made excited sqeeky noises ................. No joy! Next we resorted to bribery, there is no way Rocky backs away from treats .................... so a trail of treats were laid up to the door of the car, in the floor of the car and all over the back seat of the car!! You guessed it, up to the car was fine ........ you can forget the inside the car bit. Roof up or down there was no way he was getting in. Anxious not to miss the best of the sunny but cold afternoon Daddy got a bit physical; Rocky was picked up and planted on the back seat, Dad was sat next to him to sooth any anxiety ............... waste of time ...................... Rocky had discovered the treats that we had cunnungly placed all over the back seat!!! Needless to say after that there was no looking back!


Goodness knows what the neighbours thought? "It's those nutcases again" I expect!!


We had a second chance to witness an Otterhound in reverse gear this week (again no camera!!). Sunday morning lie in, I thought it would be fun to wake Dad up with an Otterhound cuddle! Rocky got upstairs fine, on the bed for a hug with help .............. but ......................... Biskitt was upstairs and none to happy to see Rocky on her turf. While hissing well, Rocky got down and went out the bedroom door - there was a cacophony of hissing and then he came backing up the landing and around the corner into the bedroom - all in reverse gear!! You haven't lived until you've seen an Otterhound reverse around corners ................. it's impressive!!





Despite the "don't come on to my turf" kerfuffle things between Rocky and Biskitt are improving!




Rocky has been looking for cuddles from her for ages and now she is, a least, aquiessing to a bit of butt to butt cuddling.



The problem with Otterhounds though is that they have these immensley long tails. Rocky doesn't always appreciate just where it ends up, it's so long!



Biskitt was a little perturbed when she realised that Rocky's appendage was draped over her

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She spent several minutes contemplating whether to run for the hills or stay put

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After deciding to stay put (the hills being a long way for a little cat) there was the decision whether to start a cat fight or resign oneself to the indignity of laying down with a dogs tail draped across you

.......................................... Eventually I guess she decided that there were too many decisions to make and it all made her too tired ......................... so she fell asleep like Rocky already had done!!


Anyway today being Sunday and that being the day for the trip out, we met Rocky's friend Molly and her owners for an afternoon walk.

Living within walking distance of Stonehenge and being surrounded by historic sites we decided to start Rocky's cultural education.



So we met at one of the nearby Iron Age Hill Forts.



Lovely place, plenty of visitors, protected environment and doggy friendly!! What could be better?



I had in mind a leisurely walk, stooping to point out items of historical interest, but Rocky and Molly had other plans. No sooner had they met, wagged tails and said hello than they were off - running about like a pair of kids at a chocolate factory!

Still, I suppose they are really a couple of kids - I guess the education can wait awhile.





A quick play then it was off for an explore around the fort. Molly in front of course, she runs like a speeding bullet compared to Rocky, but he doesn't mind he has such fun anyway!!


They stopped every few yards for a some rough and tumble then carried on.


Couldn't be better for them, the sun was shining, there were plenty of people and dogs to make friends with, but not enough to make things crowded or noisey.



So they did what dogs do best .............


They made friends ....................
















They played and played ....................... ran for a while ................. then played and played.



















Then they lay down and enjoyed a rest in the winter sunshine ..............



What a happy day!!









Then it was back home for ......................





You guessed it ..................................



Warm comfy sofas and lots of sleep!!!





A good week for a good Otterhound wouldn't you say?!

Rocky the Otterhound: Taking a break

Due to circumstances beyond my control I will not be able to update you on Rocky's progress this week.

However he is well and happy and still adorable. He is also very comfortable and cosy (not that you'd notice by the photo, of course)!

There will be another installment next week and I will pick up where we left off. Rocky and I wish you a good week and have fun!!