We first meet the best boy on either side of the Narrow Sea in “House of the Dragon” season 2’s first episode, “A Son for a Son,” as a companion to the ratcatcher who comes to be known as Cheese (Mark Stobbart). Even before the abhorrent killing of baby Jaehaerys Targaryen, Cheese already had audiences red-hot with anger after he kicked his dog companion to dismiss him when he was no longer useful. It’s a quick but highly effective way of making us immediately hate Cheese even before he turns into a horrific child murderer.

In a post on his personal blog, Martin shared his admiration for the addition of the dog to the cast of “House of the Dragon.” Martin confessed that he is “not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story,” especially not when he’s the one responsible for the source material. Still, he now has one exception: “That dog was brilliant.”

“Such a little thing… such a little dog… but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity,” Martin wrote. “I wish I’d thought of that dog. I didn’t, but someone else did. I am glad of that.” 

He’s right to be glad. That dog is one of the wisest choices “House of the Dragon” has ever made, especially because he was not just a one-off character to be treated cruelly before disappearing. Instead, the dog has had a little arc of his own as the most loyal being in the land, a story that echoes the saddest and most tragic episode of “Futurama.” That’s right, we have our very own Westerosi “Jurassic Bark,” the Hachiko of King’s Landing.