Bloodhound Diary Day 23 – Morning came early for me. I was still a little tired from my nightmare experience yesterday. When I felt my daddy touch me to wake me, I half expected him to start eating me. I was almost too scared to open my eyes.

Once I pulled myself together, I looked up at my daddy. He was smiling at me while rubbing my belly. All I can say is, you know its gonna be a great day when you wake and learn you won’t be eaten.

Letting out a big yawn I rose from my bed and followed daddy to the kitchen. While he was making a coffee I took a long drink of fresh water. Still feeling a little tired I looked out the window, it was pretty dark outside. The sun was barely peeking out from the sky.

I wish we were having eggs for breakfast.

While daddy was getting ready for us to go outside, I was thinking about warm and squishy scrambled eggs. How they mushed in my mouth, all their yumminess squishing between my teeth and floppy tongue. Oh, how I wish we had some for breakfast this morning. It seems like forever since I tasted their golden goodness.

Since I could not ask daddy for eggs, and he has not made them for breakfast in a forever, I think its time for me to get to the bottom of egg problem. Last I recall, my daddy said he had gone to get some eggs, but was stopped at a gate which was guarded by a dragon named Maynard. Stupid dragon.

I have to find out where this dragon is and why he is keeping us from getting any more eggs. I needed to know if Maynard is working alone and just being greedy, or if he was just a link in the egg chain. If he is working alone I might be able to beg a few from him. Afterall, I am an expert begger. My sad bloodhound eyes and droopy face can crack even the most rigid mental armor.

Today when we are out I well have to corner one of the sheep and see if they can tell me anything about this Maynard dragon. They have all been avoiding me for the last week for some reason. I know the sheep aren’t scared of me, so it must be something else. Were told to stay away from me? If so, by who? What is there to gain by keeping us apart?

The questions were piling up like firewood.

Before my head goes spinning out of control with all the possible what ifs and whys, I need to relax and think things through. I also needed to wait patiently for my daddy to be ready to go outside. So I did the only thing I could think to do, I ran over to daddy and jumped up on him, then ran to the door and whined. I repeated the process till he got the message and let me out.

I know, what happened to being patient and waiting for daddy to be ready? What can I say, sometimes I am a little bad.

Daddy joined me on the porch and we headed out to the world together. The morning mist was not as heavy as it was yesterday. When the sun wakes all the way up the mist should go away pretty fast. With any luck, the air will clear before we get to the sheep. I would hate to miss another chance to talk to them because they were out of sight, hidden by the mist.

If I were a dragon, where would I be?

During our walk I got lucky. The sun came all the way out and the mist disappeared quickly as I hoped it would. Things were looking up. I am that much closer to getting me some eggs.

When we reached where the sheep live, I stood looking at them through the fence. They looked back at me, silent and looking dumb (like sheep do).

I decided I would wait till one of them would talk to me. Leaving without answers to my questions was not an option. Daddy didn’t seem to be in a hurry this morning so time was on my side.

Calling to the sheep, I pleaded for someone to come talk to me. They continued to stare at me, not moving an inch. Calling again, I tried to look as friendly and harmless as possible (in case they really were scared of me).

Ok, its time for me to pull out my most powerful bloodhound weapon. Keeping eye contact with them I lowered my head. This allowed all my loose skin to gather around my face in huge wrinkles, letting my jowls and ears dragging the ground.

Once I was giving them ‘the look’, I let out a soft whine. Now, to wait a minute to let it take it’s full effect. There is no way they will be able to resist my power. Pity will fill their hearts and draw them to me like a puppy to a nummy. I will stop at nothing to have my eggs for breakfast!

Suddenly I saw a movement within the group.

Just when I was about to let out another while, I saw something move. It was like watching a raindrop hitting a puddle. Carefully they all started to ease toward me. They were coming slowly, reluctantly, trying to resist me. They needed another nudge so I let out a second whine. One that was longer and sounded more lonely than the first.

More waiting.

It worked. One of the females broke away from the group completely. She was heading straight for me. Seems my daddy is right after all . . . I am a chick magnet.

She came to the fence and asked me what was wrong. Wagging my tail and introducing myself, I proceeded to tell her why I was here. I talked fast, hoping nobody would see us together. I still didn’t know if she was putting herself at risk by being with me.

When I finish talking, she was silent for a moment. Not sure if she was thinking or if she had fallen asleep, I asked her again if she knew where I could find the dragon named Maynard.

Seems like a good reason to keep a secret to me.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody else was nearby, she quickly told me where I could find the dragon. Then she made me promise not to tell anyone that she told me. She said that the dragon is feared by all the old sheep. The elders say that if it is spoken of, the dragon will appear in the night and eat them all.

Thanking her, I promised to keep their secret so she would be safe. Then a strange thought hit me. I thought that she was actually kind of pretty for a sheep and wondered if she liked me. What a stupid thing to enter my mind at a time like this. Get a hold of yourself, it’s time to get moving.

I thanked her again and left her at the fence, chasing after daddy who was already down the road a ways. Briefly I stopped to look back at her to see if she was still watching me. Which she was. This gave me a funny tingly feeling in my belly. Unsure if the weird belly feeling was because I thought that she actually did like me, or if I was just getting hungry, it is hard to tell for sure.

Running out of time.

Running back to daddy I was happy with myself. I knew where to find Maynard. This is one step closer to the eggs. In my mind I was close enough to almost smell them. Almost.

We were nearly done with our walk leaving me no time to find and talk with the dragon. This will have to be part of tomorrows plan. While I am eager to get to the bottom of all this, I can wait one more day. It will give me time to think about how to manage any difficulties I may encounter when meeting the dragon. The most important of which is how to keep him from just eating me.

Lost in thought, we arrived back home. I decided to spend the day conserving my energy and planning for tomorrow. Daddy stayed busy in the house, taking me to potty when necessary. Feeling exhausted from all the thinking, I napped till dinner.

After dinner daddy put in a movie. I don’t remember what it was because I decided to go to bed early. If I was going to face that dragon tomorrow I needed to be well rested. Curled up in my bed I hoped the dragon wouldn’t invade my dreams. Stupid dragon.

If you enjoy reading about Anubis, he would be happy to hear from you.

A Note from my Mommy and Daddy:

We selected Anubis after much consideration. He is beautiful, healthy and seems to be very intelligent. We are looking forward to helping him reach his potential as a bloodhound and as a member of our family.

While Anubis is growing up, my wife and I (aka the human mommy and daddy) thought it would be interesting to chronicle his growth, learning and development as seen from ‘his’ perspective.

In addition to being entertaining, we also felt this may help others who desire to have their own bloodhound in understanding not only the development of a dog, but specific issues which may pertain to the bloodhound breed.

Bloodhounds are a wonderful breed. You are welcome to contact us if you have any questions.

Tags: Anubis the Bloodhound, Bloodbound Diaries, Bloodhound Tales, The Mind of Anubis