To Dance with the White Dog, by Terry Kay, is a novel that reveals the everlasting love between a man and a woman separated by death. A mysterious stray female dog, called White Dog, is central to the plot of the story. White Dog first comes to the main character of the story, Sam Peek, shortly after the death of his wife. Sam believes that White Dog is the spirit of his dead wife, Cora. For a long time, only Sam can see White Dog. The attempt to determine whether White Dog is real or just a hallucination of Sam's loneliness and senility is one of the main plot elements to the story. The sequencing of the story suggests that White Dog is a creation of magical realism. .
The revealing of white dog was shown at firs just to be an ordinary dog and then becomes much more. The first time White Dog appeared and Sam didn't know what to think but then he slowly grows an attachment for White Dog. At the beginning of the book, Sam is mourning the death of his wife Cora. When Cora dies, Sam feels the same most would feel when loosing someone that they really loved. Then White Dog comes into his life. At first the dog is shy and reluctant to interact with Sam. But she is also persistent and refuses to be scared away. Eventually, Sam accepts her as a pet but quickly comes to realize that she is much more and might just be what he needs. "I don't need a watchdog. Just something to keep me company, to keep me from being lonely"(31). She seemed to have many of the the same traits as Cora.
When Sam would see White Dog he would feel a sort of gut feeling that White Dog was Cora. One time in particular, Sam tries to bake a batch of biscuits. He had watched Cora do it hundreds of times and thinks it will be easy. White Dog watches him make his biscuits and just stares. "Don't think I know what I"m doing, do ya"(58). He just keeps talking to White Dog as he makes his biscuits saying the ingredients out loud help him remember what's in them.