Dog Poems | Examples

Midnight Fright

An unclear image moved swiftly by
Briefly seen from the corner of my eye.
A rumbling upstairs made my heart pump,
Downstairs in the dark—thump, thump, thump.
This house suddenly seemed to come alive,
The chills enveloped, I pulled my blanket up high.
The movements and sounds—I just heard something fall,
I peeked from my blanket to see the bounce of a ball.
I slunk to the floor and crawled toward the door,
Silent and still, my heart pounding once more.
It just charged down the hall in a wild, playful race—
Then yipped with delight and licked my face!
My puppy at play in the dead of night,
Turns out the scare was no match for his bite.

Action under a fall sky

chipmunks scurrying across the park
dog wants to let loose and play
~ not happening on my watch


Wordku: 5-7-5 words

AP: Honorable Mention 2025

My dogs were maniacs today

my dogs were maniacs today
they had not seen me since Wednesday afternoon
It is Sunday morning
the little one’s claws dug into the inside of my left arm
he did not mean to hurt me
but he could not stop pawing me
with those long sharp claws
he was thrilled to see his mama
the older dog was crying, he does that when he is happy
It was good to be home

Religion of Dog

(“Loyalty Merit Badge”, 2010, original oil)

Religion of Dog

Religions come in all shapes and sizes
Some good, some not so much.
But what would a religion of dog be like? 
Kind, devoted and loyal, willing to please
And to defend, and be happily conditioned.
These would be the attributes of its followers
But what of the essence of its theological tenants?
Love, eternal vigilance, situational awareness
And of course joy
In a long walk or good play of tug or frisbee.
A religion of dog after all would be grounded
With it’s main focus the here and now,
Maybe not a zen focus
Maybe even more Dionysian,
But certainly within this
The values of family and pack
Would be supreme,
And this after all is not much different
Than all the human religions.
The difference which would make all the difference
Would have more to do with the wag.

(9/8/25)

Puppy Dog?

Puppy Dog?

Would Be The First
Thing I Said...

'Cause I Heard:
"It's All Been An
Illusion/Delusion,
Puppy Dog!"

-Gray Squirrel

09-08-2025

Dog as Folksinger

I found a bone
By the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream
By the old canal
I gnawed that bone
By the factory wall
Dirty old bone
Dirty old bone.

Shadow Tail

Tree top dwellers
Electric line leapers
Garage roof tenants
They seem to live solely
To gather nuts
Be chased by eager canines,
And flaunt their furry tails.

JUST RIGHT, In Two Parts

College Before Family, 1982
My pen just writes
My dog just bites
My wife just fights
And I just might
Decide everything’s alright.

Empty Nest, 2025
Life didn’t quite yield that plight
Because the pen barely writes
The pups play fight
The kids had height
Were polite
And actually bright
The wife’s a delight
Most days and nights
My life might be trite,
And I’m good with this slight rewrite.

Watching Beau Watch the TV Dog

my dog, Beau loves Rex the TV dog detective from Canada
his head turns from side to side as he watches Rex
This dog is always in a precarious situation
Having to climb over semis and bridges to jump bad guys

Bad guys with guns who have horrible aim, never hitting Rex
Remnants of the 1960’s tv show called Lassie
Beau is barking instructions to Rex now, warning him.
It is hilarious to watch.

Often times Beau tries to climb up the cabinet into the TV
More entertaining than the times he catches himself in the mirror
Or barks warnings to his own reflection in our shiny credenza.
More later, Beau and I are on the edge of our seats. Rex is in trouble.

Feeling Powerful

like a giant stalk of rhubarb
I stand my ground, defying the north wind
do your damage, I say, confident I will remain standing.

Whomp! a dog tail slaps into my thigh.
I am down in one solid whoosh.
Back in the day I could have jumped right back up.

A delighted dog is licking my face as if it is ice cream
His neck is stronger than I am
I am laughing as I try to push him away

Not feeling so powerful now

Call Of The Wild

Yes, I’m the cute little pooch,
You treat like a substitute child, 
Domesticated and to some extent,
By breeding, I’m pedigree styled,
But don’t ignore my ancestral line,
For I still listen to the call of the wild,
And in my heart I’m still a wolf
And this wolf can be easily riled.

Dinner Bell

A wag of the tail
those big brown eyes staring at me
~ a reminder it's feeding time


Wordku: 5-7-5 words

AP: 1st place 2025

In Every Lifetime

In this lifetime she is a mutt,
Small, Scrappy, sleepy, sweet,
Blinking eyes and gnawing teeth,
I'd know her in every lifetime,

In the one before she was tall,
Aching legs and honeycomb eyes,
Dutifully beautiful, kind, loyal,
A shadow with a wagging tail,

Before that she was white as snow,
Playful, pitiful, pretty, pale,
Sitting on the carpet awaiting my dad,
as I played with her ear and paw,

I didn't meet the one before,
I'm told she was quick, smart,
Like a pistol shot, a starting gun,
rescued, for a good life somewhere new.

I hope, when this lifetime is over,
I will meet each version of her,
Maisie, Lucy, Suki, Bonnie,
And we'll venture into the next one.

UNTITLED

contented dog 
stretches and yawns
no room for me

His pawprints linger

As a young kid back in the hood,
It was just me and a pet friend~
He was the joy of my childhood~
His remembrance would never end.

I called him Pup as a puppy,
Because the poops he made me pack,
Whenever he ate hushpuppy~
Which I enjoyed as a noon snack.

His name later changed to Hot Dog,
When that became his preferred meal.
At mealtime he'd happily jog,
Since dog food was then his raw deal.

He assisted in all my chores,
He followed me to every place~
He used to greet me on all fours,
From home to school, he kept his pace.

While returning home from my school,
On one hot summer afternoon,
He fell and got drowned in a pool,
To his death, I failed to attune.

Years passed, his memory lives on,
No pet has again brought the joy~
Of those beautiful days bygone,
His pawprints linger in my heart.

Read wonderful dog poetry on the following sub-topics: cute, death, funny, grief, happy, heaven, kids, love, loss, memorial, old, rhyme, sad, sympathy and more.

• Short Dog Poems
• Famous Dog Poems
• Best Dog Poems
• Read Dog Poems
• Long Dog Poems
• Dog Quotes

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puppy, cur, stray, tyke, bitch, mutt, hound, mongrel, pup, doggy, pooch, bowwow, fido, flea bag, tail wagger, man's best friend, shadow, hound, plague, haunt, pursue, track, trail, tail, tag, trouble, bedog,