This Week’s Topic: They Killed the Dog...AGAIN!
So, earlier this week, this happened:
Why can't they ever let the dog live? 😭🐕 #bookwormproblems #LetTheDogLive pic.twitter.com/s3i7C1Fss8— Sam@WLABB (@kozbisa) March 26, 2019
Pets bring us so much joy.
They are cute to look at.
They like to cuddle.
They offer companionship.
They even help us out sometimes.
That's why it's really easy to fall in love with the pet in a book.
I have read so many books, where the dog gets it, that I now get a little twitchy any time too much page time is given to the family pet. It's ok, if the dog just gets a small mention, but beware if they seem to focus on the pet too long. The author is doing that, because they want us to get attached, they want us to love the dog, they want to crush us, when the dog dies. This is such a book phenomena, that Emma Mills even poked fun at it in This Adventure Ends.
I get that it's not unusual for a person to lose a pet or several over the course of their lives, but why is it so necessary for authors to make us endure the death of the family pet over and over again? Can a child not come of age without losing their dog? I want to know!
Now it's your turn!
Why do you think so many pet must die in books?
Let us know in the comments!
Just yesterday I was watching a horror film and as soon as I saw a dog I knew something bad was going to happen to him, so I just switched channels. I know this would be spoiler-ish, but the authors should write an alert mentioning if a pet/animal dies in the book. Maybe we should create a "Does the Dog Die" for books.
ReplyDeleteTânia @MyLovelySecret
That's where I struggle with all things that could be triggering. Sometimes, the triggering thing is a really married to the plot and strikes me as a spoiler. If someone asked me point-blank, I would tell them, but I am hesitant to put that sort of stuff in my review.
DeleteI couldn't agree with you more.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should totally should create a "Does the Dog Die" for books.
Someone else just mentioned this. I had no idea it existed for movies. It's a great idea.
DeleteUgh I totally agree. Love little pups and they should always live in books!!
ReplyDeleteThe last book I read, the dog died of old age, peacefully, and I bawled, but I wasn't angry, the way I was when I read that Katie McGarry book in which the dog really didn't need to die (I'm just saying).
DeleteI am totally in agreement with you here. Ever since I watched Old Yeller, I cannot handle anymore pet deaths. So heartbreaking!!
ReplyDeleteI am crying just thinking about Old Yeller. So tragic! If I want to make my daughter cry, I just mention Where the Red Fern Grows. Tears. Every. Time.
DeleteI read a lot of horror and know that sometimes pets are going to die. I'm getting where I look for tells in reviews to see if it happens before I buy the book. And I warn if the pet dies and whether it is something shocking or not in my own reviews of books. To me, it's getting to be an old trick to kill off pets. It would be neat to teach a new trick and let them thrive.
ReplyDeleteIn contemporaries, the deaths are usually due to sickness or old age. I have only read a few, where it was tragic, but I'm with you, show us how they can live long and prosper.
DeleteI always expect the dog to die, so I never get too attached to them. In the type of books I read, EVERYBODY dies. I did watch a horror movie recently where the tiny dog makes it out alive. I was surprised.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I have grown to be this way as well, AJ. If the dog is getting too much attention, I prepare for their funeral. And, I am glad to hear the dog survived the horror movie. It's because the dog was smarter than the humans.
DeleteSo much this! I'm a dog person and have a little furchild myself that has made me even more sensitive to animal deaths I've found. If I'm aware a storyline has a dog especially, I'll always ask if there's any animal cruelty and also, does the dog survive. We need a registry like Does The Dog Die, they have films with dogs in them and they have a guide on what happens to the dog. It's no different from adding trigger warnings to literature, reading a book where an animal companion dies or mistreated is incredibly upsetting.
ReplyDeleteI would love more recommendations of books where the dog thrives and survives if you know any. Wonderful post Sam, I couldn't agree more.
Animal cruelty is always really difficult for me, and I hate reading about a pet being abused. I had no idea they had a guide for films with dogs in them. That's awesome! I feel like all the books I read, where the dog has a lot of page time, are the ones where the dog dies. I will have to dig deep for ones giving time to the dog, where they live.
DeleteUGH. YES. I even specify this in my review policy: NO BOOKS WHERE THE DOG DIES. Seriously the worst plot device EVER.
