Rocky the Otterhound: High winds, recycling and Holidays.

Well this week Rocky has had a full and enjoyable time of it. His “dad” and I have had a week off work and as a result Rocky has had a great time. He has had new experiences; and so have we!! As a result of being so young Rocky’s character is still forming and each day we are seeing more and more why Otterhounds are called “the clowns of the hound world”.

But first I must warn any potential Otterhound owners about Young Otterhounds and high winds. No-one told us so we weren’t prepared but let me give you an insight: ………… While being walked in a field nearby, Rocky settled down to produce what all good dogs produce after a meal (yes sorry about the image this may bring up but it is important to the story) ……….. It so happens that on this day we were having strong gusty winds alongside the glorious sunshine ………….. Anyway, a particularly strong gust of wind popped up just as Rocky was attending to his needs (he had his back in the direction of the wind at the time) ………. This gust seemed to have startled him somewhat because he suddenly turned around very quickly while impersonating a snapping turtle in full snap!! On realising there was nothing there he got spooked and shot into the long grass around the edge of the field, whereupon another few gusts caused the grass to sway to and fro. This caused Rocky to move up a gear from spooked to playful, he spun around and around quickly, three times - got his legs all tangled in his lead and promptly fell over!! Needless to say rescue for Rocky was a little long in coming as it is difficult to untangle anything when you are almost crying with laughter! So be warned: - mixing young Otterhounds and high winds can cause terminal laughter!!

The week at home started with Rocky being as demanding as an Otterhound gets; that is, he asked cutely and then waited patiently ………

You see, we recycle our plastic bottles twice – they are washed out and given to Rocky (he just loves playing with them) then they are recycled yet again through the council collection.

While waiting to go out to the bin one of his well chewed bottles was left on our dining table ………. Rocky had spotted it and become interested again – hence the endearing “mum, pleased can I have” look! I, of course, missed the cue – poor lad being saddled with me!

However, while sitting down to my breakfast Rocky managed to make it abundantly clear what he was after …….. Even I couldn’t miss the resting chin and eyes staring at the object of his desire ……… well, not while it is right in front of me!!
Rocky got his bottle back!

Rocky has had many long and happy walks this week, one of which saw us up on the plain again. The sun was shining (no wind this day), the chalk down-land was in full bloom and the skylarks were singing up a storm, it was a beautiful walk.

We went uphill and down dale and Rocky trotted about merrily having a good time

He was lucky enough to meet another new friend and chases and playtime was abundant. Rocky was quite tired and panting by the time his new friend moved on, so we thought we would stop for some refreshment!

Well clever us ……… we had thought to bring along some water for Rocky but had, of course, not given a thought to our own requirements!! That water sure looked nice!!

Was Rocky sympathetic when we told him we were thirsty too?

………. Perhaps not.

The past couple of weeks Rocky has been developing a few new traits; one of which is evident at feeding time. He has always sat for his food (not our training, he arrived like that) but he has decided to take it a step further lately ………

It seems that he feels that a great big cheesy grin might get “dad” to let him at his food quicker ………… it seems he hasn’t quite connected human laughter with delayed commands or actions!!

One of his favourite people paid him a visit this week as well ………. Rocky loves him so much he even lets him lay on his sofa!!

“I love you Rocky and I want a cuddle”…….

Rocky, as I mentioned last week, is becoming ever more agreeable to this sort of behaviour ………. So cuddle it was!

Another new trait that Rocky has developed is “Trophy hunting”. It appears to have become a mission of his to find (and bring home) at least one trophy from a days walking. We have all sorts come home with him (bakery bags, plastic bottles to name but a few), and each is carried home with head held high and a haughty step!!
This walk produced (another) abandoned tennis ball!!

We have also had a baby’s dummy (or pacifier?)

……. And endless small trees or windfall branches!

Each trophy is a prized possession until it has been home, had a jolly good playing with and then been carefully abandoned somewhere within the house where it will get in the way the most!!
Love him?!

One of Rocky’s walks was on a particularly hot day, the grass on the verges had been cut and the cuttings had shrivelled in the heat.

Rocky of course thought this marvellous fun and proceeded to bury his head in as much of it as possible before rolling around and getting as many grass seeds in his fur as possible – all done with a huge grin on his face!!

After that we thought he may be a bit hot so treated him to his very first ice lolly!!

Would he know what to do with it and would he like it??

A first tentative taste ………

He seemed to like it ……….

He went for it big time ………

Nearly gone ……….

The lolly stick was like new when he had finished!

All this took place in less than a minute ……… I think Rocky likes ice lollies!!

After his full days Rocky has taken to cuddly evenings ……… just laying about and yawning his contentment ………

“Hang on a minute ……… did mum just ask you what you wanted for a late night snack”?

“Gee dad that looks so tasty ……… you know I really love you don’t you”?

“You didn’t just eat that without me did you”?

“You did!!! There’s nothing left for me!! Aww”

So what does a contented and tired young Otterhound do after a long full day?

He lies down and thinks about sleeping …….

The half Otterhound position ………







The full Otterhound position ……..

......... And he dreams of his perfect day!!

Night night Rocky!!

