# How often does the dog die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 27, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847 "2024-04-27T18:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/41 "2024-04-28T00:50:25Z")
The Peanuts holiday specials are safe. Snoopy always makes it out alive. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/42 "2024-04-28T00:51:33Z")
That’s a wonderful movie, and it was inspired by a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Boudicca90](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boudicca90/32/16818_2.png) [@Boudicca90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boudicca90)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/43 "2024-04-28T00:52:27Z")
I haven’t seen Arthur the King yet, but I saw an ad at one point for the movie that just straight up said “Don’t worry, this dog lives.” Probably realizing how some people would be hesitant to see this kind of movie, where the dog typically does die. I know it was a concern of mine, so I’m glad they did that. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/44 "2024-04-28T00:54:52Z")
That sounds right up the Squidbillies’ alley. Farley died recently in the reprinted “For Better Or For Worse” comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/45 "2024-04-28T00:56:15Z")
I remember when Farley died the first time. Holy crap were people upset! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/46 "2024-04-28T02:02:17Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Open Range. Kevin Costner mini series. > > Bad guys shoot the amiable shaggy dog. The opening sequence of Eastwood’s _Pale Rider_ as well. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/47 "2024-04-28T02:05:49Z")
**Meet the Parents** , original 1992 version: fiancée’s family’s dog drowns after chasing a popsicle stick thrown into a lake. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/48 "2024-04-28T02:08:02Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I’ll mention Jurassic Bark. Oh, man, I absolutely cannot watch that one episode (despite otherwise loving _Futurama_) and even just hearing the song they use at the end can make me tear up. > [@Superdude](#): > > Where the Red Fern Grows I absolutely bawled at the ending. Plus, my mom had left me to read in the car while she went grocery shopping (it was a different time) so when she came back and found me in hysterics, she thought, “Something had happened!!?!” Me: “IT DID!!!” … which did not de-escalate the situation in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/49 "2024-04-28T03:07:18Z")
The dog’s death isn’t shown, but in Shooter, Mark Wahlberg comments about the men who framed him – “They killed my dog.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/50 "2024-04-28T03:10:59Z")
_Shiloh_ won the Newbery, and no, the dog doesn’t die for a change. But for a book intended for kids, it’s still some tough sledding. I had people gift me copies of _Marley & Me_ and _The Art of Racing in the Rain_ and they went straight into the Goodwill pile. I’ve had enough of losing my own dogs IRL, I don’t want to read stories or see movies about it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/51 "2024-04-28T03:42:39Z")
In Neverending Story, Araxt the horse dies. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/52 "2024-04-28T07:03:39Z")
Max’s dog is killed in _Mad Max II The Road Warrior_ ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/53 "2024-04-28T07:18:04Z")
In _Cool Hand Luke_, a bloodhound named Blue dies while tracking Luke. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/54 "2024-04-28T07:26:26Z")
Did you know Old Yeller used to be used in informal psych tests for children by the LA county court system? What they would do is say you had someone under 18 appearing in court for some reason say they were taken from their parent(s) and they needed to see if the kid was under emotional distress … So in the daycare room wed watch 1 or 2 movies some cartoons and color… like an after-school daycare the 2nd movie was always Old Yeller and the daycare attendant would write notes on say if a kid didn’t cry at all or one cried too much …there was a spectrum they judged on sometimes a specific kid would have a write-up and they’d send one in with an excuse for watching it … How I found this out was I ran into one of the volunteers that helped out with the kids decades later and I said " I remembered we watched old yeller every damn time I had to be there (which I was every 6 weeks for 3 years) and she laughed and explained why … ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/55 "2024-04-28T08:16:54Z")
We musn’t forget Adriana’s dog, Cosette , who was killed when Christopher sat on her in a heroin induced stupor on _The Sopranos_. Wait…did Sounder die? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/56 "2024-04-28T18:07:43Z")
The dog-dies-in-the-end trope goes back at least to _The Odyssey_ (8th century BCE). The elderly dog Argos dies just after recognizing his master Odysseus upon his return to Ithaca following a twenty-year absence. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/57 "2024-04-28T18:13:15Z")
In Jaws the shark eats a dog chasing the stick or ball. I forget which . “Pippin” I think. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/58 "2024-04-28T19:16:22Z")
Two dogs in _The Hills Have Eyes_ (1977): Beauty dies. Beast lives…and stars in a sequel - even getting his own flashback! - but played by a different canine actor. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847/59 "2024-04-28T21:46:22Z")
Dambusters has a dog that dies. But we can’t mention his name any more. (Which is a good thing.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-does-the-dog-die/1000847.md?page=2)