Prison Dog

**The Prison Dog** is a character from *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

## History

### Background

This dog was a domesticated guard animal used by Spanish soldiers in the *Castillo del Morro* fortress of Puerto Dorado on the island of Isla Tesoro. In the 18th century, the colony was attacked by the pirate ship *The Wicked Wench* which sought after the isle's legendary treasure. Amidst the ransacking the town was set ablaze resulting in several prisoners attempting to lure the dog for its keys amidst the growing fire. The dog's ultimate fate is unknown though it is unlikely that it gave up its keys or left its post.

### Alternate versions

#### Pirates of the Caribbean (films)

In the lore of these films, the dog originally belonged to one Captain Edward Teague, the Brethren Court's pirate lord of Madagascar. Teague and the dog lived in the pirate haven of Shipwreck Cove where Teague trained the animal to loyally keep keys to the cove's prisons along with the keys which opened the *Pyrates' Code*. The dog was often tended to by Teague's bastard Jack Sparrow who secretly trained the dog to give up the keys for rum.

Through unknown means, the dog strayed from Teague's possession and by 1721 was adopted by the British Royal Navy in Port Royal, Jamaica. Here the dog's key-keeping skills were employed to keep the keys for the Fort Charles prison. In 1721, the dog once again encountered a now adult Jack Sparrow who tried in futility to get the dog's keys while Port Royal was ransacked by the pirate Barbossa and his ship the Black Pearl. Jack eventually managed to escape through the help of one William Turner, separate from the dog's keys.

Following these events, the crew of the Black Pearl was arrested by the Royal Navy and locked up in Fort Charles prison, awaiting execution. Two crew-members named Pintel and Ragetti managed to escape the gallows by dog-napping the animal and taking it with them when they escaped to Isla de Pelegestos. By chance, the three ran into the crew of the Black Pearl (now captained by Jack Sparrow) while they were attempting to escape the cannibalistic Pelegestos tribe.

The prison dog was left behind during their escape where the Pelegestos tribe chose to see the dog as a deity which they would make their chief before killing and eating. Through unknown circumstances the dog survived and was saved by its long lost owner Captain Teague who brought it back to Shipwreck Cove. By the late 1720s the dog reclaimed its position as keeper of the keys to the pirate's code during the time when they court was at war with the East-India Trading Company.

## Appearances and allusions

### Oceaneer Lab

Artwork of the dog by Marc Davis and keys resembling those possessed by the dog appear in SEA member Captain Mary Oceaneer's collection of pirate artifacts. A crate also identifies Oceaneer as having excavated Shipwreck Cove, one of the dog's homes from the films.

### Pirates of the Caribbean

The dog appears in the Castillo Del Morro fortress during the climax of the ride where several prisoners attempt to lure the dog for its keys as the fort is set on fire only for the dog to refuse to move.

### Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure

The dog's skeletal remains appear in the Caves of Misfortune in Shipwreck Cove, outside a cell with skeletons left from prisoners who attempted in futility to lure it to them for its keys. Not far from this cell is the remains of a Brethren Court meeting-place including the corpse of Edward Teague, the dog's master from the films.

### Tortuga Tavern

The dog's keys appear in a closet of assorted pirate paraphernalia within the Tortuga tavern of Arabella Smith.

### In other media

#### Printed-materials

##### Ghost Gallery

This non-canonical origin to Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion contains a brief allusion to the dog. It is mentioned that the dog is the ancestor of Master Gracey's pet dog Hellhound, the Caretaker's pet dog Bony, Rover from Carousel of Progress, the ghost dog Loki encountered near the mummy in the Haunted Mansion's cemetery, and Andrew Jackson's guard-dog from Jackson Island of Tom Sawyer Island.

## Connections

### Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar

There is a picture of Trader Sam alongside Jack Sparrow on Isla de Pelegestos hung in this bar.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.fromscreentotheme.com/FunFindFriday.aspx