[1] The film stars Katherine Fogler and Douglas Nyback as Sarah and Aaron Cotler, Jewish Canadian siblings who are travelling together to their grandmother's hometown of Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland, to fulfill her dying wish of being reunited with the cremated remains of her dead childhood dog.
Bernbaum acknowledged that the film was inspired by aspects of his own real family life, including drawing from his own relationship with his sister, choosing Dąbrowa Górnicza as the setting because that was his own grandmother's real hometown, and basing its title on his grandmother once saying that his sister's dog was dancing when it jumped up and down excitedly at a family gathering, but stated that the film was not meant to be understood as autobiographical.
[1] Despite being set in Poland, the film was shot principally in Romania, as coproducer and cinematographer Stephen Chandler Whitehead had established professional connections there from prior work.
[5] Amy Longsdorf of the USA Today syndication service wrote that "it takes a while for the picture to get going as filmmaker Zach Bernbaum struggles to get the sad/funny balance just right.
But once Sarah and Aaron begin dissecting their complicated relationship, 'Dancing Dogs' finds its groove, allowing audiences to eavesdrop on the secret places in the characters' lives.