"Who Let The Dogs In?" is the eleventh episode in the first season of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Plot[]
SPOILER: Plot details follow.
Act 1[]
The episode starts with the doorbell ringing, making Frankie comes downstairs in the Foster's foyer to get the door, only for a St. Bernard to tackle and lick her. A loving couple gets him off of her and tell her that they just found the dog. Eduardo suddenly comes in and starts playing with the dog. The wife then asks Frankie if she takes in lost pets, and Frankie tells them that the house is a home for lost imaginary friends, not pets, and that they can't take the dog. Frankie tells the couple to take him to the animal shelter, but Eduardo begs her to let him keep him. She tells Ed that Mr. Herriman has a strict No-Dog policy, which questions as he thinks dogs are nice. As Frankie attempts to explain why, Mr. Herriman hops downstairs to see who's at the door. He suddenly gets scared when he sees the dog and holds onto the support beam. Frankie immediately grabs the dog and kicks him and the couple out of the house, much to their awkwardness. Frankie tells Herriman that the dog is gone and takes him back upstairs while he nervously says that dogs eat rabbits. Eduardo sadly looks at the dog out the window as the couple takes him away in their car.
In the dining room, Bloo shows Eduardo a device made of garbage that will propel him through time. He gets excited because he and Mac plan to have such a blast when he finishes his time machine tomorrow. That night, Eduardo walks outside taking out the trash, but then Bloo stops him so he can get something out of the trash bag and gets mad at Eduardo for throwing a fork away. Suddenly, when Eduardo opens the trash can, he hears whimpering and looks inside, but there's nothing in the trash can. He looks inside another trash can, but it's empty as well. Eduardo finally finds a nearby box and uncovers it, revealing a white puppy with brown ears. The puppy gets scared of Eduardo who screams in fear, and he hides back in the box. The puppy then peeks his head out. Eduardo looks at the cute puppy and smiles. He likes the puppy so much he wants to keep him, but also needs to keep him out of sight, because of Mr. Herriman's fear of dogs.
Eduardo peeks into the room and finds Bloo, Wilt, and Coco sleeping in bed. Eduardo tiptoes in, only to get bitten in the arm and nose by the puppy he found, making him call the puppy bad. Eduardo opens the chest and shows el perrito his beanie buddies, giving him Paco, su beanie buddy favorito (his stuffed bunny), and el perrito begins chewing on him. Eduardo then tucks him and himself to bed and goes to sleep for the night.
In the morning, when Eduardo wakes, he realizes that the puppy is missing He jumps out of bed and yells out, "El Perrito!" His friends think he said burrito, so he lies about himself having a nightmare about a burrito... again. Bloo suggests that they go and have breakfast, because he needs lots of energy to finish constructing his orphernometer (time machine) before Mac shows up. Eduardo looks in the toy chest, under the mattress of his bed, and even behind Coco and Bloo, but no sign of el perrito. In the halls, Mr. Herriman sees something by a stepstool. Eduardo runs in and repeatedly apologizes. Mr. Herriman sees some hair by the window and thinks it is from a dog because he recognizes a sort of fur anywhere. Wilt tells him that there are a lot of hairy friends in Foster's, that the hair could be anybody's hair and that it could even be Eduardo's. Eduardo tries to show that he's shedding, but nothing happens. He eventually rips his hair off, which he calls shedding.
In the dining room, the imaginary friends feel licking, including Eduardo, making him go under the table and start looking for el perrito again. He then finds him licking friends' legs and realizes he's heading towards Mr. Herriman. He runs under the table, causing it to bounce, shocking the other Imaginary Friends. Mr. Herriman gets so scared that he jumps into Frankie's arms and tells her that there's a dog under the table licking him. As Frankie tries to tell Herriman that there's nothing under the table, Eduardo pops out and nervously says "Hola". Frankie asks Eduardo if it was him licking under people's feet, to which he says he was. He then starts licking Wilt's foot, much to the other friends' awkwardness.
