What was the deal with the dog?

I don't have an answer to your question; just wanted to post to say that I am curious about the dog as well.

The first sight of the dog in the film made it look, to me, somewhat supernatural. Sort of a demon dog. I found it interesting that JT was concerned that the dog would bite the woman (he mentioned it twice), but the dog seemed to be protecting the woman, standing over her and growling at JT. But then, she killed the dog in spite of it protecting her. Why? To save him? Apparently.

It spoke to me, personally, as representative of a woman's instinct for self-preservation, which women often ignore in order to please a man. A woman may agree to walk in a dark place with a man she's just met, or go to his apartment, or maybe let him drive when she knows he's had too much to drink, just because she doesn't want him to think she's a bitch. Then, of course, if he assaults her or wrecks the car, she blames herself for not going with her instincts and protecting herself.

But that's just my personal association with the (death of the dog) scene and what it might represent. I would be interested in how others interpret it, especially the filmmakers.

Cerberus ?

since a lot of the film is metaphor, I'm going to say, yes it's "cerberus-like". a warning to not go there. and when he's up on the table, it's literally driving that point home, "here is your last warning".

I had thought it would be interesting if the dog was also dead, showing a stronger possibility that the experiments creating dead girl were done at the hospital.
It would also clear up how the dog hadn't starved to death in an abandoned facility.

I was pretty puzzled by the dog as well, but after reading the other responses to this question, I have formulated an "IMHO" response to her killing the dog, her protector.

Even though the dog was protecting her, he was not helping her with her situation, i.e, attempting to set her free. He, the dog, (I'm using "he" out of habit; "he" could very well be a "she") was merely perpetuating the... perpetual (lack of a better word, sorry about the repetition) rape of her. Since all humans, man or woman, are capable of survival, perhaps -- and this is a stretch, since we're talking about a woman that does not die -- she realized that through these men, she would be set free. The most obvious example of this is when the main character goes down there to free her. The dog becomes a deterrent, not a "protector."

But my response isn't perfect: when the stereotypical jock tries to free her, she kills him. Who knows? I mean really, we're talking about a movie that is centered around deviant men and a woman that does not die, no matter how many times a person brutally rapes and attempts to murder her repeatedly.

Oh and by the way, as a woman with a boyfriend, I NEVER let my boyfriend drive drunk, and I do not think that an overestimation of more than half a population is valid in any conversation, IMDb or wherever. It would be like me comparing the actions of the deviant rapist in the movie to every single male.

it's a zombie dog.

When I first saw the dog, I thought not of Cerberus, but of Anubis: the Egyptian deity of mummification, death and the afterlife. Anubis is usually represented as a black dog (or a man with the head of such a dog) -- a black dog with a distinctively pointed nuzzle and long, sharp ears. In other words, a dog greatly resembling the one seen in the film. For reference:

https://secure.magicparlor.com/catalog/images/1174_large.jpg
http://kenoath.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/relief-anubis.jpg

Anubis is described by Wikipedia (hooray for my lazy research) as "associated with the mummification and protection of the dead for their journey into the afterlife." And while there's no reason to take a Wikipedia page as gospel truth, that squares with what I knew going in. Key phrases here for me are the bits about protecting the dead and the journey into the afterlife. The black dog in the film serves both of these functions -- standing watch over the Dead Girl, and also escorting the boys back and forth from the afterlife to the "real world" (as J.T. sometimes describes the world outside the hospital).

Worth noting that the Dead Girl's room is located underground, and that J.T. also stresses the distinction between the unrewarding real world above and their more accommodating subterranean lair. The underworld has long been seen as the land of the dead.



You must have been so afraid, Cassie... Then you saw a cop.

You geniuses are really grasping at straws with this stupid dog thread. LOL

The stray dog (with NO collar or tags) lived in the abandoned building. Two *beep* break into its home and he chases them and has their scent. The deadgirl was SEALED in a room behind some old medical equipment. The dog had nothing to do with her. While the door was left open it got JT's scent and tracked him to the room. It was about to pounce on JT when deadgirl killed it.