I wanted to take a minute to let you know how much we are enjoying the bluetick hound from your rescue organization. What a great dog! After careful deliberation, we decided to re-name Fonzi as "The Reverend" because the white stripe running down his forehead and nose has a very pronounced square section of white over his otherwise black head- it looks just like a cleric's collar. He has grown from a tiny pup into a 7-month old hound dog that already weighs 50+ pounds. I think he's on his way to about 80.

The Reverend is a bluetick in every sense of the word- he is very active and launches into every activity (sleep, play, eating) with gusto. He gets along great with our two older dogs, although our "alpha dog," an older female lab, puts him in his place from time to time. He was easily housetrained, and we are working on his other manners now. He is quite a jumper, and he'll jump up to face level to lick an unsuspecting guest.

As with the other hounds I've enjoyed owning, The Reverend loves plenty of exercise. Although I'm careful with him since he's still a pup, he shows no signs of ever tiring on our daily jogs. We run a 4.5 mile loop and he handles it with ease. Of all of the blueticks I've known, he's probably the best-muscled dog I've ever seen. He's built for running long distances, and he loves it when we're going fast and his ears are flapping around in the wind. Even people that don't know hound dogs have stopped me to ask questions about him- he really is quite a looker. When he's not running, he loves to play with our other dogs in our backyard. We've got a lot of large Maple trees that drop huge branches- it is comical to see him running around the yard with a tree limb that is twice his size in an attempt to get the other dogs to chase him.

In closing, thanks again for the fine work you do and best wishes for the future. We'll send another photo when he's full grown!

Rick and Grace Voytas