A farmer's guard dog gets too old to do his job properly and gets in the way of everyday chores, so the farmer gives him the boot. Dog runs to the woods and meets the Wolf there. They become friends and the wolf decides to help his former adversary to get his job back...
Can be watched on YouTube with English subtitles here
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Examples:
- Abhorrent Admirer: The Wolf readies to sing and places his paw on one lady's knee while under the table, and the lady, thinking it's a guy sitting near her, makes doe eyes to him. The guy is not happy.
- All There in the Manual: The Dog's name isn't mentioned in the animation, but in the folk tale it's based on, his name is Sirko. The Wolf is still nameless there, though.
- *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Happens to the Wolf while he is laughing at the dog during their first meeting.
- Funny Background Event: The short is chock full of this, and they're so subtle they can be on the foreground, yet you still miss them, like:
- The suitor hopefully looking at the daughter's window, gets his face badly scratched by a cat and is seen later in the singing procession with bandages all over his face. During the wedding he steps on the cat's tail with visible satisfaction.
- The cat calmly laps spilled milk in the midst of chaos Dog causes at the beginning.
- The way the father proudly twirls his mustache implies that he took credit for the child's rescue.
- When a baby is stolen, his adult sister is crying, screaming for help, but doesn't stop raking for a second.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan was not the director's first choice for the Wolf, but when the first actor couldn't voice the character due to scheduling conflicts, the Wolf's design was changed to match his voice better, giving him Armen's droopy eyes.
- Interrupted Suicide: Just when all hope seems lost, Wolf appears and kindly stops Dog from making a fatal mistake.
- Just Following Orders: The Wolf understands that Dog chasing him was his job and doesn't hold a grudge.
- Kick the Dog: After a number of accidents happening because of the dog, the farmer does this.
- Old Dog: Both the titular Dog as well as the Wolf are this, the former being unable to catch food for himself, and the latter struggling to survive the winter.
- Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: The Dog doesn't seem to be able to make a coherent sentence. Most of his phrases are just "eh"-s and "so"-s.
- Shown Their Work: The director of the short, not being Ukrainian himself, did a a few years' worth of study of Ukrainian village life.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: when Dog comes to The Wolf a second time, he says: "Wha?.. AGAIN?.."
- Wedding Smashers: Dog invites Wolf to eat inside his owners' home while they're holding a feast celebrating the marriage of the daughter of the family. As the women inside sing a folk song, the now-drunk Wolf decides to join in and howl, causing the people to panic and Dog has to pretend to chase him out.
