As a seasoned trainer with DL Bloodhounds, Deanna Lally spends her days preparing dogs for important roles in law enforcement and search-and-rescue work. But when she’s home with her own crew of eight bloodhounds — lovingly referred to as her “kids” — things look a little less serious.
“They’re my family,” Lally told The Dodo. “They can look so majestic with that powerful stride and focused gaze — but then in an instant, they’re complete goofballs.”
Lally calls her home “The Houndstead,” a fitting title for a place where elegance and chaos coexist in the form of slobbery, floppy-eared hounds.
The other day, while enjoying some downtime at home, Lally witnessed one of the most entertaining transformations yet. A play session had broken out between two of her dogs, Doss and Reacher — both from a long line of working bloodhounds.
“They’re trained professionals, but when they’re off duty, they’re the wildest, silliest knuckleheads imaginable,” Lally said. “I never know what kind of photo I’m going to get.”
And this time, the camera didn’t disappoint.
During their horsing around, skin a-flopping, Lally captured moments like this:
Then there was this unsettling shot:
In a burst of playful energy, Reacher’s face morphed into what Lally can only describe as a “crazy squish monster.”
His skin flopped and twisted with every movement, captured in hilarious frames that turned her regal bloodhound into something between a cartoon and a lava lamp.
“It’s like watching a metamorphosis from sweet puppy to absolute monster,” Lally joked. “It’s hysterical. And honestly, a little creepy sometimes.”
Weighing in at around 140 pounds each, Reacher and his playmate Doss are no small pair — and the thunderous energy of their play is just part of life at The Houndstead.
“When I go through the photos later, I can’t stop laughing,” Lally said. “It’s chaos in motion.”
But underneath all that squishy silliness is a design with purpose. A bloodhound’s famously loose, wrinkled skin plays a critical role in scent work, helping to trap and funnel smells straight to their powerful noses. And Lally has seen their tracking instincts in action more than once — even in everyday moments.
“If I wear a new flavor of Chapstick, they’ll bolt across the yard just to smell my face,” she said with a laugh. “Their noses are that good.”
Majestic one minute, monstrous the next — and back again just as quickly — Lally’s hounds remind her daily why she loves working with them.
“They have such an incredible sense of smell,” she said, “but just as importantly, they have an incredible sense of fun.”
