Finally here are some pictures of my new puppy, Moneypenny. My first Bloodhound passed in September, and she was my first mantrailing search and rescue dog. I had never considered even getting involved in SAR, but it seems to be unavoidable when you get a Bloodhound. Penny is doing her best to fill Ladybird's shoes, and was trailing at 10 weeks old. These photos are when she was 9 weeks old; now she is 4 months and growing like a weed, but cuter every day. She is the red puppy; the black and tan is her sister Annabelle.
She settled in quick making friends with Ruger, my German Shorthair. This was her first day home, and the other dogs didn't want anything to do with her!
This is my late friend Ladybird. I had never wanted a Bloodhound, but she and I met through some strange circumstances. I'd always wanted a dog, and my parents wouldn't have one in their home, so I finally got one when I was in college in KS. I went to the pound, and brought home a Black and Tan Coonhound. She had terrible separation anxiety so I had to take her everywhere, including to class. I went to visit a friend 100 miles away one night, and took her with me so she didn't drive my roommates crazy. We left her at his house while we went out, as nobody was going to be home, and we even called his roommate to make sure if he did come home he knew there was a dog loose in the house that might try and get out. Well we got home to find no dog and no roommate. We called him, and he had let her out because he had thought she needed the bathroom, without a leash in an unfenced yard. My friend is a cop, so he called in to see if anyone had found a stray dog. They said they'd had a call about one, but when they went to the spot where it had been spotted there was nothing there. We went there, and found her laying on the shoulder. She'd got 4 miles in under 20 minutes, and was on her way home. She was such a gentle dog she didn't even growl when we moved her. We rushed her to the hospital, but they had to put her to sleep. It broke my heart, and my roommates took me to adopt another dog. We went to the shelter, and they had a Black and Tan puppy that I purposely didn't pick out because I didn't want the heartbreak of another hound, and wanted a more trainable dog. I came home with a black lab/golden retriever puppy, now my other search dog Kodiak. A couple of days later the pound where I had got my first dog from called to say they had her. I told them it was not possible, as I had had to have her put to sleep. They were certain it was Scarlett, so I had to go there and take them the invoice from the vet as proof. Out of curiosity I had to take a look at the dog they had, and they were very similar. I was still very emotional about the loss of Scarlett, and felt like maybe I had a second chance and had to help this dog.
I went to collect her when her week was up, and found that kennel was empty. When I asked the animal control officer where she was, she told me she had died from an internal obstruction. By this point both she and I were in tears. She told me she had another dog that she had brought in last night, that wasn't pretty but she thought I would like. She brought out an enormous, very saggy Bloodhound that was a real mess. She was a puppymill cast off. The dog came up to me and rested her head on my shoulder and sighed. She rolled onto her back so I could rub her belly, and got her paw around the back of my neck so I couldn't get away. That was that, and I promised her i'd be back in a week, and i'd only managed to be houndless for 2 weeks. I was waiting for the pound to open that morning so I could get her out of that place, and we never looked back. She had heartworm, but we treated her for that, her coat grew back in, and she had more and more energy as the months went on. She was a wonderful dog, and loved everybody, but didn't know her size. She passed suddenly in September from a twisted gut, and things haven't been the same since. She was just so stubborn and funny with it, so I couldn't stay mad at her. She certainly made the most of her time here, and brought so much joy to people she met. I'm sure she's enjoying a bottomless bowl of food and a comfy sofa now.
We even ended up with the puppy through strange circumstances. I wanted to rescue another one, but we couldn't find a young female Bloodhound. I contacted a breeder whose website I had seen, who had a litter due. She wrote back to say that she had lost her pregnant grump to a twisted gut also. A few days later she e-mailed me to say that the breeder that they had got their dogs from was retiring, and had a black and tan puppy and a red puppy left from her last litter. They'd lost a black and tan, and we'd lost a red, so I guess it was just meant to be!
She settled in quick making friends with Ruger, my German Shorthair. This was her first day home, and the other dogs didn't want anything to do with her!
This is my late friend Ladybird. I had never wanted a Bloodhound, but she and I met through some strange circumstances. I'd always wanted a dog, and my parents wouldn't have one in their home, so I finally got one when I was in college in KS. I went to the pound, and brought home a Black and Tan Coonhound. She had terrible separation anxiety so I had to take her everywhere, including to class. I went to visit a friend 100 miles away one night, and took her with me so she didn't drive my roommates crazy. We left her at his house while we went out, as nobody was going to be home, and we even called his roommate to make sure if he did come home he knew there was a dog loose in the house that might try and get out. Well we got home to find no dog and no roommate. We called him, and he had let her out because he had thought she needed the bathroom, without a leash in an unfenced yard. My friend is a cop, so he called in to see if anyone had found a stray dog. They said they'd had a call about one, but when they went to the spot where it had been spotted there was nothing there. We went there, and found her laying on the shoulder. She'd got 4 miles in under 20 minutes, and was on her way home. She was such a gentle dog she didn't even growl when we moved her. We rushed her to the hospital, but they had to put her to sleep. It broke my heart, and my roommates took me to adopt another dog. We went to the shelter, and they had a Black and Tan puppy that I purposely didn't pick out because I didn't want the heartbreak of another hound, and wanted a more trainable dog. I came home with a black lab/golden retriever puppy, now my other search dog Kodiak. A couple of days later the pound where I had got my first dog from called to say they had her. I told them it was not possible, as I had had to have her put to sleep. They were certain it was Scarlett, so I had to go there and take them the invoice from the vet as proof. Out of curiosity I had to take a look at the dog they had, and they were very similar. I was still very emotional about the loss of Scarlett, and felt like maybe I had a second chance and had to help this dog.
I went to collect her when her week was up, and found that kennel was empty. When I asked the animal control officer where she was, she told me she had died from an internal obstruction. By this point both she and I were in tears. She told me she had another dog that she had brought in last night, that wasn't pretty but she thought I would like. She brought out an enormous, very saggy Bloodhound that was a real mess. She was a puppymill cast off. The dog came up to me and rested her head on my shoulder and sighed. She rolled onto her back so I could rub her belly, and got her paw around the back of my neck so I couldn't get away. That was that, and I promised her i'd be back in a week, and i'd only managed to be houndless for 2 weeks. I was waiting for the pound to open that morning so I could get her out of that place, and we never looked back. She had heartworm, but we treated her for that, her coat grew back in, and she had more and more energy as the months went on. She was a wonderful dog, and loved everybody, but didn't know her size. She passed suddenly in September from a twisted gut, and things haven't been the same since. She was just so stubborn and funny with it, so I couldn't stay mad at her. She certainly made the most of her time here, and brought so much joy to people she met. I'm sure she's enjoying a bottomless bowl of food and a comfy sofa now.
We even ended up with the puppy through strange circumstances. I wanted to rescue another one, but we couldn't find a young female Bloodhound. I contacted a breeder whose website I had seen, who had a litter due. She wrote back to say that she had lost her pregnant grump to a twisted gut also. A few days later she e-mailed me to say that the breeder that they had got their dogs from was retiring, and had a black and tan puppy and a red puppy left from her last litter. They'd lost a black and tan, and we'd lost a red, so I guess it was just meant to be!
