On one level, the dog in the poem is simply what it says it is: the speaker’s pet. At the same time, dogs are recognizable cultural symbols of pure loyalty and joyful fellowship. They are “man’s best friend.”

The dog appears at the point in the poem when the speaker begins to consider the possibility for healing in the world. The dog is, to a large degree, a symbol of that hope.

The dog is physically vulnerable, described as both soft and small—especially in comparison to the “pickup trucks break-necking down / the road” (Lines 19-20). She is also made vulnerable by one of the things that makes dogs so loveable: her “goddamn enthusiasm” (Line 23). The dog hurls herself at traffic because she is “sure, without a doubt” (Line 21) that the world returns her love in equal measure. Because of this, she is also a symbol of that innocence.

This softness is what the opening section of the poem seems to target. And this aspect of dog and human both is what the poet speaks to when she says, “Don’t die” (Lines 11 and 25).