The Heart of a Dog characters

Appears from the start

A hungry, injured stray dog surviving a Moscow winter by scavenging and judging the people around him by their smells, voices, and treatment of animals. After a cook scalds his side, the scent of sausage draws him to an imposing gentleman who feeds him and leads him home.

Also known as Professor Preobrazhensky

Appears from the start

A celebrated Moscow surgeon whose wealthy patients seek treatments intended to restore youth. Commanding, observant, and accustomed to privilege, he rescues Sharik from the street and brings the dog to his spacious apartment, where he runs a private medical practice.

Also known as Dr. Bormenthal

First appears in chapter 2

Preobrazhensky's young medical assistant and devoted colleague. He helps manage the professor's patients and household medical work, combining professional discipline with deep gratitude toward his mentor.

First appears in chapter 2

The professor's maid, who opens the apartment to patients and assists with its daily routines. She is frightened when the newly rescued Sharik resists treatment, but remains part of the small household that cares for him.

First appears in chapter 2

The cook in Preobrazhensky's household. Her kitchen supplies the rich food that convinces Sharik he has found an unusually fortunate home, and she firmly defends her workspace from intrusion.

First appears in chapter 2

The chairman of the apartment building's new housing committee. He arrives with fellow committee members to press Preobrazhensky to surrender some of his rooms, meeting the professor's confidence and influential connections with ideological suspicion.

First appears in chapter 5

A deceased balalaika player and habitual offender whose organs are selected for Preobrazhensky's experiment. Bormenthal's case notes identify him after the operation, making his background important to the changes taking place in Sharik.

Also known as Polygraph Polygraphovich

First appears in chapter 6

The name adopted by the increasingly human result of Preobrazhensky's operation on Sharik. Able to speak and insist on civic rights but lacking social restraint, he treats the apartment as his own and turns to Shvonder for political and bureaucratic support.