One Ornery Critter

Summary
Every dog appears to love Arthur - or so he thinks. When Buster looks after his aunt's dog, Arthur may have to change his perception of himself.

Plot
At the Spadina Road Animal Shelter, Arthur pours food into a dog's bowl. After suggesting that Francine was always good at sports and Buster was able to make people laugh even as a baby, he explains that he learned he was good at handling animals when a group of dogs started playing with him at the park. Mr. Samuels thanks Arthur for his work at the dog shelter, when the phone rings. Arthur answers, and Buster explains that he nervous about taking care of his aunt's dog, named Carrot Cake. Arthur goes over to help him.

One Ornery Critter

When Arthur arrives, he sees Buster playing fetch with Carrot Cake. Arthur retrieves the ball after it rolls under some stairs, but Carrot Cake whimpers and tries to avoid Arthur. Arthur sees Buster eating chocolate and warns him not to have chocolate around dogs, before Carrot Cake interrupts, wanting to go for a walk. Arthur opens the gate for her, and she locks him out.

At the animal shelter, Arthur gets a thorn out of a dog's nose, to which it happily licks him. Mr. Samuels suggests that he give Carrot Cake time to get used to him. Arthur sits in Buster's living room and stares at Carrot Cake chewing on a toy bone; despite watching for over an hour, she still does not approach him.

During dinner, D.W. says that Carrot Cake probably does not like Arthur because of how he smells. Remembering that smells is important to dogs, Arthur tries to copy Buster's food smell, although Carrot Cake still avoids him.

For the next few days, Arthur avoids Pal and does not go to the animal shelter, trying to avoid getting dog smell on him. He shows up to Buster's house dressed as a waiter and offers Carrot Cake toys and treats, though she still favors Buster.

Next, Arthur and Buster try dressing up like each other; Buster finds this ridiculous and tells him to stop.

Buster brings Carrot Cake to Arthur's house, although she likes D.W. instead. While Carrot Cake is sleeping on D.W.'s bed, Arthur sleeps in it overnight. After Carrot Cake wakes up, she runs out of the room, knocking over a dog gate Arthur had set up, and jumps out of the window. D.W. asks Arthur why he cares so much about getting Carrot Cake to like him; he answers that there also must be other dogs who do not like him, and that means he is not a dog person. D.W. points out that his logic does not make sense, and he soon agrees.

Arthur finds Carrot Cake in the bushes with thorns in her nose, and gets D.W.'s help with removing them. Buster explains that Carrot Cake does not like most of the people in his aunt's household, and Arthur sympathizes with Carrot Cake. He brings her to the shelter, where she is treated again and licks Arthur as she leaves. Arthur goes to work at the shelter again, and the dogs react enthusiastically at his return.

Characters

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * D.W. Read
 * Carrot Cake
 * Francine Frensky (flashback)
 * Oliver Frensky (flashback)
 * Laverne Frensky (flashback)
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Mr. Samuels
 * Pal
 * Kate Read (cameo)
 * Buster's aunt (mentioned)
 * Buster's uncle (mentioned)
 * Karen (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This is the first episode in which a human's speech is rendered as baby talk, yet no baby or animal speaks.
 * Moral:  Not every dog can like you.

Episode connections

 * Pal looks like one of the girl dogs from this episode when he morphs into Francine in "Arthur's New Puppy."

Errors

 * In the flashback scene where Buster is a baby, one of the pictures on the wall above the chair where Bitzi Baxter is sitting depicts Buster as eight years old, despite not being that age yet.