“Good dog.” This is how the poem “Dog’s Death” ends which is completely contradicting to the title of the poem. When you see the title “Dog’s Death” you are already emotionally prepared to read something depressing and upsetting. If John Updike chose the title “Good Dog” it would go against the poem itself. The title “Good Dog” would not have been a bad choice for a title it just was not a better choice than the title “Dog’s Death”. The major reason for the title this poem given is the tremendous change in tone towards the end of this poem. The change in the tone began when they started to reminisce the loss of their beloved dog. With this drastic change in tone the title John Updike uses goes well with this poem. John Updike did not want