Lyric discussion by freddy2fan 

Cover art for Dear Avery lyrics by Decemberists, The

I'm not about to discount the dog theory, because I think it's sweet, but I think it's about a teenaged son. He doesn't necessarily have to be writing about his own son, it's not like the majority of his songs are written about his life anyway.

You do make a valid point, but I still think it would be unusual, because when Colin writes songs that are not autobiographical or necessarily true, they're usually heavily based on a literary work, or else whimsical in some way. This is a sadder song, so it makes sense to me that it might be autobiographical. Just a theory though.