The Dog Always Dies at the End

Kevin Coolidge

The Dog Always Dies at the End

“The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master.”Ben Hur Lampman


Wind and cold slap my cheeks, and makes a hard job harder. As my shovel bites into the frozen ground, I pause and wonder if it’s the right tool for the job. I don’t know where my pick is, and I don’t know why it never gets easier to bury a dog. He was a good dog, but I’ve never buried a bad dog.

He loved the fields and the searing heat of the wood stove. He loved to dig up my rose bushes, and chase the neighbor’s cat. He cost me a lot of money when a car hit him, but I never regretted a single penny. He was my buddy, my friend. I never wanted to take that last dreaded trip to the vet, but I didn’t have the heart to see him suffer. I never wanted to bury another dog, and damn if this might just be my last.

The love and loyalty of a good dog is a special gift, and losing a cherished pet is never easy, but perhaps the hardest part is explaining that death to a child. It’s part of life, and a fact, but that doesn’t make it easy. It can, however, be done well, and a book that does that is Snort’s Special Gift by Suzann Yue, beautifully illustrated by Lin Wang.

In this hardcover children’s book, Snort doesn’t pay fetch anymore. Snort is sick and in a lot of pain. It’s time to take Snort to the veterinarian and help take the aches and pains away. Savy, a little girl, doesn’t want Snort to go. She is very sad and will miss Snort, but her father explains that her memory will live forever in her heart.

Several days after Snort is gone, Savy’s father suggests that the family plant a tree in Snort’s memory. Everyone works together to plant the tree and remember special memories of Snort.

When Savy’s teacher asks the class to write a story about someone special in their life, Savy chooses to write about Snort. Sitting by Snort’s special tree, she writes of the important things she learned from Snort—such as patience, love, and loyalty.

That Christmas, Savy found a lost puppy wandering around Snort’s special tree. Her family decided to give the puppy a loving home. She named the puppy Angel, because she felt the sweet puppy was a gift from Snort. She knew that Angel would teach her special lessons too.

It’s growing dark. I carefully place the stone to mark the grave, though I doubt I can forget. It’s under his favorite tree overlooking the field where he would chase rabbits that he seldom caught. It is where he would nap in the heat of a summer’s day and the tree that the neighbor’s cat still climbs. I’m going to miss that dog, but maybe there’s still room in my heart for another loyal friend…

Dogs, cats, gerbils…the best place to bury a pet is in your heart. As long as you have a special memory, it never really has to be goodbye.