The dog

I watched the movie yesterday for the first time in years, although I was called away from the tv set periodically and missed a couple of scene. I had always thought that the dog who accompanied Joey to the final shoot-out was the Starretts' dog, but yesterday it seemed as if he was Torrey's dog and then was adopted by the Starretts. Given all the metaphysical symbolism in this movie, I'm wondering if the dog was some kind of death angel.