Later, Eduardo is seen in the bathroom brushing his tongue, when suddenly he hears an "arf". He goes down the halls and slowly peeks at the puppy doing his business on the floor. Eduardo tries to chase after the puppy, but he steps in something. He looks and sees that he stepped in dog poop. Mr. Herriman comes by and asks what the horrible smell is. He wonders if it's what he thinks it is; Eduardo tries to say it's not, but Herriman says that it is. Frankie comes by as well and gets shocked to see the poop. Mr. Herriman leaps into Frankie's arms again and tells her that there is a dog in the house, with the poop being undeniable proof. As Eduardo continues trying to lie about the poop not coming from a dog, Bloo, Coco and Wilt see the poop Eduardo stepped on. The other imaginary friends come in and all groan in disgust. Frankie asks Ed who pooped if it's not a dog; Eduardo lies about himself doing it.
Act 2[]
Eduardo is in the garage cleaning the poop off his boot. In the Foster's foyer, Mr. Herriman comes out suited holding a broom behind his back. He tells his horrible little monster to come out and that he won't hurt him. He starts whistling and hears a noise from the kitchen and runs towards it, and so does Eduardo. The two enter the kitchen and find the trash can tilted and shaking. As the trash can continues to rattle, Mr. Herriman says "Ready, Steady Go!" and starts running towards the trash can, making Eduardo run toward the trash can as well. He uses his horns to send Mr. Herriman flying into a pile of boxes. Eduardo notices the puppy wasn't in the trash; Bloo was. He walks out of the trash can with 3 more instruments for his time machine. He says he hit the jackpot and nicknames a red soda can as "A tys-mac-opacitor," a paper ball as "A jargon frugometer", and a busted cloth hanger as "A lymcid vocationer". Eduardo tells Bloo that he's not el perrito., and Bloo walks away with his instruments and says that he most certainly is not a burrito. Eduardo sighs, realizing that finding a puppy is harder than he thought and leaves the kitchen.
After that, the puppy comes into the kitchen sniffing for something. He passes the trash can, then goes inside, grabs a bone and carries it out. On his way out of the kitchen, he steps in ketchup and leaves a trail of paw prints. Frankie pushes Bloo back into the kitchen and says that the stuff he got is trash and demands him to put it back. Bloo does so and says he's just gonna go back in time and get them again. They both see Mr. Herriman in the pile of boxes. Frankie asks him what happened, and he explains that he thinks there's a dog in the trash. Frankie rolls her eyes and tells Mr. H that she had enough of this "Hounds from Hades" business and that there's no way a dog could get in the house without somebody knowing. She tells Herriman that when she was a kid, she was afraid of ghosts, so she just had to psych herself out of it. She tells Mr. Herriman to do what her parents told her to do. As she says that, she gives Bloo several items which he decides to use for his time machine. Frankie tells Mr. Herriman if he thinks he sees a dog, he just has to repeat to himself, "A dog is not in the house, presently". Frankie happily tells Mr. Herriman that she has enough with the silliness and tells him that he's gotta relax, with Bloo agreeing while he walks away with his instruments. Mr. Herriman agrees that Frankie's right and starts saying "A dog is not in the house presently."
Back in his normal dress, Mr. Herriman says the phrase again, calling himself silly with whatever he was thinking. He goes down the halls and says the phrase over and over. Suddenly, he sees the trail of paw prints right in front of him. Hoping it's not a dog, Mr. Herriman follows them downstairs and into his office where he finds the bone covered in ketchup. He hears a chewing sound coming from his office chair, while yelling out the phrase twice. He then screams as he sees Paco's head ripped off. He runs out of his office yelling out "Frankie, save me!" After that, the loose puppy is seen chewing on Paco's body. In the hallway, Mr. Herriman runs down and yells out that there is a dog in the house presently.
Meanwhile, Eduardo's still looking for el perrito. He suddenly yelps in pain and finally finds el perrito biting his foot. He picks the puppy up and discovers that he ruined Paco. Eduardo tells el perrito not to run away anymore. Eduardo then slowly opens the door to his room, only to find Wilt, Coco, and Bloo working on the trashy time machine. Wilt and Coco spot the puppy, but Bloo is not amused. Eduardo asks Wilt if they're going to tell Herriman; Wilt answers no because then they'd have to get rid of him. Since the puppy bit Wilt's leg, Eduardo decides to call him "Chewy". Mac then comes into the room, making Bloo glad that he can get help with his time machine. Mac happily tells the guys that they're not going to believe what he found: a box filled with puppies, which Bloo says that he can't use for his time machine. As the puppies pop out of the box, Mac tells the others that someone left them by the gate in front of his house.
