The cure for coonhound depression

In my previous life (before spinal stenosis), one of my favorite pastimes was walking or hiking with Banjo. We would go to the urban grassland preserve here in town or, on a nice Saturday, we would head down to Dinosaur Valley State Park to hike, explore, wade in the river, "hunt." (At least Banjo thought we were hunting.) But with my mobility limited to about 15 minutes of painful walking, hiking fell by the wayside, much to Banjo's chagrin. Like that sad dog on the Cymbalta commercial, waiting expectantly with his leash in his mouth, Banjo would agree, "Depression hurts."

But in recent weeks a change in medication has relieved some of my pain, allowing me slightly more mobility. And I discovered a city park in nearby Arlington where there are wonderful nature trails, with native plants, a tiny creek, animal habitats, and a very comfortable cushioned surface (thick mulch, perhaps?) that is less stressful on my spine and legs. So I've managed to take Banjo hiking there several times and we're both loving it!

A couple of weeks ago Tevis and I spent a pleasant fall afternoon exploring the trails. At my insistence we stopped to take some pictures of Banjo in the ravine. As you can see, Banjo took umbrage at interrupting his hunting to pose for pictures! He wanted to get his nose back to the ground, sniffing for raccoons or possums.

Just like a child, he got a bit of an attitude and decided, "OK, if you're going to make me stop for a picture, I'll just make a silly face!"

As you can see from this picture, hiking is the cure for coonhound depression. (And it's pretty effective for humans, too!)

Hiking the urban grasslands

Yesterday I took Banjo to his favorite place to hike. Tandy Hills is a 160 acre urban grasslands preserve, tucked just south of I-30, within view of downtown Fort Worth. As usual, we had the whole park to ourselves.

We begin at the top of our favorite trail.

Just imagine that this is what the Native Americans saw across the wide expanse of Texas.

The hues of the grass range from yellow to this rusty red.

This unusual wildflower caught my eye.

Glades were covered with a blanket of wildflowers.

We return to the top of the trail and look eastward.

On the way to our car, I saw this wildflower, which appears to be some sort of mega-dandelion, about 4 inches in diameter.

Back at home, Banjo rests up after his big adventure with his new buddy Boo.

Introduction, part four

I realized tonight that my introductions were incomplete. I forgot to introduce my furry "kids."

This is Coolie, striking his best pose for the cover of the LL Bean catalog, in a rare Texas snow. I found Coolie at the Arlington city shelter.

This is Banjo. No, he is not a beagle on steroids...he's a Treeing Walker Coonhound. Walker hounds have been known to actually climb trees in pursuit of a raccoon, but Banjo has not yet displayed this talent. I found Banjo at an SPCA shelter up by the Texas-Oklahoma border.



This is Blossom, pouncing towards Coolie. She's supposed to be a pointer/Staffordshire bull terrier mix. I got her from the Irving city shelter on her "disposition date", ie, the day she was scheduled to be disposed of (euthanized).



And this is Boo, our most recent addition. He, too, is a Walker hound and was in a city shelter in Texarkana. He was rescued by a rescue group on the day he was to be euthanized and was in pretty bad shape. He evidently has been mistreated somewhere along the line, and we are still working on getting him to trust people.




My dogs bring me so much happiness. I encourage anyone who wants a furry friend to consider adopting a dog from a shelter. There are millions of dogs euthanized in this country...wonderful dogs who deserve a home and family, a full tummy and a warm bed, companionship and loyalty.