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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name          = L. T.'s Theory of Pets
| image         = [[File:L. T.'s Theory of Pets.jpg|200px]]
| caption       = Cover of the audiobook edition
| author        = [[Stephen King]]
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| genre         = [[Horror fiction|Horror]] [[short story]]
| published_in   = ''[[Six Stories]]'' <small>(1st release)</small>,<br />''[[Everything's Eventual]]''
| publication_type = [[Anthology]]
| publisher     = [[Philtrum Press]] <small>(1st release)</small> [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] <small>(collection)</small> [[Simon & Schuster Audio]] <small>(cassette/CD)</small>
| media_type    = Print ([[Paperback]])
| pub_date  = [[2002 in literature|2002]]
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}
'''''L. T.'s Theory of Pets''''' is a [[Horror fiction|horror]] short story by American writer [[Stephen King]]. It was originally published in the 1997 limited-edition collection ''[[Six Stories]]''. In 2001, it was released as an [[audiobook]] with the recording of King reading the story live at [[Royal Festival Hall]] in [[London]]. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection ''[[Everything's Eventual]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Stephen |title=LT's Theory of Pets |url=https://stephenking.com/works/audiobook/lts-theory-of-pets.html |website=StephenKing.com |access-date=22 May 2024}}</ref>

==Plot summary==
The story is told from the first-person perspective of a working-class husband, who recalls a story told by L. T., a chatty co-worker, about the brewing trouble behind his marriage. These problems are attributed to pets purchased by L. T. and his wife. The wife purchases a dog for L. T. which dislikes him instantly and sides with his wife. Soon, L. T. purchases a cat for his wife, which immediately takes to L.T. instead. Despite the fact that the dog and the cat get along fine, L. T. and his wife continually argue. While riding home in the narrator's car, L.T. asks if his arrogance is to blame. L.T.'s wife eventually leaves him, saying she is going to her mother's house, but fails to arrive there. The narrator reveals that she has taken the dog with her, and her car was discovered abandoned on a deserted roadside in Nevada. The only thing found was her dog, axed to death. It's revealed that a serial killer (dubbed "The Axe Man") is on the loose in the area, who kills women with an [[axe]]. L.T. still hopes she is alive, although this is unlikely.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephen King Short Story Project, #44: "L.T.’s Theory of Pets" |url=https://stagingpoint.com/2016/10/04/stephen-king-short-story-project-44-l-t-s-theory-of-pets/ |website=The Staging Point |access-date=22 May 2024 |date=4 October 2016}}</ref>

==Inspiration==
[[Stephen King]] said his story is inspired by a ''[[Dear Abby]]'' editorial about how giving people pets as gifts may be viewed as [[:wikt:arrogance|arrogance]] in certain circles, because it assuming the receiver can—and wants to—look after the pet. King himself briefly discusses how he received a [[Pembroke Welsh Corgi]] as a present, and has enjoyed its company ever since.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Everything's Eventual |last=King |first=Stephen |publisher=Hodder |year=2002 |isbn=9781444723212 |location=Great Britain |pages=300}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Stephen King short fiction bibliography]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://stephenking.com/works/short/lts-theory-of-pets.html "L. T.'s Theory of Pets" at StephenKing.com]
* {{ISFDB title|id=1157654|short=yes}}

{{Everything'sEventual}}
{{Stephen King}}

[[Category:Short stories by Stephen King]]
[[Category:2002 short stories]]
[[Category:Horror short stories]]
[[Category:Short stories about dogs]]