"The Lady with the Dog" (Russian: Дама с собачкой, romanized: Dama s sobachkoy)[a] is a short story by Anton Chekhov.

Anna and Dmitri soon commence an affair, and spend most of their time together, often walking and taking drives to the nearby village of Oreanda.

Returning to Moscow, to his loveless marriage and his daily routine, working by day and socializing by night, Gurov expects to soon forget young Anna, but to his surprise, her memory haunts him.

They desperately try to come up with a plan, but the story ends without offering a resolution:They … talked of how to avoid the necessity for secrecy, for deception, for living in different towns and not seeing each other for long stretches of time … and it was clear to both of them that … the most complicated and difficult part of their journey was just beginning.The story can be seen as "Gurov's spiritual journey—his transformation from a connoisseur of women to a man tenderly devoted to a single ordinary woman.

"[7] Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer from a working-class background, saw the importance of the story as a wake-up call to people "to let go of sleepy, half-dead existence.

Robert Fulford offers yet another interpretation of the story:[8]"What Chekhov says in this sophisticated parable is that love radically alters the landscape of existence.

"[8]The plot of the story bears a resemblance to Chekhov's own life, as he had fallen in love with Olga Knipper, the actress whom he would later marry, while living in Yalta in the winter of 1898–99.

[10][8] The story was written in Yalta, where Chekhov had moved on his doctor's advice to take advantage of the warmer climate owing to his advancing tuberculosis.

[14] Rodion Schedrin composed a ballet in one act called The Lady with the Lapdog, first performed on 20 November 1985 in Moscow by the Bolshoi Theatre, Alexander Lazarev (cond).

It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Silvana Mangano, Oleg Tabakov, Yelena Safonova, Pina Cei and Vsevolod Larionov.

The film was adapted by Aleksandr Adabashyan, Suso Cecchi d'Amico and Nikita Mikhalkov, "inspired by" stories by Anton Chekhov.

[19] An opera version titled "The Lady with the Pet Dog" was premiered at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa in 2010.