#0549 "Dixie"

This is a portrait of my Brother's blue tick hound reclining in the back yard during the summer of 2001. I was down to the Rideau and Merrickville as "Phil the Caster" - my "pro-bass" moniker.

Dixie is a great dog and she thinks she a person. My Brother has taught her to answer to "who's your favourite singer". She responds with her best Elvis Presley impersonation of "You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog". The words and music sound a bit like a long howl with a few yips mixed in between. She gets a biscuit as a treat. Elvis made millions. I was three years old when this song came out on Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel Album". I remember dancing to the song. "Hound Dog" has been recorded more than 250 times with the July 1956 version by Elvis by far the greatest hit. The song is ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song was written for a woman's voice as she berates the selfish, exploitative man in her life - the classical hound dog. Dixie's version never made the music charts.

Dixie runs nonstop especially at night. She has sprained her legs from this activity and she has to rest up on a blanketed cushion to get better. When I'm in Merrickville, she sleeps with me. My Brother and I love our animals... they are more human and humane than many people.

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