4 of the Best Country Songs About Dogs

Man’s best friend can often be man’s greatest inspiration. Country music has long been known to have songs about dogs. Artists including Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton, Chris Stapleton, and Blake Shelton have jumped on the dog bandwagon, performing tracks about their beloved canine pals.

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Keep reading to see four of the best songs about dogs in country music.

“Can’t Be Replaced” by Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley’s beloved pup, Jake, died at age 15 after a cancer battle. Afterward, the singer released this tune about his best pal.

“It’s been rough. I try to be conscious of all the suffering and true sadness in the world. At the same time, I can’t deny how I feel, and it’s been tough,” Bentley told Billboard of Jake’s death. “He’s been with me from my single days to getting married to all my kids coming along. My life’s changed, and he’s made those changes with me. That will definitely be my last dog. My kids might get another dog, but I’m done.”

That pain is evident in the track, where Bentley sings, “For fifteen years right by my side / From a single man to three kids and a wife / Friends come and go, but when it comes to Jake / There’s just some things that can’t be replaced.”

“Cracker Jack” by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton penned “Cracker Jack” in 1973 about a stray dog she befriended as a child. The pup died while fending off a rattlesnake.

“Your dog always lives in memory. Even though they don’t live as long as people, dogs leave lasting memories,” Parton wrote in her book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. “Cracker Jack only lives in memories now, but he was the best friend I ever had; more than that, he was a playmate, a companion with love and understanding. That’s what pets are. They have that unconditional love. You can tell them anything, and they accept it.”

That sentiment is certainly felt in the song, as Parton sings, “The best friend that I ever had was Cracker Jack / But he was more than that / A playmate, a companion / He was love and understanding / That was Cracker Jack.”

“Maggie’s Song” by Chris Stapleton

On his 2020 Startin’ Over, Chris Stapleton included “Maggie’s Song.” The track is a heartbreaking tribute to his pup of 14 years.

The track follows Maggie’s life, from being found abandoned in a shopping cart, to being taken in and loved by the Stapletons, to her devastating death.

“It was raining on a Monday / The day that Maggie died / She woke up and couldn’t use her legs / So I laid down by her side,” Stapleton sings. “She put her head on my hand / Like she’d done so many times / I told her she was a good dog / Then I told her goodbye.“

The specificity of the track was on purpose. Stapleton explained to The Tennessean, “Every word and every stitch of that song is real things. She was a member of the family, and she deserved a song.”

“Ol’ Red” by Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton’s 2001 release, “Ol’ Red,” wasn’t penned by the singer. Rather, James “Bo” Bohon, Don Goodman, and Mark Sherrill wrote the song. It was first sung by George Jones and later covered by Kenny Rogers. Even though Shelton’s not responsible for the lyrics, the song has become inextricably tied to him, so much so that he named his Nashville bar after the tune.

The tune is about a man who’s in prison for killing his wife’s lover. While incarcerated, the man befriends the warden’s dog and then sets out to distract the pup with a female canine so that he can make his escape.

The track wasn’t a sure thing for Shelton. In an interview with The Boot, he recalled, “I remember telling the head of Warner Brothers that if they’d just make a video for ‘Ol’ Red’ … and if it didn’t work, they could drop me from the label.”

“I talked him into it, which was a big risk at the time because this was in 2001 when there really weren’t any songs about going to jail, killing somebody… or dogs!” Shelton said. “It could’ve easily backfired. If we hadn’t made that video, people wouldn’t have gotten the song.”

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