As public fear heightens and the government intervenes to control the outbreak, Logan struggles to reform his life and remain with Jack.

Additionally, the novel presents a coming of age story in which Logan, a troubled youth, matures through his relationship with Jack, his only friend.

The novel garnered mixed feedback from critics, who generally felt that the plot held appeal, but that Ehrenhaft tended to rely on coincidence.

Meanwhile, a new prion disease named Psychotic Outburst Syndrome (or POS) is affecting dogs, causing friendly pets to become violent.

Craig runs tests on the dog and learns that Jack, despite having been in contact with POS, isn't infected: she is immune.

During the meeting, Rudy Stagg, a man infected with POS who had been killing dogs in order to contain the outbreak, stumbles into their room.

The novel's epilogue, written as a newspaper article, reveals Logan and his family hold a private ceremony to honor Jack.

[1] Rachel Seftel, author of a Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy review, also commented on the "mass hysteria" that arose due to POS and noted the novel's core theme of a troubled youth being taught "valuable lessons until an external force threatens to tear them apart.

"[2] In order to track particular events and plot points related to POS, Ehrenhaft inserts various messages, faxes, and articles throughout the novel.

[4] On February 11, 2003, the novel was released in hardcover, and was later reprinted in paperback under Dell's Yearling book imprint on June 8, 2004.

[14] In a 2005 interview, Daniel Ehrenhaft mentioned that a school in Chicago created an extracurricular activity wherein "kids designed games and gadgets", having been inspired by Logan's hobby of inventing devices.

Kirkus Reviews commented that "happenstance plays a large role in the plot" and thought Ehrenhaft had "a tendency to trot in typecast characters, then summarily drop them", but wrote that it would appeal to "disaster-tale fans with a taste for the lurid".

She felt that The Last Dog on Earth's main strength was the "well-developed and sympathetic protagonist" Logan, but noted that the "memos and several subplots" interspersed between chapters and Ehrenhaft's "[somewhat] heavy-handed" attempts to foreshadow were drawbacks.

[2] Seftel concluded that, despite Ehrenhaft's "reach at times [exceeding] his grasp," The Last Dog on Earth was "an interesting and absorbing variation" of the slightly conventional "boy-and-his-dog story.