Rocky the Otterhound: Variety is the spice of life.

I had hoped to show you how well Rocky has done this year with the fireworks; but due to one arm holding onto our visitor and the other holding on to Rocky I was unable to take any photo’s. So I will just let you know that all the time spent last year on socialising him with fireworks has paid off in spades! Even though he was only 4 months old when he last encountered them he, never batted an eyelid at them this year. He even walked within 10 feet of a lit Roman Candle and didn’t even notice - he was too busy exercising his scenting bones!! Well done Rocky, you are brave really!!

Anyway, Rocky has had a full and interesting week this week, both before and after our visitor left us. The weather has been in turn warm and wet through cold and damp to cold, stormy and wet; but it doesn’t seem to matter to our hero what the weather is doing. Fun is there to be had and Rocky will always take full advantage of this.

At the beginning of the week “dad” took Rocky for a walk with some friends …………. Lots of friends!

Needless to say Rocky had the time of his life, especially when he and a few other youngsters decided to romp and charge about in an open field! What fun he has with his friends ……… Gives him plenty to dream about too!!

They went up hill and down dale, in open fields and leafy lanes. What a super way to spend your time!

In the evenings Rocky likes to have a game with his family. One of his favourite toys is his big Marmalade Cat that he got from the dogs home fun day. Notice how Rocky lets you know he wants to play ……… Pick up toy – thrust it into the nearest person!! Due to his height this generally seems to end up in the groin area, but Rocky doesn’t mind?!!

Occasionally he will pick a toy from his toy box and stand there in an attempt to look adorably cute – this is his “make them feel guilty and they’ll play” approach!

Mind you, once you have felt guilty and start to play he does reward you with the most gracious of smiles ………. Makes it all worthwhile!!

As part of playtime and not forgetting Rocky’s history of good impressions ………. This is his attempt at a cartoon dog!! Honest there is no touch up to the photo!!

Just in case you don’t see the cartoonishness (?) Take a closer look!! I think this is his best attempt yet, don't you? Well done Rocky!!

This week has seen Rocky become fond of his basket again ………. Don’t know why, just another phase I guess. However, he does little on his own at home now and his sidekick Mij just had to join in. Not a problem for Rocky at all, in fact he kinda likes it!

However, when he moves his feet little Mij takes it as an open invitation to play and, sinking her little teeth into his foot, tends to disturb his sleep somewhat! Still there is a good and a bad side to nearly everything Rocky!!

Due to the fact that the clocks have gone back recently, it now gets dark very early in the evening. So when possible we like to take Rocky for a walk in the daylight, especially with the late autumn sunshine we have had.

Rocky loves to keep an eye on what is happening in his neighbourhood. Occasionally he is so content he will even pose for a nice photo. As opposed to his usual teenage grudingness (?) of “well, you can have a photo but I’m not going to make it easy for you”!

Back home he will keep himself occupied doing things he likes to do. Things such as chewing a rawhide chew to within an inch of its life! Luverly!!

But when the feeling overcomes a young Otterhound there is nothing else you can do ……… you just have to curl up, all comfy like, in your bed and consider a jolly good nap!

GOING ……….

GOING ………..

GONE!!

As I said earlier it gets dark very early these days and sometimes there is nothing else for it but to have your late afternoon walk in the dark. But thankfully, due to my “stealth night vision digital camera”, we can still see what our hero gets up to!

Well OK, it’s not really a “stealth night vision digital camera” – it’s just an ordinary one. But luckily, my pointing it somewhere in the approximate direction of where I think Rocky is, has managed to capture what he was doing.

You see, much as we may dislike the new estate they are building on the downs, the planners have managed to include a nice fenced off area where you can exercise your dogs safely. So …… if you can’t beat them and all that.

Rocky quite likes this area as he can trot about and exercise his scenting bones!!

This pose, ladies and gentlemen, means he has noticed another dog approaching. I don’t think it is an Otterhound thing. This is something he picked up during the summer, after several meetings with various Border Collies in the area. Rocky seems to think it a good idea and is convinced that as he is low down no one can see this hulking great dog -So he can jump out and go “Boo” when they get close!! Most of the local dogs and owners know him and find it rather amusing – but we don’t tell Rocky!!

You can just make out; through the magic of my newly named “stealth night vision digital camera”, that Rocky had a lovely run and play with a white Boxer dog this particular evening. What a bouncy Otterhound!

Rocky’s big expedition this week was to the cold, wet, late autumn plain. Our visitor had departed and he could now have walks again on his beloved plain.

Near the beginning of his walk he met up with a new pal and had a little game.

When his friend went, Rocky looked to “mum and dad” for the all clear to run free and have a great run. Off you go Rocky!!

After a brief mad fit he fell in close to us and enjoyed the sights and smells of the plain!

And boy wasn’t there excitement from his scent bones!! Sooo many yummy smells!

He sniffed his way through short grass ………

He sniffed his way through long grass ………

He sniffed his way around corners and into hedges; bouncing all the way!!

He ventured further from us then sniffed close by again ………

He waded and drank in small puddles ………

He waded and drank in big puddles ………

He ran into the woods intent on a scent he had picked up ……. Yummy yummy yummy ……….. We waited for his return ............ and return he did!

Then it was time to go back to the car with our newly Velcro’d Otterhound! So many grass seeds and burrs! What fun he had. This was a happily tired pup who just grinned all the way home!

And what did he do when he got home?

That’s right ……….

Night night Rocky sleep well.

Rocky the otterhound: No place like home and Halloween Spooks!