ReplyDeleteIt's good you put that out there. I am not a fan of it, but it's not crippling for me. I just get really frustrated, when I feel like the death was unnecessary.
DeleteI agree. I hate reading books where the pet dies. It is so sad. I hate it. I start cringing and worrying just like you, Sam, when a pet is mentioned. I avoid reading books where I know the pet dies because I don’t need that sadness.
ReplyDeletePart of me always wants to tell people, but I hate to put it in my review, when I feel like it contributed to the plot in some way. I would tell people if they asked though, because I know it's something that stresses me out. The only time I came out and spoke about it was in my Prince of Pot review, because the deaths were brutal for me.
DeleteI hate it when pets die in books too. Makes me want to fling the book out the window.
ReplyDeleteI have read plenty of books, where it served a purpose, which I require of all deaths in a book, but others could have spared the dog, and that death is a minus 1 star from me.
DeleteYep, I hate it when the pet gets it.
ReplyDeleteI spent a huge chunk of Rebecca Yarros' The Last Letter expecting the dog to die as it's a huge character in itself but - minor spoiler alert - despite the absolute cluster of unnecessary tragedy in that book the dog makes it! Phew.
I almost feel like I am holding my breath every time a dog is featured in a book. I do a fist pump, when they make it to the end.
DeleteQuote: "Can a child not come of age without losing their dog?"
ReplyDeleteLOL, apparently not? I don't know, mind you, because I only ever read a book where the dog dies (Anna Dressed in Blood). There is a dog in The Switch by A.W. Hill and Nathanael Hill, but he DOESN'T die - he even has a paw in the final resolution! Maybe it's because I rarely read contemporaries, but the only other book I can remember where a pet (a gerbil) dies is How to Say Goodbye in Robot, and he dies at the very beginning. That being said, those two deaths had a reason for being there (not a coming-of-age one).
I read a post once (and I'm so sorry I can't remember who wrote it!) where the author basically asked: why are we more shocked by the literary death of a pet than we are of a human's? Maybe it's because the little (or even not-so-little) balls of fluff are so innocent (well, unless they are fighter dogs raised to kill) and we feel like it's our duty to protect them? I don't know, just a thought. I haven't been shocked by a pet's death so far, but maybe it's mostly because I have rarely, if ever, stumbled on the trope...
I do think it's a plot device employed more widely in contemporaries. It is sort of amazing, the way the general population gets more torn up about a pet death, than a human death. I think it's partly, because we feel a duty to protect the, but I think it leverages people's experiences with pets. They love you unconditionally and are always so happy to see you. They bring a lot of joy to our lives, while expecting so little from us. I can't say the same for most people, and I know that influences my feelings about animal deaths.
DeleteOh I can't handle it when the dog dies either. I forever live under the belief that in my favorite movie Jaws that the dog playing on the beach ran home when he heard word about a shark in the waters and thus left his stick in the water immediately! It's a delusion that I can fully believe in! Lol. And that's just the movie!
ReplyDeleteThere was one book where a "fake" dog died, it wasn't the heroine's real dog, but it still died saving her and I was bawling...even though HER dog was still alive and okay.
*laughing* That's a good way to think about the dog. I can think of a lot of good times to employ that technique.
DeleteI mean, I have cried when the dog dies. But generally I get more sad about human deaths? Idk, I know I am the minority here! I WILL say that killing the pet for shock value is a TERRIBLE literary choice. I am anti that for sure. The dog dies in one of my favorite series, and it kind of makes sense to the narrative, even though I sobbed like crazy, so I could kind of forgive it? Or maybe I am just a terrible person, who can tell? 🤷♀️
ReplyDeleteIt's ok to care more about humans, really. I find it oddly amazing that people seem to care a lot more about pets, than other humans, though, I tend to fall into the group myself. I will admit, that most of the deaths had a purpose, but when you read too many YA/MG books in a row, it seems like a lot of animal carnage, you know.
DeleteI'm pretty sure I know which series Shannon is talking about, because it's the first thing I thought of when I read this. I'm still upset about that. There's a Gordon Korman book called "The Dog Doesn't Die at the End" that starts with a kid getting into an argument with his teacher about whether it's true that any book with a dog and an award sticker on the front will end with the dog dying.
