Dog or God?

While my son was watching the LOST pilot again last night - he said did you ever notice that Vincent the dog shows up at really intersting times and it seems to bring the people a sense of calm (like Jack last night - he wakes up and he's in total panic until he sees the dog and he calms down and starts accessing what happend) and Sun in the garden a few episodes ago when she heard a noise and was scared and it ended up being Vincent so she relaxed (of course she did go on to get dragged through the jungle and hit by Charlie right after that). My son said do you think that's another hidden meaning in the show (dog-God). I think it could have meaning for the show and really what other purpose does Vincent really serve on the show? I liked the Owl Creek post - very interesting to think about.