This week has been a quieter week for Rocky, we have an elderly relative visiting who has been great, but has curtailed our activities a little. Rocky has still had his lovely walks but due to the fact that I am keeping an eye (and a helping hand) on our visitor, there have been fewer photo’s taken.

So this week is all about more homely things and may be a little shorter than usual. However, to add interest, I have a little Halloween quiz for you at the end. Hope you enjoy it.







Life has been a bit more laid back this week and Rocky is the kinda guy to take full advantage of this. Far from fussing for more walking or more energetic games he has joined in the relaxation with full gusto!











This atmosphere of quiet and calm has penetrated our entire household, so much so that Biskitt has stopped being quite so mistrusting of Mij! This has allowed a small amount of bonding between the two, however; at 18 going on 19 Biskitt is not going to allow full on affection – just tolerance at a closer distance.








Rocky has been more patient at waiting for Mij to join in chasing or wrestling games …………….










He has also been able to amuse himself with his own toys (a gift he had oodles of before Mij turned up). He didn’t so much loose this ability after her arrival – it was more a case of being very VERY easily distracted from a personal game into wanting Mij to be involved. So he is again able to take full enjoyment from playing by himself and will cheerfully carry on in his own world even when Mij is playing her own game close by ……….. He will of course stop to view what she is doing ………… just incase he has a desperate need to abandon his game and join in hers - especially if there is more food involved in her game!!!

Shopping day remains one of his favourite days, he continues to insist on examining the contents of each bag. This has become a joint task for Rocky and Mij as they are both to be found with their heads firmly embedded in the shopping bags now. In fact I have become slightly confused as to the purpose of Rocky’s interest lately; I am not sure if he is examining the shopping (need to gain his approval on what you have bought you know), or whether he is busy trying to see where Mij is and if she anything more exciting than he has been able to find!?

Mij is not above a fair bit of nosiness either. Occasionally Rocky will run off with an emptied carrier bag for a quick game of “shred the noisy thing” (see, we do recycle our bags), at which time it is Mij’s turn to take an interest in what is happening – just incase she feels it ought to be her game instead of his!! In short, it is like having two children in the house ……….. Only without the bickering!

Rocky appears to have willingly given up some room on his sofa to our latest addition. Although she does keep waking him up from an important snooze by playing “Kill” with his tail!!

Rocky has become so used to this (in a comparatively short time) that he tends to just roll over and leave her to it now! Aaahh!

Eventually (once Mij has finished playing and there has been a bit of jostling and moving around for the most comfortable position) peace is restored and they can both get down to the even more important business of sleeping!!

Talking of sleeping, “our sofa” has had the almost constant presence of our visitor on it; so when “dad” wants HIS important post-work sleep he has decided to use Rocky’s sofa. This has been a lesson in “how to confuse your young Otterhound”! An apparently easy exercise ………. Just choose to take up all the room on his sofa – job done!!!!

However …………. Be aware that if you partake in this dangerous exercise ……….. You will invariably be rudely awakened by a playful hound (once he has worked out that what you are really doing is asking for a game that is)!!!!

Always be sure to remember that the whole point of an Otterhounds private sofa is ………. To provide enough comfortable room for a good old fashioned snooze!!

As it was Halloween this week I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to talk about Otterhounds and Spooks. In this instance I do, of course, refer to the Otterhound propensity for getting spooked by everyday objects!

I have mentioned previously that Rocky can get spooked by many things and that we have tried to socialise him to anything that may provide a bit of spooking! Well, we were told that 18 months of age was the time they were most easily spooked and he is now 16 months and heading for that time at a tremendous pace. So naturally we have been alert to the possibility of an increase in his ability to find almost anything “spooky”.

We have (so far) got over the hatchback car with its boot open spook and the car towing a caravan spook; we have got past the stone lions on the gatepost spook and even the weekly wheelie bin spook but we have noticed that the silliest of things are becoming spooky?!!

I think I am right in saying that this endearing vulnerability continues for an Otterhounds lifetime, but perhaps this age is particularly prone? Anyway on to your game for this week …………

Below are just a few everyday objects and your task is to identify which have recently spooked our Rocky??

No 1 – a bathroom toy left on the kitchen work top.

No 2 – a washing basket left on the floor of the kitchen.

No 3 – tinfoil used to cover food while cooking.

No 4 – a packet of tomatoes left in the far corner of the kitchen work top.

No 5 – a shopping trolley left outside the local shop.

No 6 – A plank of wood left across a path at the building site on the Downs.

No 7 – A brightly coloured caterpillar in the middle of a path.

No 8 – A drawer left in the hedgerow at the building site.

No 9 - Some abandoned insulation just past the building site

No 10 – A huge concrete pipe at the end of the path at the building site on the Downs.




Answer:
Would you believe, all have sent our big baby into uncertainty and clingy-ness except No’s 1 and 7.

At this point I should say that reassurance and physically patting the object of his fear (and encouraging him to sniff it) quickly calms your Otterhound, and activities can then proceed as normal. Also having once been reassured he will no longer be spooked by that particular item if he comes across it again (except the shopping trolley but he was only 9 weeks old when he last met one face to face)!

Our observations have led us to believe that almost any everyday object can spook him if it is in a place he does not expect to find it ………… for instance; he has never been spooked by the washing basket before but it has usually been left by the back door before going back to the utility room. Seeing it in the kitchen sent him running for the safety of his sofa; peeking from behind it he bravely (?) barked at it from a distance!! So perhaps forwarned may be forearmed so to speak.

Lastly and to finish ……… Otterhounds are big, clumsy and clown like. They are independent, obstinate at times and their own dog. But above all they are endearingly cute, they are loving and very funny and I wouldn’t be without one!!

Night night Rocky, sleep well!