Coyotes and Roosters

Due to the circumstance of Tramp 1 being out of town on business, I have been taking his shifts with the old dog. (I usually have day shift and early swing, he has late swing and graveyard!) I have to admit it has been good to be outside at odd hours. There is much that happens that we miss while being sequestered indoors.

During our false dawn dawdle (the only speed the old dog goes these days) the mellifluous song of a band of coyotes drifted down to us from farther up the buttes. I wished I knew what they were singing about.... While far below, a vociferous rooster was greeting the start of the day. He has an odd sort of strangulated doodle doo that I remember all too well from his predawn cacophony that floats up the hills and in through our bedroom window in summer....

In the evening when we take our final stroll we can hear the cattle bawl in the farm fields below. The fields are dotted with cows and their new calves now, most likely the reason the coyotes are vocalizing more lately. Sometimes we are treated to the call of the great horned owls that seem to be residents of our area.

But right now, the most wonderful sound to my ears would be the bark of the old dog - becoming all to infrequent. He is not feeling too frisky these days and has lost interest in his meals this week - something totally out of character for him. I have cooked him chicken and buffalo burger in gravy and mixed that with his kibble but he doesn't have much interest in it. Yesterday I went to town and got canned dog food to mix with his kibble and somehow he manages to pick it out and leave the kibble, the part with all the really good nutrients. Tramp 1 will be arriving back home tonight and I sure hope the old dog perks up for him. But we know that we are already on borrowed time with the dog - Angus is days shy of 15 1/2 - and 12 would be ancient for most basset hounds. But for this day, we will slowly ramble amongst the sage and juniper trees, seeking scents of rabbits and deer to tantalize his senses and make certain that his day is filled with things that dogs dream about....