Arthur's New Puppy (episode)

Summary
Arthur gets a new puppy and names him Pal, but training his pet turns out to be much harder than he had imagined.

Plot
In the intro, Arthur is playing with his new puppy. He tells the viewers he never got the chance to name him. He said it had to be just right for the puppy because a name for him can effect the way he thinks of himself and how he will grow up. He thinks of names like Champion, Bionic Puppy, but won't name the dog after his friends like Buster, Francine, and definitely not Binky. So he chooses on the name Pal.

Soon they went into the kitchen and D.W. is there getting a drink. She sees Arthur writing Pal's name on his bowl. She suggest that Arthur should name Pal "Fredrick" because he looks like one. Arthur doesn't like that name, said that Pal likes his name and to prove it, he calls his puppy. Pal runs to Arthur, but only to go to his bowl. D.W. thinks Pal isn't very smart, but Arthur says that Pal is a genius and D.W. comments he hides it very well. Arthur said he is once Pal is trained soon, which D.W. said she will be in college by then and bets Arthur a million dollars. Pal goes to the living room, and Jane calls Arthur from the living room saying the rug is getting wet. Arthur quickly grabs Pal to go outside and D.W. follows along asking if Arthur would like to bet 12 million dollars.

Arthur is outside taking Pal on a walk. He soon see Francine on her bike and they greet each other. He tells her that he named the puppy Pal. Francine said he looks more like a Steve, but Arthur doesn't think so. Pal began to chew on his leash and Francine asks Arthur if does Pal does anything besides that. Arthur said not yet but will teach Pal some tricks soon, but for now he's just house-training him. Francine advises Arthur to train Pal quick because her cousin had a dog she couldn't train; and her parents made the dog go live on the farm, which scares Arthur a little, and Pal bites Francine's wheel.

Arthur takes Pal back inside and D.W. says that Pal's not smart. Then Arthur's dad calls him to get Pal. D.W. then says that he should be called Puddles. Later, he tries to train Pal, but it didn't go well. Later, Arthur asks to let Pal stay in the house. Once inside, Pal goes inside D.W.'s room, takes one of her shoes and breaks a few of her things. Later, Pal howls causing everyone to wake up and Arthur to stay with Pal. After Arthur falls asleep, Pal wrecks the living room to everyone's horror. The next day, Arthur tells Francine and Buster, who explains that his puppy was sent away to Arthur's horror.

Later, Arthur's parents tell him that Pal will live in the garage, but Arthur protests, saying he'll be trained in no time. Later, Pal ruins Dad's party platter to Dad's horror. So Arthur trains Pal, assures he doesn't have to live in the farm, then he finds the garage key and licks D.W., finishing the episode.

Characters

 * Arthur Read
 * Pal
 * D.W. Read
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Kate Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky

Trivia

 * This is the only episode in which Hana Kukal storyboarded.
 * The scary looking lawn mower in the garage with a face on it bears a striking resemblance to Kirby the vaccum cleaner in The Brave Little Toaster movie series.
 * Timeline: This episode is a follow-up to "Arthur's Pet Business."

Episode connections

 * When Pal morphs into Francine Frensky, he looks like one of the girl dogs from "One Ornery Critter.

Errors

 * When Pal jumps to lick D.W., her ear becomes the same color as her hair.

Differences from the book

 * In the book Buster mentions that his parents sold his puppy to a farm and Francine mentions that her cousin's puppy ran away from home while in the episode Francine says that her cousin's puppy was sold to a farm and Buster says his mom gave his puppy away while he was at school.

Cultural references

 * The scary looking lawn mower in the garage with a face on it bears a striking resemblance to Kirby the vacuum cleaner in The Brave Little Toaster movie series.
 * When Arthur is training Pal he runs up stone steps like does in the first movie. The music in the scene is also a reference to "Gonna Fly Now", Rocky's theme.

Home video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur's New Puppy
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One