This is the last part of this photo essay about my puppies. Check out what I wrote at the end about what’s happening next here at Hound on the Run, and if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe. Enjoy!
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Day 57: August 4th, 2022
Fat, healthy, sleepy pups.
Day 58: August 5th, 2022
Pinecones make excellent chew toys. I still need to find it but I have a photo of Coulee as a tiny puppy in a similar pose chewing on a pinecone.
Day 59: August 6th, 2022
I’m not an emoji person, but this would be an appropriate place for a simple heart emoji.
Day 61: August 8th, 2022
The puppies were well on their way to being fully weaned by this point, but again, can’t beat mom’s milk.
We filled up a baby pool to introduce them to water. It went well enough.
Day 62: August 9th, 2022
First introduction to the dog box.
First introduction to the rig.
Day 73: August 20th, 2022
On this day we took them for their first hike. They road in the dog box about 7 miles like champs and only threw up a little bit.
Walking on lead was a different story. Tika and Clover took to it right away and had no problem walking along. Pip did slightly worse, planting his butt firmly on the ground at first, but quickly warmed up to the activity and followed along. Bruno (on the far left) wanted nothing to do with the leash and resisted big time. I tried being patient, but he wasn’t budging. I tried dragging him along for a short distance hoping he’d get with the program, but that didn’t work so I ended up carrying him for about a quarter mile. Eventually, he started squirming to be let down and then he slowly started walking along with everyone else.
We didn’t make it more than a mile before deciding to head back to the truck. It was a bit chaotic, but overall I was happy with how they did. A hike like that sure makes a puppy thirsty.
Day 74: August 21st, 2022
We would take turns with each pup every so often letting them in the house. Tika was the only one who would actually lay down in the bed and hang out with us.
Day 80: August 27th, 2022
I think Plum is a fine looking hound. His good looks definitely carried over to the puppies.
The big dog with the spot on his head is Finn. We ended up nicknaming him Uncle Karen because he’s not the biggest fan of the puppies and is constantly wanting to speak to the manager about them. That was, at least, until he discovered that they were great at cleaning out his ears. Hounds are so nasty.
Day 88: September 4th, 2022
Have you ever seen a sweeter face?
Bigger, and bigger, and bigger they got.
And more wild and crazy.
Day 91: September 7th, 2022
The first month of puppy raising was actually very quiet and not too difficult. But once they got bigger and started exploring the range of their vocal cords, things got more challenging and a lot louder. We have our routines in place but basically, if the puppies are together, they are wrestling/sparring/fighting … whatever you want to call it. And seems like if their legs are moving, their mouths are booming.
You may have noticed that the grass was a lot greener and longer in earlier photos. This is partially due to the extremely hot and dry summer we had this year and the fact that I refuse to spend any money watering the lawn, but also due to the puppies terrorizing the yard with their rough housing. To be fair, it’s not only the little pups who have been playing like crazy — Coulee and Roux have been sparring more than ever before in the best of ways. I think Roux is helping Coulee get in shape for hunting season.
Tika and I embracing.
Don’t let Pip hypnotize you with those eyes.
I do have more photos taken over the last month, but I think this is enough for now. Thanks for following along on this epic puppy photo dump, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing.
Getting hounds in the first place changed my life for the better in many ways, but now that these puppies are here, things have elevated to a whole ‘nother level. While there have been many challenges and I’ve lost a lot of sleep over these floppy-eared little demons, I have enjoyed every bit of it and can’t ever picture myself not having a kennel full of hounds.
As I’m writing this, the puppies are right at four months old, they are finally big enough to wear GPS tracking collars so we’ve been working on all the skills they’ll need to learn to become bonafide hunting dogs. As soon as they could walk, I did hot dog drags with them to get them using their noses, but since then we’ve done some bobcat scent drags and they’ve rode along in the dog box on numerous hunts with Coulee and Roux.
If you haven’t seen, I started the Hound on the Run YouTube channel where I’ve been sharing some videos. Well, over the last few weeks I’ve been filming all of our outings and have a lot more video content on the way. I wanted to get the puppies properly introduced to the world through this photo essay, but now that that’s out of the way, stay tuned for a lot more exciting content coming your way.
P.S. Did you know I wrote a book all about my bobcat hunting adventures? If you are a hunter yourself, I know you’ll find it entertaining … or if you’ve never been hound hunting but are curious what it’s all about, Cat Dog Chronicles gives a glimpse into what this complex sport is all about. Check it out on Amazon!
Niklas- OMG! You and I need to sit down and compare notes on puppy whelping. Always a magical moment. Throughly enjoyed your epic journey with these pups so far. Looking forward to reading / Seeing their progress!
Niklas- OMG! You and I need to sit down and compare notes on puppy whelping. Always a magical moment. Throughly enjoyed your epic journey with these pups so far. Looking forward to reading / Seeing their progress!