Television and movie actor Alan Alda wrote a book titled Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. In an interview, he explained the significance of the title:

I was 8 years old. My father was trying to stop me from sobbing because we were burying the dog, so he said, “Maybe we should have him stuffed.”

We kept it on the porch, and deliverymen were afraid to make deliveries.

There are a lot of ways we stuff the dog, trying to avoid change, hanging on to a moment that’s passed.