Dog's Best Friend

Summary
Arthur agrees to watch Amigo while Alberto goes to soccer camp. At first, Pal is thrilled to have the company! (He even teaches Amigo his coveted table begging secrets!) But when Arthur appears to favor Amigo during a game of catch, Pal begins to worry that he has lost his place as top dog.

Plot
In an episode of Pet Owner Whisperer, Amigo explains to the viewers how to take care of your pet owner, using Arthur as an example. Eventually, Pal shows up, and he asks Amigo why he didn't use Alberto instead, since Arthur is his pet owner. Amigo explains that Alberto wasn't around, and he just so happened to be in the Reads' yard, but Pal starts barking at him and he leaves. Pal then says to the viewers that the most important thing about taking care of your pet owner is letting them know who's in charge.

Dog's Best Friend

After the title card, Alberto is seen dropping off Amigo at the Reads' house. He gives Amigo's supplies to Arthur, and thanks him for agreeing to look after Amigo while he is away at the hockey championships. Before Alberto leaves, he tries to get Amigo to catch the ball to impress Arthur, but he doesn't catch the ball. Alberto then says to Arthur that he's been trying to get Amigo to do the trick for weeks, and then he leaves, waving goodbye. Arthur then has a fantasy where Alberto comes back home, and he is amazed to see Amigo flying high with the tennis ball. Arthur also shows Alberto that Amigo can hover around with no legs, and he is impressed. After Arthur's fantasy, he sees that Amigo is gone.

Meanwhile, Pal is seen giving Amigo a welcoming tour of the Reads' house, and in the den, he shows Amigo his old dog bed for him to sleep on, but Amigo says to Pal that the floor is fine for him. In the kitchen, Pal tells Amigo that dry food is served throughout the day, while wet food is only served in the evenings. Amigo is amazed, and Pal shows him where he begs at the table at breakfast, but Amigo says to him that he has been trained to not beg at the table. Just then, Kate comes in to the kitchen, and welcomes Amigo, and he gives her a flower from the Molinas' garden. Pal is not impressed, however, and he tells Amigo that there is still more of the house to see.

After the tour, Pal is outside napping, when suddenly, a tennis ball comes out of nowhere and nearly hits him. Pal then asks Amigo what's going on, but Amigo tells him that Arthur threw it. Arthur says, "Try to catch the ball, Amigo", but Amigo doesn't want to, claiming to Pal that it's dirty. However, to humour Arthur, he catches the ball per Pal's suggestion. After Arthur gives Amigo a dog treat for catching the ball, Pal is surprised that he didn't get one, since he was the one who told Amigo what to do. Afterwards, Arthur is seen playing catch with Amigo, but Pal feels slightly left out. Pal catches the ball instead of Amigo one time, but Arthur just tells him that "that's Amigo's ball".

Afterwards, Pal is seen talking to Kate in her and D.W.'s room, and complains about how Amigo got 47 "good boys", and he didn't get one, just for playing catch. Kate thinks that Pal sounds a little jealous, but he laughs it off, saying, "Why would I be jealous of Amigo?". Kate lists some possible reasons, but Pal doesn't want to hear it. Amigo then comes in and says that playing catch with Arthur is fun, but Pal says to him snidely, "How nice for you." Amigo then gasps in shock at what Pal had said to him.

Outside, Pal throws his ball against the side of the shed and says, "Nice catch, Pal. Good boy." to himself over and over again. Just then, Pal hears Nemo laughing, and he sees Nemo up in the tree, saying to him that he's finally "lost his vittles". Nemo also says to Pal that he hasn't seen him this upset since he buried Pal's ham bone in kitty litter, and he asks him what's wrong. Pal tells Nemo that he thinks Arthur likes Amigo better than him, and Nemo says that he "can't imagine why", and starts to list some possible reasons (just like Kate did earlier), but Pal gets it. Nemo then suggests to Pal a solution: Since he can't make himself look better than Amigo, which Nemo claims is impossible, he would be better off making Amigo look bad instead.

Pal takes Nemo's advice, and late that night, he takes one of Arthur's sneakers and shreds it to pieces. After giving said sneaker to Amigo while he's sleeping on the floor in the den, Pal laughs to himself about seeing who the "good boy" is now. However, he starts to rethink his actions, and has a fantasy where Amigo is sent to the pound for destruction of footwear, even though he is innocent. After his fantasy, Pal decides that he can't go through with his plan, and he takes the sneaker away from Amigo. However, while Pal is bringing the sneaker back in to Arthur's bedroom, he knocks over one of Arthur's toys, which starts making noise. Upon hearing the noise, Arthur wakes up, turns his lamp on, and puts his glasses on, asking, "Who's that?". When he sees Pal with the ripped-up sneaker, Arthur gasps and says "Bad dog!" to Pal.

Outside with Kate the next day, Pal explains to her that it was the worst scolding he has had since "The Thanksgiving Incident", also claiming that sneaker doesn't taste half as good as turkey. Pal then tells Kate to never take advice from a cat, and Kate asks Pal why he would want to get Amigo into trouble in the first place. Pal tells Kate that he thought it would make Arthur like him better again, because ever since Amigo arrived, Amigo's always gotten told "good dog", whereas he only gets told "heel, sit, stay". Meanwhile, Amigo overhears the conversation, feeling sad for Pal.

That night, Pal wishes Arthur and Amigo all of the best, and goes outside to run away from home, only to discover that Amigo beat him to it, sitting outside the Molinas' front door. Amigo tells Pal that he doesn't want to come between him and Arthur, but Pal insists that he goes back to the Reads'. After arguing with each other about who should go back home, Amigo and Pal decide to not run away when a thunderstorm starts.

Once back inside at the Reads', Amigo notices that they tracked water on the floor from the rain outside, but Pal says that people expect dogs to make a mess every now and then, giving the two of them an idea.

After making a mess around the house the night before, Arthur wakes up to find Pal and Amigo in the living room, which is completely trashed. He asks what happened, but Pal and Amigo just point at each other.

Later, Alberto picks up Amigo, and he asks Arthur if Amigo was any trouble, to which Arthur says "no", but then mutters under his breath, "at least, not until the end". Arthur then tries to get Amigo to catch the ball to impress Alberto, but Pal catches it instead, confusing Arthur. Alberto tells Arthur that Pal is talented, and after he leaves with Amigo, Pal says to Kate that he loves having guests over for the weekend, claiming that "they always bring out the best in you". The episode then ends with Arthur petting Pal.

Major

 * Pal
 * Amigo
 * Arthur Read

Minor

 * Alberto Molina
 * Kate Read
 * Nemo

Cameo

 * Jane Read

Cultural references

 * This episode's title is a parody of the phrase 'man's best friend.'

Episode connections

 * This episode has a few similarities to "The Perfect Brother." The episodes involve a guest coming to Arthur's House, and a character feeling left out because their family and friends seem to appreciate the guest more.
 * It pays homage to "The Great Sock Mystery" because "The Great Sock Mystery" is about Kate and Pal and it's episode 1b of season 7 and "Dog's Best Friend" is 1b of season 17.

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