two dogs pop-up card

This is a birthday card for a friend. This person does not own a dog, nor show any particular affinity towards pets. The card has no relevance whatsoever. As the date of this person's birthday is a closely held state secret, I must use my powers of deduction to conclude the day occurs in the last week of June. As I am comfortably ahead of schedule, I intend to mail the package at the beginning of the month to help make the whole month special. Birthdays are so anticlimactic.

The card depicts two dogs. It's a joke. The joke is told over three pages. I've shown the prototype to at least two dozen people and so far no one understands the joke. When quizzed, "what was the question?" No one could answer. This concerns me. I'm beginning to think it is an American thing. We do prefer our jokes to be blatant. If cognition is required, then forget it, it's not a real joke. Although I haven't shown the card to any of my British friends, they have seen the cartoon and I do know they automatically sense something is left out here that makes for a  joke, and arriving at that portion that is not explicit is what makes the thing amusing. So now, how do I assure  the joke is understood without explaining it? This is a problem. At length I decided I must just go ahead and add a page to follow.  On the back of the card is the word "earlier" written on a flap that when lifted shows the two dogs in conversation. So there. I went ahead and explained the joke without actually e-x-p-l-a-i-n-i-n-g it. Joke fail.

So, there you have it. The envelope is standard made to fit from card stock. The usual thing. Even with its four layers of matt board it's still thin enough to not require any special treatment.

Following are more photos taken during construction that might give you some idea how this card was put together, if you're interested in that, and honestly, what sane person wouldn't be?

The pug-like dogs were treated as hieroglyphics since its stoic unchanging aspect across the pages contributes to the humor. The backgrounds were created all at once because they're a little bit boring to make and to keep them similar as possible. I wanted to get them out of the way first.

Transition from first to second page

This shows the hole in the wall and the extra trouble of  drawing bricks on the inside.

This is the part that people don't get, and that makes me sad. So far, it hasn't occurred to anyone I've shown the prototype to ask themselves what the question would have been that this dog is referring to. I mean, come on!