Rocky the Otterhound: Rocky gets his doggy wings!!

Although we haven’t had the “scorchio” weather we had last week, Rocky has managed to pack quite a bit into this week. Life is one long game of interesting new experiences and old and new friends …………. How lovely to be a young Otterhound!

The week began with another visit from some of Rocky’s favourite people. As usual he got smothered in kisses and fusses. As you can see Rocky hates that; he is obviously desperately trying to escape from their grasp!! NOT!

He was allowed to stay up late one night to watch a re-run of one of his favourite films – Apocalypse Now – he is fascinated by the helicopters and Wagner I think!!

Rocky attended doggy training school as usual; despite the abundance of “devil Dogs” with scary eyes he always enjoys it.

He got to meet the little baby’s at the beginning of class. I don’t know about you but I still go gooey when confronted with puppies! Rocky just seems to revert to ultra gentle and gives them a good sniffing and a lick – gentle Otterhound!

Rocky seems to learn things fairly quickly, see how he has got the “relax while the humans receive training” bit! Being a good hound-dog he takes every opportunity to lay down, although I think he would be happier if we transported “his” sofa with us to every event. He can and does lay down on floors and ground and stuff, but given the option it would be a comfortable piece of furniture any day.

Rocky seems to have perfected the “sit for Dad” training which, as we found out later led to something unexpected!

Having also mastered the “lay down for Dad” bit clinched the deal!

What deal I hear you say, well the dog group we attend perform displays at local fetes and the like in order to raise money for charity. After only attending 4 sessions at the training classes Rocky was invited to take part!! Amazing!!

As the leader said “it would be nice for more people to see an Otterhound” and we totally agree. It will mean a few extra sessions before the event at the end of the month but I know Rocky won’t mind!! Happy Otterhound!

After his hard work that evening Rocky had a well deserved relax and fuss! He is starting to get cuddlier. Alongside his (now obligatory) leaning on you, he has started to come up to us for a hug; in the evening he will often abandon his beloved sofa for a while in order to come up to us and get a bit of loving! As you can imagine we are not averse to this and tend to encourage as much of this behaviour as possible – love that dog!!

Affection is never wasted on an Otterhound, all the love we show him is rewarded with a very gentle affection of his own. Rocky noticed that “dad” had a cut on his wrist and gently but insistently set to work giving his arm as much care as he could. It is really touching to see the change in his look and manner in this instance, so many expressions on this scruffy, mud attracting face!

This week also saw a welcome visit of his mate Daisy. My how she has grown, almost looks grown up don’t you think?

Needless to say there was much running about and having fun.

They stopped occasionally for a a breather and a bit of friendly affection ………..

They even discussed what they were going to play ………

Then it was off again for another wild round of wall of death running along the bank. Rocky of course had the advantage on that game, but they did chop and change games, from chase to tag and who could run over (or in Rocky’s case through) the entire garden.

They had such fun and Rocky was very sad to see her go, but he manages to have fun in just about all he does and he will see her again.

His big adventure for this week was attending a show practice. Rocky was very excited to see all his new friends there and rather keen to know what all these strange objects were that were scattered about all over the place. He kept looking at his “dad” with a “can I play with it now please” look on his face ………. Such excitement!

There was this tricky thing called weaving in and out. Some poles close together that “dad” wants me to play with– can’t see any use for it but it is rather fun!

I wish I had managed to get a photo of Rocky’s face, it was a sort of mixture of utter puzzlement, excitement and huge great grin.

Then there was hoping over little jumps …….. Rocky liked this lots and couldn’t wait to run over them ………

The best of it was that after hopping over the jumps Rocky got to go through the tunnels. He really likes the tunnels ……….

“Dad” really had to run to keep up with him as Rocky charges through the tunnels ……..

Then there was a new thing?!

Where’s Rocky??

There he is!!

Rocky loved this tunnel ………. Just like running under a bed quilt ………. Not that Rocky does that, but you get the idea?!

Then it was back to formation flying (well ok – the doggy version). He is now very good at sitting and letting “dad” walk around him – even does it at the same time as everyone else – which is, I guess, the whole point!

Rocky has also got the hang of doing the same thing lying down. I think he prefers it really – more hound-doggish!

While doing the formation flying Rocky was so happy and surprisingly quite attentive to his “dads” commands ………. Well most of the time.

There were times, to be honest, where a lot of the dogs (Rocky included) didn’t quite do as they were asked. But the whole ethos is about the dogs having fun so nobody minded, in fact it added to the joy and laughter you get from owning a dog …….. Great fun!!

However, there were also times where Rocky excelled himself at being attentive and enjoying what was asked of him.

He certainly got the hang of sitting quietly and waiting for “dad” to call him over. He knows that with this one though you get a big fuss and a treat if you do it right! I have noticed though that Rocky is very clever at also paying attention to what the other dogs around him are doing ………. It’s as if he looks to them if he is unsure of the command. Now that’s what I call a thinking Otterhound!

Even though Rocky had had the time of his life we were a little unsure if he would have had enough exercise by the end of class. But it seems he was using his brain quite a bit because …………. Sleepy Otterhound!!