The dog occupies a distinctive position in Mesoamerican cosmology: it is the guide of the dead on their journey to the underworld. That function was not a metaphor but an operative belief that influenced the funerary practices of multiple cultures across the region. At Teotihuacan, dog remains frequently appear in human burials, placed alongside the deceased to accompany them on that passage. The xoloitzcuintle breed was especially valued for that role: its warmth was interpreted as a quality that made it suited to guide the dead through the cold of the underworld. The canid in this mural is not running or hunting—it is seated, with its mouth slightly open, a speech scroll emerging from it. It appears to be speaking.