My name is Dixie!

Hi!! My name is Dixie. My foster mom named me Dixie Duke (Dixie for short) because she said I reminded her of a dog from Tennessee with my long and large hound ears, that is! I don’t know where Tennessee is but being a hound, I’d love to follow my nose and walk there someday! I’m about 4 years old and I’m a Plott hound. A Plott hound is a type of Coonhound that has beautiful brindle colouring. I am not a common breed of dog, but that makes me even more special. And I am definitely a hound dog; my foster mom says I love to walk with my nose to the ground. That’s probably because I love, love, LOVE smells!!!! My foster mom says I’m a medium size dog because she lives with a Newfoundland but I’m more of a large sized size dog. I weigh about 60 pounds! Yeah, I’m a wee bit chubby – that’s because I love food!!!!! Any type of food!!! Especially the cat food! I could lose about 5 to 8 pounds. But my foster mom always says, “couldn’t we all”. We go on lots of walks and I’m fed a top quality food now so we expect that I’ll lose some pounds in no time.

I was found wandering around the countryside following my nose and ended up in a rural pound. My original family didn’t come looking for me. I have no idea why because I am a calm and sweet girl who is totally house-trained! I just love, love, love belly rubs and being petted and curling up in the corner of the couch and taking long naps. Aside from some playing once in a while, I am pretty chill when I’m at home. I’m gentle and I will walk up to someone and put my head on their side (or their chest if they are kneeling down) to quietly ask for more petting. If they stop petting me, I will give them my paw to ask for more! I like shaking a paw – especially if it means I get more petting! I like long walks where I can go outside and smell everything! My nose is pretty much on the ground while I walk. When we get back home, I am tired and like to sleep. I don’t drool at all and my foster mom says I don’t shed “too much”. I don’t mind being groomed at all, either. My foster mom crates me during the day when she’s at work. I go into my crate just fine because my foster mom gets a Kong stuffed with peanut butter and I happily follow!!! Then I take a loooooong nap in my crate while she’s at work. When she comes home, I am very happy but don’t bark at all! I wait patiently for her to let me out of my crate. Then I dance around and tell her how happy I am she’s home! I don’t really bark much at all. Sometimes I am all excited and like to let everyone know how happy I am! But that doesn’t last long. I like looking outside through the window but I don’t really bark when I see other people or dogs walking in front of the house. When people come to the door, I get excited because I get to smell them. Sometimes when my foster brothers bark, I’ll join in! But I’m a pretty quiet girl overall.

I would be best suited to a house with a fenced yard and always need to be on a leash because I will follow my nose if left loose!! Hound dogs cannot be trusted off leash in an unconfined area. Anyone considering adopting me needs to be aware of this. My foster mom says that I’m great on leashed walks! I love to go out for walks and smell the outside! I love seeing other dogs and other people when we’re out for walks – they have such amazing smells! That’s what I do whenever I see a person or a dog – I SMELL THEM!!! So fun! I am hoping for a home with a family that walks a lot and will take me for good walks every day.

I live with 2 other dogs and I love them! One is a huge Newfoundland and the other is a long-hair miniature dachshund. That means I love big and small dogs! Oh, and I also live with 2 cats. At first I really, really wanted to chase them but then I figured out that they have AMAZING food. My foster mom wouldn’t allow me to chase the cats so now I don’t bother with them but sometimes I sneak downstairs and eat their food!! Yum!!!

My foster mom doesn’t have any kids but we’ve met some on our walks and I’m just interested in smelling them. I would be fine with older kids but I don’t think I would want to live with babies or young children, I prefer a quiet and calm household. Respectful children who would pet me and rub my belly would be nice though. They just have to be old enough to understand that doors and gates must be closed at all times as an open door or gate is my invitation to freedom.

One last thing, when I was at the vet getting all checked over the vet discovered that I tested positive for Lyme disease. It is figured that I was bitten by a tick some time ago and caught the disease from that. Good news is, I show no negative signs or symptoms of the disease and the vet says I have a perfectly normal life expectancy and it really isn’t all that serious. I am on some medicine now to lower my Lyme level and I am doing well on it. I won’t need to be on meds long term which is great. My adoptive family just needs to be aware of my Lyme status and advise their vet of it and understand that I will test positive for Lyme’s every time I have my heartworm/lyme tests done. The vet that my rescue group uses is more than happy to talk to my prospective adopters about Lyme disease and reassure them that I am a healthy and hardy dog regardless of my Lyme status.

So if you are looking for a good looking (if I do say so myself), great natured, calm and gentle, loveable dog then I am your girl. If you have a house with a fenced in yard then that would suit me well. If you love to get out for walks and hikes then I am your girl. If you love car rides, well so do I! If you are willing to take me to obedience school so I can be even smarter, I want to go- especially to a school that uses food rewards….then I’ll really learn fast! I am a dog that gets a lot of attention wherever I go because of my looks and lovely nature. I will be a loyal and loving dog and ask the same of my forever family. I really want a great family to call my own…forever and ever and ever! Love, Dixie

If you think Dixie just may be the dog for you, please check out our website www.pounddog.ca and fill out an application.