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Dolly Parton Has a God Dog and His Name is Billy the Kid

There's multiple dogs in Dolly Parton lore. Dive into her back catalog and you'll meet Cracker Jack, Andy and Gypsy. Brush up on more recent events and you'll fall in love with the stray white dog found by a clean-up crew at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival and nicknamed Dolly Parton. Had Parton's namesake not been returned to its owners by the Happy Landings Animal Shelter, she might've brought the dog back to Tennessee.

Nowadays, the country singer and dog lover spends pandemic downtime with Billy the Kid, a French bulldog who's a mascot of sorts for CTK Management and the official god dog of Parton's.

When he's not being Dolly Parton's dog friend, BTK represents CTK, a management company which works with not just Parton but also a truly eclectic roster, featuring Kenny G, KC and the Sunshine Band, Meatloaf and Seether.

Parton's International Dog Day post featured Billy, with its caption referencing the song "I Will Always Love You." The implication here is that just like many of us, Parton sings parody songs to and about her pooch pals. Billy fits "Jolene" phonetically, as long as certain vengeful lyrics get altered to suit an innocent, little dog. At the very least, she's sung "Happy Birthday" to Billy and shared it on social media.

Read More: Story Behind the Song: Dolly Parton's 'Love is Like a Butterfly' Put the 'W' in Dollywood

The 74-year-old country music legend's one of Tennessee's representatives on USA Today's Women of the Century list. She's also got a new book (Dolly Parton Songteller: My Life in Lyrics) out Nov. 17 via Chronicle Books.

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