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 70K followers on Instagram and over 227K followers on TikTok as of Tuesday, both accounts are run by Pasek.

Dexter’s journey to fame is a heartbreaking one, when 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, before Dexter’s accident, had said goodbye to two dogs in just two years. She said, “I couldn’t put him down without giving him a chance,” she added of Dexter. “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 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.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by dexter.the_three_legged_dog 🐾 (@dexterdogouray)

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 and has featured in numerous media outlets and appeared in a clip The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Pasek meanwhile lost her full-time job managing a local hot spring pool to the pandemic and is spending her days managing Dexter’s social media accounts but her motive is not to gain from Dexter’s talents.

She only wants to share his resilience and bravery with everyone, “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.

Share on Facebook