This poem is dedicated to a beloved dog, which died. It is a type of literary text known from hellenistic times and although it does not have the literary level of similar poems by Catullus or Ovid, it is nice to read and it tells us about the feeling of affection to the animal by its owners. Some have seen in the incipit an allusion to Virgil. The dog, original of France was trained as hunting dog and then became a polite house dog. She did not bark to much and did it with a sound which was almost a human voice, but then probably died giving birth and was then buried with the epitaph from which we learn about her.
Links
The record for this objct in th British Museum
Related Stories
A blogpost which turns to dogs in roman time and lists some text and inscriptions
