My big, sweet Jessie, applying maximum skin contact to the cool tile, while expending minimum energy, moving just one eye to follow me around the room. Her nickname is "Speed Bump", because she is often in the middle of the path we want to take and we have to slowly negotiate our way over her.
Jessie is the second-most cuddly dog in the whole world, second only to her half-sister, Becca, my wife's Bloodhound. In the mornings, I have her follow me downstairs and feed her separately from the other three, because she will otherwise become too raucous and rambunctious and cause a big commotion. After she's finished eating, she'll stand next to me while I'm eating and repeatedly push the underside of my forearm with her nose, until I pet her.
Bloodhounds needing to be rescued in the eastern half of the country are having a tough time, currently, after the closing of two regional rescues, and there is only one serving everywhere east of the Mississippi. They are losing nice, purebred Bloodhounds to euthanasia at an average of almost two per week. So sad, but we did our part to help out here on the west coast. Jessie has proven that one man's trash is another man's treasure.
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Tags: Bloodhound rescue Search dog www.southwestsearchdogs.org platinumphoto
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Explore #440, 7/23/09.
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[Update] Sadly, this is the day (see below), which came sooner than I expected. Jessie passed away last night and is now running that big, sage-filled (she used to love to roll in sage, which was fine with me, because it made her smell so good) trail in the sky. We'll miss you terribly, Jessie, because you brightened our lives during your stay with us and you were the sweetest dog that I have ever known. Happy trails to you, Jessie!
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I know that one day, I won't be able to look at this photo without tearing up, but for today, it makes me happy. Jessie helps me to live in the moment, like all dogs do.
Jessie, you made me so very happy!. I'm so glad you came into my life.
At the suggestion of Aveen L♡ve [away], I changed my buddy icon to this shot. I feel a little guilty about being disloyal to Cielo, but Jessie's my dog, too, and Cielo has been my only buddy icon since joining Flickr. Also, Jessie really is a hound, whereas Cielo is a sporting dog, so she matches my buddy name better. Besides, this is a much better picture.
Tags: Bloodhound Search dog www.southwestsearchdogs.org BRAVO TopShots F.A.B. DiamondClassPhotographer The Perfect Photographer platinumphoto FRIENDS AnAwesomeShot COTH Henny's Animals mywinners
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This is what Jessie looked like when we got her, as a five-year-old rescue. She had lived with a Great Dane that almost died because it was so thin. Can you guess what the problem was? The patches in her fur are there because they had to shave her in spots, due to the numerous ticks she had. She required a double treatment, she had so many of them. Fortunately, the person who handles Bloodhound rescue in Southern California is the wife of a vet and she manages his office, so Jessie received excellent treatment.
Tags: Search Dogs Bloodhounds
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Explore #427, 5/13/08.
Recently, we had quite a scare when Jessie, the Bloodhound that we rescued at age 5, and later trained to be a search dog, developed a huge swollen area on her rear end. Originally, the vets were concerned that it was cancer, but it turned out to be an infection in her anal glands, which was corrected with surgery and drugs. Now, given the cost of the surgery, I like to use the expression that, "Her ass is golden!"
Tags: Bloodhound Search dog ImpressedBeauty wiseass almost forgot!! I knew that comment about the chick magnet would remind you. Isn't that the coolest drop of slobber you've ever seen? I didn't even know slobber came in drops.
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It's not true that all Bloodhounds can do Search and Rescue, but that's what they were bred to do and most can be taught. At age 6, after 13 months of training, Jessie finally takes and passes her first certification test.
Tags: Bloodhound Search dogs
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