Country music is built upon a bedrock of storytelling, and alongside many of the genre’s most beloved topics, such as romance, heartbreak, romantic betrayal, small-town nostalgia and familial ties, is the topic of faithful canines. Songs about dogs’ roles as steady companions, hunting buddies, and heartbreak healers, as well as songs about the painful loss of a beloved dog, have long resonated deeply with country music listeners.
Artists including Chris Stapleton, Johnny Cash, HARDY, and Dolly Parton have recorded songs dedicated to the unconditional love and faithfulness that come from furry, four-legged friends. Country music’s canon is filled with classic songs such as Red Foley’s “Old Shep” (also recorded by artists including Hank Snow, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash) to Hank Williams Sr.’s enduring hit “Move It on Over,” where he joins a dog in the dog house after he’s locked out of his home following a night of partying that goes on too long.
Many of country music’s best canine tribute songs were written about the artists’ personal experiences, such as Stapleton’s “Maggie’s Song,” a song he wrote after the passing of his beloved terrier dog, and which he included on his 2020 album Starting Over.
“Every word and every stitch of that song is real things,” Stapleton told The Tennessean in 2021. “She was a member of the family, and she deserved a song.”
Below, Billboard highlights 10 country songs about dogs, from tender odes to dramatic tales and humorous perceptions, as well as songs that hope faithful companions are well-rewarded in an afterlife–all paying tribute in a way to the dedication, friendship, protection and/or the unconditional love of dogs.
-
Carrie Underwood, “The More Boys I Meet”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}This uptempo track, written by Steve McEwan and Scott Kennedy and included on Underwood’s 2007 Carnival Ride album, finds her singing about disappointing dating experiences, and how each makes her appreciate her beloved dog even more. The song describes each date’s less-than-stellar qualities, and finds them lacking when compared to the “warm and loyal, open and friendly” qualities of a loyal canine.
-
Chris Young, “All Dogs Go To Heaven”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}Included on Young’s 2024 album Young Love and Saturday Nights, this ode to four-legged friends lauds dogs for their protection and loyalty, with one of the songs lyrics calling it “the closest thing to pure love that I’ve ever known.” Young wrote the song with Corey Crowder and Cale Dodds.
-
Caylee Hammack, “That Dog”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}Hammack sings of a fizzled love relationship that comes with an extra dose of cruelty, when her ex decides to keep the dog. It’s not heartache over the ex that gives her grief, but rather, she’s tormented by thoughts of what the dog feels about her leaving. “I wonder if he thinks that I’ll come back? I hope he don’t hate me,” she sings, later adding, “You knew how to cut me deep… that dog loved me.” Hammack wrote the song with Aaron Raitiere and Jake Mitchell.
-
HARDY, “Dog Years”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}On his new album Country! Country!, HARDY includes a decade-old song that he wrote from the perspective of a dog looking back over its life, and the memories made with its favorite human. “You and me made a good team/ You took me in when I didn’t have a prayer/ That was the best life I could ask for,” HARDY sings.
-
Luke Bryan, “Little Boys Grow Up and Dogs Get Old”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}One of the most heart-tugging songs in Bryan’s catalog is this reminder that time marches on for both humans and their beloved pets. The song, written by Bryan and Tony Lane, sketches a tale of a young boy whose father gifts him a black Labrador. From there, the song chronicles years spent fishing, or watching the beloved dog sleep at the foot of his bed. “I don’t know if I raised him or he raised me,” Bryan sings, before ultimately seeing the two part ways as the boy grows up and moves away from home, as the dog approaches the end of its life. The song was included on Bryan’s Kill the Lights album.
-
Dolly Parton, “Cracker Jack”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}This 1974 ode to the enduring bond between families and their pets was a bonus track on Parton’s Jolene album. “‘Cracker Jack’ is based on different family members who had dogs and lost them,” Parton said in her book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, which she wrote with author/journalist Robert K. Oermann. “Your dog always lives in memory. Even though they don’t live as long as people, dogs leave lasting memories.”
-
Blake Shelton, “Ol’ Red”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}Shelton puts forth a stellar vocal on this tale of a prisoner who tricks a prison’s guard dog, which he describes as a “four-legged tracking machine,” into helping him make his escape. “Ol’ Red” reached No. 14 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in 2002.
-
Chase Rice, “Bench Seat”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}Chase Rice released one of the most emotionally impactful songs of his career thus far with this solo write. For most of the song, it seems the storyline is written from the perspective of a man who saves a dog, but the ballad packs a powerful twist at the end, when listeners learn the song is from the dog’s perspective — and that the beloved pup outlives his owner and vows to take care of the man’s family. This song, about the healing power of a beloved pet, was inspired by a time when a friend of Rice’s was navigating mental health struggles.
-
Chris Stapleton, “Maggie’s Song”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}After losing a beloved family dog, Stapleton wrote and recorded this tender tribute and included it on his Starting Over album. The song tells the story of how the family took the dog in and how it became an essential part of their family. “Somebody left her in a shopping cart in a parking lot for us to find/ Just a fuzzy black pup, she was hungry and feeling alone/ We put her in the back seat, told her we were taking her home,” he sings.
-
Pirates of the Mississippi, “Feed Jake”
Trending on Billboard
if ( !window.pmc.harmony?.isEventAdScheduledTime() ) {
pmcCnx.cmd.push(function() {
pmcCnx({
settings: {
plugins: {
pmcAtlasMG: {
iabPlcmt: 2,
}
}
},
playerId: ‘4057afa6-846b-4276-bc63-a9cf3a8aa1ed’,
playlistId: ‘b7dab6e5-7a62-4df1-b1f4-3cfa99eea709’,
}).render(“connatix_contextual_player_div”);
});
} else {
// This should only be get called when page cache is not cleared and it’s event time.
window.pmc.harmony?.switchToHarmonyPlayer();
}Included on this country group’s 1990 self-titled album, “Feed Jake” became a classic weeper of a song that pays tribute to man’s best friend as the song’s protagonist prepares to leave home and follow his dreams. The song’s signature line is the heart-tugging, “If I die before I wake, feed Jake/ He’s been a good dog/ My best friend, right through it all.” A solo write by Danny Mayo, the song reached the top 15 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart in 1991.