Traditionally, the dog is a symbol of fidelity, friendship, and loyalty. In this poem, the speaker doesn’t keep a gun in the house so he cannot shoot the dog. This could be because the speaker doesn’t want to kill off the idea of fidelity and friendship. The dog, for its part, is barking in annoyance at its owners leaving. The “neighbors” (Lines 1 and 5) are plural, which suggests they are a family while their pet is solitary and left behind. This is made clear by the speaker letting the reader know the dog “barks the same, rhythmic bark / that he barks every time [the neighbors] leave the house” (Lines 2-3). Because of the reference to the gun in the title, a loose correlation could be made that someone has been disloyal to the speaker, and they want to eliminate this thought. Even though the speaker wants to ignore their unwanted isolation, it keeps hammering away at their mind, symbolized in the dog’s continual barking. Like the dog, the speaker may have been betrayed and wants to express their pain. By eventually accepting the dog as an artful musician, the speaker could be accepting of letting the idea of faithfulness back into their life—or appreciating that they, too, may have the possibility of performing “solo” (Line 18).