The next thing I did was call the Humane Society. It's a local group of volunteers here so I was not going to let them take him. I just wanted someone to know that I had him in case someone tried to make a report on me by seeing this pitiful looking guy in my yard. She explained that they had been trying to locate him because there were several reports of a dog matching his description roaming the neighborhood. You see, here where I live, if a dog is not a good hunter, they will be disposed of one way or another. I thought that this was the case. Maybe he didn't hunt like someone wanted him to so they beat him. You could tell he had been on a short chain because the skin on his butt was callused where it looked like he had just enough chain to sit down. The last thing I did was go to Facebook and Craigslist, post the above picture, and DARED someone to try to come and claim him! I was not a very happy camper at this point.
Luke is a Plott Hound. Plott Hounds should be athletic, muscular, and agile in appearance. He was none of the above. He is blind out of his right eye. When he got here you could tell he had been severely abused physically. He had a huge knot over the right eye and you could just tell he couldn't see out of it. But no matter what, when I would walk out that door he would get up and follow me. I'm surprised he had any get up and go left in him. So the 2nd night we had him, my husband went outside with his hunting light on his head. This dog came up off the porch and was ready to go. The only problem was, he was just going to the barn. huge let down for Luke. I knew right then he was a hunting dog.
About a week after he was here, my son and my uncle had left to go into the woods with the other hounds that we have. About 10 minutes after he saw them go into the woods with lights and dogs, he started whining and pacing the fence. I went out and sat with him and talked to him, not thinking he knew what I was saying, but hey, I'm an animal lover and I talk to all my animals, I said "What's wrong Luke, did they leave you, go find 'em" Shortly after I came back in I noticed that he wasn't whining anymore, so I went back out only to find that he was gone. He had somehow gotten over the fence and was no-where to be found. 2 hours later I see the lights coming back in the yard and see 2 humans and 3 dogs. They only left with 2. Luke had did it! He had found his way to where they were and had actually treed a coon with the other 2 dogs. I was so happy for him! He was still so tired and so weak but he managed to get over the fence and find them! They have since started taking him hunting when they go now. Last week my uncle took out to find his Walker Dog that had gotten loose and was treed WAAAAAY back in the woods. So on the way back he sat down at the pond right across from the house. He turned his light off and kicked back for a minute with his dog, when he heard something come in behind him. It was Luke. Luke sat beside him for just a minute before he grabbed his flash light in his mouth and took off with it. I don't know if he was saying come on let's go hunting, or this is what you get for not taking me in the first place, lol, but it was hilarious either way.
Now I have to say when I first got him I watched him close around kids. I just figured a dog that has been severely beat like that would have to be vicious. Well, needless to say, I have never in my life seen a dog as friendly as he is. He LOVES kids, cats, and even other dogs, he sometimes sleeps outside with the chickens, (one Hen actually has 6 eggs in his house right now) and never even offers to look at them. Maybe he knows if it wasn't for us he would be a goner. Either way I couldn't ask for a better dog. Now 8 months later, Luke is still just chillin here with us. He's laying in the living room floor as I type this. His dog house (a child's wooden playhouse) is fit for a king but he prefers to be right in front of the door inside with us and it's just fine with me. Since Luke, I have taken in 3 more dogs. After each one I swear no more, but what can you do. I couldn't live with myself if I left a dog hungry on the side of the road.
On top of all my dogs 6 total now, I also have 1 cat, a yard FULL of chickens, a couple tanks of Guppies (who reproduce like there's no tomorrow), and 1 Beta..
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