Dexter The Dog Walks Like A Human For A Heartwarming Reason

Dexter the dog is a huge star on TikTok and Instagram and is loved in Ouray, Colorado today. But in 2016, he was hit by a truck, which meant he had to learn to walk on his hind legs.

The 6-year-old Brittany Spaniel is hugely popular due to his ability to walk on his hind legs. “Everyone in town knows him,” Dexter’s owner, Kentee Pasek, said. “In fact, they know him now more than they know us.”

The dog boasts nearly 193K followers on Instagram and over 1.2M followers on TikTok as of Tuesday. Both accounts are run by Pasek.

Dexter’s journey to fame is a heartbreaking one. In 2016, at just a year old, he escaped from his Ouray home while sniffing for nearby deer and darted out into the road, only to be run over by a truck that ran over both his front legs.

“We didn’t think he’d make it,” said Pasek, who had already said goodbye to two dogs in just two years before Dexter’s accident. “I couldn’t put him down without giving him a chance,” she added. “I just couldn’t.”

Dexter’s veterinarian believed in his ability to survive after the accident, so only one of the pup’s front legs was amputated, and surgically inserted pins were placed in the other.

After more surgeries and rehabilitation work, Dexter started learning how to walk on his hind legs comfortably. Soon, he was walking on his back legs all the time.

 

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One day, when Dexter was out for a walk with Pasek’s mother, a passerby recorded Dexter’s unique strut and posted the video to TikTok. The clip went viral, and Dexter became an internet star. He has been featured in numerous media outlets and appeared in a clip on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“His attitude has always been ‘Hey, everything’s great!’ and I’m like, if you think everything’s great, we’re going to be able to pull out of this as a world,” Pasek said of Dexter.

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