>9 years later
>dog is still alive

What's wrong with that?

The dog's already an adult during the original story.
Dogs don't usually live that long, especially dogs that big.

Who said that's not the original dog's son? You never know.
Besides that, Garfield lived a long life himself.

Oldest dog in the world is pushing 30 right now.

Garfield is a cat. A very special one, for that matter.
And yeah, it could well be another dog, but the original is very unlikely.

The dog is in fact a guardian robot commissioned by her parents to guard their daughter.

arisboch said:

The dog is in fact a guardian robot commissioned by her parents to guard their daughter.

Must be Tadakichi the 3rd.

[deleted]

Steak said:

Oldest dog in the world is pushing 30 right now.

Update: He died.