Week 9 Story: Why Dogs Dig Up Dead Things

-the voice of god-

DOG, MY HIGH MESSENGER. TELL THE HUMANS THAT I REGRET THEIR DEATHS. IF THEY CHOOSE, I WILL BRING THEM BACK. THEY HAVE ONLY TO LEAVE THEIR DEAD UPON THE EARTH AND SCATTER WOOD-ASH OVER THEM ERE A DAY PASSES.

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Dog leaves the creator filled with purpose and pride in his task. The path between worlds is long, but all dogs love to run. His paws beat upon the ground in rhythm as he sprints across the countryside, sending a dusty plume into the air behind him.

"To bring the dead back from life! What a message to carry to the world! What a great Creator to entrust this task to Dog! OH! Dog will be the hero of the humans! OH OH!"

He crosses the borderlands at midday, again reminded by how much he loves the human world. So many smells and sounds and noises to enjoy. The creator's land is pristine and bare, but the world of humans bursts with life and messiness. His legs begin to tire, and he pauses at a stream to catch his panting breath. His snout flings water as he rises from drinking, and he inhales deeply from the rich air.

"NEW SMELL!!! New smell good smell oh oh oh!"

The scent is rich and strong in his nose. His body launches towards it immediately, and his nose pulls him forward as the hearty smell of food gets stronger. A small cabin with smoke rising from the chimney appears, but he doesn't see anything but the trail of scent he follows into the yard.

The bone smells better than anything dog has ever smelled before. Bits of tender meat and charred bone beg for eating, and dog springs upon the treat. The afternoon passes over him while each morsel is liberated and the bone cracked slowly apart for the sweet tender marrow.

Licking his chops, dog rises from the yard. There is something he has forgotten, but he cannot remember what it was, and this nagging sensation bothers him. Returning to the stream, the realization hits in full force, and dog is filled with horror.

"OH!!! VILLAGE! PEOPLE! MESSAGE!!!"

He takes off again, and no dog ever ran faster. He is too late. The villagers have buried their dead, and they do not heed his message. Sheep was sent in his place! Sheep botched the message with his tiny brain, and now the dead lie under the soil where the wood ashes and the creator cannot find them! Dog has failed the Creator and the humans!

"Dog must fix! Dog will dig! DOG WILL BRING THEM BACK!!!"

Dog sets out to dig up the bodies, but the villagers beat him with sticks for trying. An entire day passes, and dog realizes that the Creator will not bring them back now. Dog resolves to dig up the next dead human, as he cannot bring himself to face the Creator again unless the spirit of his message is heeded. He braces himself for waiting, and finds a place to sleep.

Dog spends his life in the human world, always vigilant for freshly-buried dead to unearth, and always beaten away from his goal. His children dig also, and to this day all descendants of Dog dig when their humans are not watching. They do not always remember why they are digging, but they know that it is important and that they must complete their task. The next time your dog is discovered happily excavating in the flowerbeds you spent three hours installing, be patient and gentle: perhaps the dog is only trying to help.

Author's Notes

The inspiration for this story was Why Dead Bodies are Buried, a short tale offering a possible origin story regarding human burial practices. In the original, the Creator sends his head messenger Dog to tell the world that dead people can be brought back to life if left on the ground and sprinkled with wood ashes; dog is distracted in carrying his message, and the Creator chooses to send foolish Sheep instead, who forgets and garbles the message content. The people are informed by Sheep that underground burial is required, and adopt the practice before dog remembers his duty and message.

I hated what happened to poor Dog, and wanted to give him a bit more dignity. This also seemed like a great origin story for why dogs love to dig up dead things, or dig up anything really provided they aren't supervised. We get angry with animals all the time for doing things that are constitutional and part of their nature; cats claw furniture, dogs dig holes. It's just in their nature, and while training can help prevent property damage from our beloved fur babies it's fundamentally unrealistic to expect untrained pets to respect human behavior ideals.

Story Source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Image Source: Packfit