My view is that the dog became an undead, but breaks the "undead are terrifying and dangerous" trope by being a good boi. Love between dog and its human is eternal.
If I had to prop up sticks for a dog, I'd put em all diagonally planted into the ground so they could grab them easiest. Hard to pick up sticks that're flat on the ground, and inconvenient for a dog to tilt their head to grab a totally vertical stick 🤔