DeleteThat kid is now part of my tribe, because #Truth
DeleteMy dogs are some of my favorite people so I always want to the dog to live. I do think that a lot of teens do go through losing a family pet though. I adopted 2 dogs when my kids were little and my daughter was in high school when the oldest one died. The other dog that she grew up with is nearing the end. A lot of my daughter's friends have had the same thing happen during their high school days so maybe it is more realistic than you would think.
ReplyDeleteSince our pets don't have a lifespan near that of humans, it's not surprise that many kids and teens do experience this loss, and maybe the authors are trying to make that connection with reader. We lost our family pets one after the other, when I was a Junior in high school. We took our dog from my aunt, so she was a little older when we got her. She passed and a week or two later, my cat passed - they say from a broken heart. My family was devastated.
Deletehahaha I actually totally prefer pets that live!! I think its a neat thing to show about a character... who do they love... their puppy wuppy that's who! Let's petition that the pets live!! ;)
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I read contemporaries, and want NO DEATHS, but it just seems like a disproportionate number of dogs die in the books I read. If such a petition was started, I know it would get lots of support.
DeleteI’m with you. The death of a pet is almost always unnecessary. I know losing a pet is hard and sometimes a death can be included but mostly I want them to always be ok because pets are an adorable cute thing we all like having be it a fish to a dog and everything between.
ReplyDeleteI've not noticed too many pet deaths in books I've read lately though so that's a plus.
I personally did lose both my pets (and my grandfather), when I was in high school. So, there is this part of me that agrees with Carol (up there), that it's normal, but if it's not necessary, do we have to subject the reader to it?
DeleteI'm super sensitive to when animals die in fiction, I have this (illogical) reasoning because they don't understand what's happening to them (illogical because people probably don't know why they're being killed too).
ReplyDeleteNow you have me thinking about that. I guess they wouldn't know if they were in danger, but I think they know when they are sick or going to die. The night before my dog died, she wouldn't come in my room and sleep with me, as she did every night. She sat outside my door and just watched me, and I think it's because she knew it was the end.
DeleteOh my god YES! I just finished reading 'Wonder' and thought it was odd that the book mentioned what a great dog the family had over and over again and then it hit me that the dog's death was about to be used as part of the plot
ReplyDeleteSteph - www.nourishmeblog.co.uk
I was sad when that happened, and I am not sure it had to happen, but that book has so many feel-good feels
DeleteI get so mad when authors do this and it ruins a book for me! Let the furry dude live! The Remaining was a good zombie type book but I got so mad when the dog, the best character, got infected and was put down. I never wanted to continue the series after that as the MC barely seemed to care!
ReplyDeleteYes! Furry dude should live! What you just told me, makes me think the death was not important and by all means, they should have let the dog live. I am not a fan of unnecessary deaths.
DeleteI agree completely (of course since you've visited my blog, you knew I would right?). I cringe when I see a dog in a movie or one gets mentioned in a book. I know it's a fact of life but often I think writers throw in a pet because they plan on crushing us all along and know this is a way to do it. I know people cringe from deaths of children in books and movies and I get it, but my pets are my children so having them die is the same thing for me.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if I read less contemporaries, I wouldn't have to deal with this as much, but it's EVERYWHERE in contemporary YA/MG. I mourn them and my heart aches, every single time.
DeleteLove love love this!
ReplyDeleteI was obviously having a strong reaction to that last family pet death I was subjected to.
DeleteYou're so right, they always die. I actually wasn't someone who ever felt too close to the animals in books because although I am a pet person in real life, it just never got me emotionally in books. But I fell in love with one dog recently, and that dog kind of made me fall in love with all the pets I read about? So now I know my emotions are going to suffer!
ReplyDeleteNever fails to make me emotional. I feel like I became more sensitive to things like death and loss as I got older, mostly after having a child of my own. Losing pets is the worst. I never got another after I lost my dog over 15 years ago.
DeleteI am a huge dog-lover, but somehow I haven't noticed that the dog always dies. Hmmm... I feel like I'm betraying my pups now and I should be more broken up about dog deaths!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
You just don't read enough contemporary books, because they always seem to be offing the dog in my books. *sad face*
DeleteOr like with A Dog's Journey...OMG, the movie made me cry like 10 times. My daughter read the book and told me not to since the movie made me cry so much. LOL.
ReplyDeleteMary
I cry at the commercials for that stuff. There is no possible way I could watch the film
Delete