In the novel, the story of the dog Prince is closely intertwined with the fate of the German people during the years of fascism. The dog “makes history”: on behalf of the “German population of the German city of Danzig” it is presented to Hitler. The “dog” motif sounds accompanied by tragically grotesque chords of the senseless death of Germans in the last days of the war. It turns out that the Fuhrer bequeathed a dog to his loyal subjects. Hitler and his dog seem to change places, and it turns out that the Germans are shedding blood and dying for the sake of the dog. This is where the title of the novel comes from: the years of the Nazi dictatorship appear as “dog years”, the life of the Germans is like a dog’s life.