Ludavine enjoys her golden years at home on her owner April Hamlin’s farm in Elkmont.

It was January 2016 when the world was first introduced to a bloodhound from Elkmont named Ludavine.

The energetic pooch was enjoying a peaceful morning on her owner April Hamlin’s farm when she noticed something out of the ordinary — the start of the Elkmont Half-Marathon. Ludavine, curious about all the hullabaloo, decided to join in on all the fun.

Turns out, she is quite the gifted athlete, as she was the first female finisher and sixth overall.

“They put a medal around her neck and took her picture, and it kind of just went viral from there,” Hamlin said.

Soon, news media from around the world were calling. “I had messages from CBS, NBC, BBC, and even Australia. Fox News and Friends sent a car and driver and got the dog and me and took us to one of their satellite studios and we got to be on the morning show,” Hamlin said.

Gifts, cards, letters, paintings, and more began pouring in. Ludavine was even given a free underground fence for the entire six-acre farm. “I had to get a patent on her name because some lady was trying to write a book about her as if it were her dog. So, I had to retain a patent lawyer for the dog,” Hamlin said.

Ludavine is, indeed, a unique name and comes from a character in the film “A Good Year” starring Russell Crowe. Everything about Ludavine is unique, including where she was born. She was born in prison.

“I got her from the prison at Capshaw. She is a prison-bred dog. They were breeding her to be a tracking dog and there was a whole litter. They had a tracking dog named Otis and they bred him to a bloodhound and had the litter. She was the first one they got rid of because she just was not focused at all,” Hamlin explained.

After Ludavine’s sixth place finish, the Elkmont half-marathon, organized by the Elkmont cross country team, was renamed to the Elkmont Hound-dog Half. She made guest appearances each year but did not participate in the race. The race has not been held for the past two years due to COVID-19 concerns, but Hamlin hopes the race will return in the near future.

Ludavine’s marathon was really a one-and-done, but Hamlin said that one race was worth the hectic times that followed. “It was really cool for my kids. They really enjoyed it,” she said.

Ludavine is now 10 years old and spends a lot of her time eating, lying around, and barking at the horses. The biggest change to Ludavine, is she now has three legs, having lost one of her front legs after being kicked by one of the horses on the family farm.

Ludavine is also kept company by several pals: a lab named Dove, an Australian Shepherd named Bunny, and her best friend Mouse the cat.

“She is really happy. She was done for a little while but now she is the same as she has always been. She liked to chase the horses, but now she stands behind the fence and barks at them. She likes to lay in the tall grass, and she loves to eat,” Hamlin said. “She’s still living in Elkmont and enjoying herself.”