Arthur's Pet Business (episode)

Arthur's Pet Business is the first part of the fifth episode of the first season in the Arthur animated series. Joe Fallon wrote it and Jean Lajeunesse did the storyboards. It first aired October 7, 1996, alongside with D.W., the Copycat.

Plot Outline
Arthur is looking through the window of Al's Pet Shop. He wishes he could have a dog, for he thinks it could be helpful. In his imagination, Baby Kate is up high in a tree, crying, while her Mom stands at the bottom watching in despair. Suddenly, Arthur runs up with a collie dog. Arthur commands his dog to get Kate down, thus the dog obeys and picks up Kate with its mouth and brings it down to their mom. His mom is very grateful for him to have a dog, while the collie licks Arthur. After his imagination, he is standing, in a wary matter, from the grouchy dog, Perky. {Title Card} Arthur is in his room, cutting out pictures of dogs. D.W. enters and teases Arthur for wanting a dog. Arthur tells D.W. not to tell anybody, for he wants to ask his parents at the right time. D.W. confirms her own trust and says she won't tell. Later at dinner, Dad asks what's new. D.W. promptly blabs to him that Arthur wants a dog, which aggravates Arthur. His dad reminds Arthur that it's a large responsibility to take care of a dog. Arthur claims he would feed it, walk it, and play with it. The parents decide to think about it, which D.W. claims that it means no. After dinner, Mom and Dad discuss about the dog matter. Mom worries about their new carpet. Meanwhile, Arthur and D.W. are trying to listen to what they are saying through the window. All of a sudden, the door opens with Mom an Dad re-entering, almost knocking D.W. over. They tell Arthur that he can have one if he can take care of it. Arthur jumps for joy, but stops when his parents tell him he needs to prove himself responsible. Arthur glumly thinks of how he could accomplish this. D.W. suggests he could get a job, also so he could pay her the seven dollars he owes. But Arthur wonders what kind of job he can get. At the school's jungle gym, Arthur's friends give him suggestions. Muffy suggests he can be a car salesman at Crosswire Motors. Arthur thinks about it this. In his imagination, a customer is looking at the engine of a car and asks Arthur what type it is. He doesn't know, for he can't see it. Back at the playground, Binky suggests he should work at the junk yard and crush old cars. Francine suggests he should do something he would want to do. This gives Arthur an idea: if he could take care of other pets, he could take care of his own. At home, he and Francine are making signs for Arthur's Pet Business. They begin to bring stacks of them downstairs after they finish. Arthur trips down the stairs. His parents see his signs about his new business. They want to help by giving the signs to the people they know. Dad gives a sign to a family of moose. And while Mom is walking Kate in her stroller, Mrs. Wood comes and adores the baby. At this time, Kate holds out one of Arthur's signs to Mrs. Wood. Arthur is in the park handing the fliers to people who come by. That night, Arthur is waiting by the telephone for a call. His mom tells him that he needs to get ready for bed. He asks for more time waiting which she refuses. Right on cue, the phone rings and Arthur answers it. In excitement he runs upstairs to Dad and cheers that he got his first customer. His dad asks who it is. He responds that it's Mrs. Wood who wants her dog watched while she is away on vacation and he'll earn ten dollars. But Dad knows that it's the dog which the mailman calls Jaws. "You mean that nasty little dog, Perky?" D.W. responds. The next day, Arthur goes to Mrs. Wood's house to pick up Perky, who is growling noisily. Mrs. Wood tells him not to mind the growling, for she hasn't been the same lately. She gives Arthur Perky's schedule and a list of the things she doesn't like, which is very long. Arthur confirms he'll take care of her. On the first day, Arthur is doing homework, until the timer rings, letting Arthur know that he needs to brush Perky. He brushes her an even hundred times, which relieves Perky, temporarily. At dinner, the timer rings again, which reminds Arthur to feed the dog. He feeds her in a very finicky way. Including a quarter-tablespoon of chicken, a quarter-tablespoon of liver, the middle of a cheeseburger, without a pickle, and a cherry on top. He gives it to Perky, but she doesn't eat it, for Arthur forgot the parsley. Arthur's family is watching Bionic Bunny on TV, until the timer rings again, which begins to annoy Arthur. Later, Arthur is taking a bath, when the timer rings once again, which exasperates Arthur. Arthur rolls out a mat for Perky across his bed. Perky notices a wrinkle, which Arthur fixes. Arthur begins to tire out from taking care of Perky. Later on, while Arthur is feeding Perky, his mom asks if he wants a dog if it's a lot of work. Arthur knows that if he can take care of Perky, he can take care of any pet. Suddenly D.W. enters and tells Arthur that Prunella who wants Arthur to take care of her ant farm. Prunella instructs Arthur about what to do and to put on music for them on Tuesdays. D.W. looks out the door and notices that the signs Arthur put up have worked. Arthur looks outside and sees a large line of people and their pets that need care. The house is then full of animals, including a pig, frogs, a cat, a dog, a bird, and a snake. Arthur's dad becomes concerned about all the animals. Arthur is worried too, about how he will keep them on schedule. D.W. is in the bathtub, screaming. For frogs are jumping around in the bathroom. D.W. runs out of the tub with only a towel and runs to her room. Dad runs upstairs to see if she's all right. Arthur notices Kate shaking the ant farm. Arthur quickly grabs it out of her hands, which causes her to cry. Perky growls at a bird in it's cage, which scares it. In fear it escapes from it's cage, having Arthur to chase it. While running after it, he steps on a cat's tail. Arthur's mom is nervous, for a snake is wrapped around her legs. D.W. and Dad enter the room rather angrily. It turns out, Arthur puts all the pets in the basement to store them. The timer rings again, telling Arthur to walk Perky. He gets an idea and asks D.W. to be his assistant and that he'll pay her two dollars. D.W. is more that happy to do this, but changes the deal to three dollars. While walking Perky, he says hello to the mailman. But he notices Perky growling loudly and asks what he did. But Arthur objects and claims he took care of her. But the mailman is unsure, for he never saw Perky so mad before. Later, Arthur checks a dog care book and sees that he did do everything just right, but Perky is more unfriendly than ever. He is sad, because he thinks he isn't a dog person and that when Mrs. Wood picks Perky up, she will tell everyone that he made her dog even worse. Arthur has Perky's things all packed and ready. D.W. tells Arthur that he should be happy, because he is returning Perky and is going to earn ten dollars. But Arthur is sad for he thinks he can never have a puppy. His parents let Arthur know that Mrs. Wood is coming to pick Perky up. Arthur goes to get her ready, only to find that he can't find her. He asks his family if they had seen her. His parents notice that they haven't heard her make any sound that day. The family looks all around but have no luck finding her. Arthur is even more sad that he now loses dogs too. The doorbell rings and his mom answers it. It's Mrs. Wood, coming to pick Perky up. D.W. promptly enters and tells Mrs. Wood that Arthur lost Perky. In reaction to this, Wood begins to worry about Perky's safety, while Dad is sorry for the world. Immediately, Arthur calls everyone to come to the den. They all run in and see that Perky had puppies, three to be exact. And Perky is no longer growling, but is now happy. Mrs. Wood gratefully thanks Arthur for taking good care of Perky and gives him the ten dollars. And asks him if he wants one of the puppies for a reward. His dad allows this, for he has proven himself responsible. Arthur is overjoyed to hear this and wonders what he should name his new puppy. "Ten dollars." D.W. answers. Arthur thinks that's a ridiculous name. But D.W. was talking about the money he owed her. Seven he first owed, and three for being his assistant, which comes to ten dollars. Arthur merely smiles at this while holding the ten dollar bill.

