The story is about two dogs, Rowf and Snitter. Rowf is a Labrador-mix and Snitter is a Smooth fox terrier. The two live in a testing laboratory called ARSE (Animal Research Scientific and Experimental). The two dogs escape out of the laborotory into the Lake District, where the story is set, where they find the cunning Tod, a fox living there. After misadventures upon the fells, the two are later hunted down by sheep farmers and the army, because it is believed that they have the bubonic plague.