Dog lovers rejoice! Poems about dogs are a terrific way to express your love and admiration for man’s best friend. From touching tributes to silly odes, there are countless poems that pay tribute to our furry friends and the joy they bring into our lives.
Here are some of my favourite poems about dogs:
Song of the Dog By Ogden Nash
The truth I do not stretch or shove
When I state that the dog is full of love.
I've also found, by actual test,
A wet dog is the lovingest.
Talk to Animals by Chief Dan George
If you talk to animals they will talk with you
And you will know each other.
If you do not talk to them you will not know them,
And what you do not know you will fear.
What one fears one destroys.
The Power of the Dog by Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way From men and women to fill our day; And when we are certain of sorrow in store, Why do we always arrange for more? Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy Love unflinching that cannot lie— Perfect passion and worship fed By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head. Nevertheless it is hardly fair To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs To lethal chambers or loaded guns, Then you will find—it’s your own affair— But… you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will, With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!). When the spirit that answered your every mood Is gone—wherever it goes—for good, You will discover how much you care, And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We’ve sorrow enough in a natural way, When it comes to burying Christian clay. Our loves are not given, but only lent, At compound interest of cent percent. Though it is not always the case, I believe, That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve: For, when debts are payable, right or wrong, A short-time loan is as bad as a long— So why in—Heaven (before we are there) Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Epitaph to a Dog by Lord Byron
But the poor Dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his Master’s own,
Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone...
A Dog is a Dog by T.S. Eliot
Now dogs pretend they like to fight; They often bark, more seldom bite; But yet a Dog is, on the whole, What you would call a simple soul. Of course I'm not including Pekes, And such fantastic canine freaks. The usual Dog about the Town Is much inclined to play the clown And far from showing too much pride Is frequently undignified. He's very easily taken in- Just chuck him underneath the chin Or slap his back or shake his paw, And he will gambol and guffaw. He's such an easy-going lout, He'll answer any hail or shout.
Again I must remind you that A Dog's a Dog - A CAT'S A CAT.
Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog by Judith Viorst
Mother doesn't want a dog. Mother says they smell, And never sit when you say sit, Or even when you yell. And when you come home late at night And there is ice and snow, You have to go back out because The dumb dog has to go.
Mother doesn't want a dog. Mother says they shed, And always let the strangers in And bark at friends instead, And do disgraceful things on rugs, And track mud on the floor, And flop upon your bed at night And snore their doggy snore.
Mother doesn't want a dog. She's making a mistake. Because, more than a dog, I think She will not want this snake.