Major Roles

 * Arthur
 * Perky (debut)
 * D.W.
 * Mrs. Wood (debut)
 * Jane Read
 * David Read

Minor Roles

 * Baby Kate
 * Prunella
 * Mr. Higgins (debut)
 * Muffy
 * Francine
 * Binky

Cameos

 * Buster
 * Bionic Bunny
 * Pal (unnamed)

Trivia

 * Arthur tells (and retells) the story from this episode in Arthur writes a story.
 * The story is briefly mentioned in D.W. Tale Spins
 * Arthur names and trains Pal in Arthur's New Puppy.
 * When Arthur is running up the stairs in excitement, D.W. is wearing her normal clothes. But after she hears about Arthur having to watch Perky, she's in her pajamas.
 * During the scene when Arthur is taking a bath, the bubbles are floating upwards. This is impossible, for bubbles are filled with air and not helium.
 * One of the customers in the line clearly looks like Brain, only old and rugged and smoking a pipe.
 * The cage the bird escaped from doesn't seem to have a lock.
 * Perky only reappears in Arthur writes a story and What scared Sue Ellen?.
 * Parsley is an herb used as a spice in Middle East, Europe, and America.
 * The suit Arthur wears in his imagination of being a car salesman strongly resembles the husky suit in Arthur Weighs In.