After a while I started to think of that as an image of something that went a lot deeper than the dead dog, which is you can't bring back anything to life. ↗
I like to have a thing suggested rather than told in full. When every detail is given, the mind rests satisfied, and the imagination loses the desire to use its own wings. ↗
I don't really worry about the size of the part much any more. It's nice to have more time to work on the character, and to have big scenes to play. But if there's something playable there, and if it's interesting to do, then that's nice. ↗