Everyone starts playing with the puppies, except for Bloo, who is becoming jealous of them. Bloo, with a smile, tells Mac that he's almost done with the time machine they were working on, and that if they both work on it together, he can have it up and running by that night. Mac accepts, but he's kind of busy playing with the puppies, and asks if he can help tomorrow, much to Bloo's shock. The guys start naming the puppies, with grumpy Bloo naming the 12th and last one "Stupid" then calling her dumb and useless. Mac asks Bloo why he's got to be mean, with Bloo saying it's because all he ever wanted in life is a time machine so he could go back in time with his bestest friend in the whole world. Little does he know that he's letting the puppies chew on his time machine. Bloo asks what they are doing, with Mac telling him that they're teething, and that puppies need to chew. As Bloo tries to stop them, Mr. Herriman calls them through a horn, and tells everyone that he's having an emergency meeting and to please come to the conference room at once. Eduardo puts the puppies back into their box.
As the others leave the room, Bloo sadly looks at his damaged time machine. He then picks up Stupid and gets mad at her for thinking she can just waltz in the room and steal his buddy. Bloo says that he knows underneath all the fur and slobber, he thinks that Stupid is just a fiendish, manipulative, sinister mastermind of evil. Bloo then puts her back in the box with the other puppies, and evilly laughs as he pushes the box out of the room with him.
Act 3[]
At the conference room, all the imaginary friends take their seats in front of the screen sheet. Mr. Herriman stands in front of the screen sheet and tells the Friends that some of them may be wondering why he has called the emergency meeting. Mr. Herriman says that someone has broken the most important, the most portentous, the most sacred rule of the house, a most heinous and contemptuous act; the attempt has been made on his life! Mr. Herriman says that someone has let loose hounds to destroy him, much to Frankie's annoyance. Mr. Herriman decides to present exhibit "A": a pile of fur he found.
Suddenly, Bloo slides the box of puppies into the room and tries to tell Mr. Herriman what he's got in the box, but Eduardo tackles him, causing all the puppies to get out of the box and on the loose. Eduardo tries to tell Mr. Herriman that there are absolutely no puppies loose in the room. Herriman then presents exhibit "B": the sinister trail of blood on the floor. As he continues, Mac asks Eduardo how the puppies got loose, scolding Bloo after realizing he let them loose. Mr. Herriman then says that the trail of paw-prints led him to exhibit "C": a bone, which he thinks is the remains of some unnamed victim. As he presents it, one of the puppies sniffs his foot and is about to bite it, but Wilt grabs his tail and pulls him away from Mr. Herriman, much to the others' relief.
Next, Mr. Herriman presents exhibit "D": Paco's head ripped off his body, but there’s also a dog silhouette which looks like he's about to bite. The gang sees another puppy yawning in front of the slide projector light. Mr. Herriman sees the shadow and screams with fear, but then the shadow disappears and is replaced with a hand-shaped shadow. Mac is now standing in front of the slide projector and trying to pretend he's making shadow puppets, holding the puppy behind his back. As Mr. Herriman points to Paco's head, he turns around revealing 2 puppies biting his cape. He hears a chomp and sees Coco holding his cape in her beak. At that moment, a puppy appears on his head, but Mac grabs his hat while holding the puppy behind his back. Another puppy appears sitting on his back, which Coco grabs. Mac throws a puppy up in the air and into Wilt's hand. Mac spots another puppy biting Mr. Herriman's baton, grabs it, and hides the puppy. Coco throws her puppy up in the air and into Wilt's hand as well. Another puppy appears biting Mr. Herriman's finger. Mac grabs him while Coco kicks Mr. Herriman so he can't see. Another puppy appears behind Mr. Herriman, whom Mac grabs and tosses into Coco's mouth. Coco tries to hide the puppy in her mouth, but she accidentally swallows her. She then lays a plastic egg containing the same puppy.
Eduardo counts to make sure that they collected all 12 puppies, but he realizes there's one puppy missing. Madame Foster then appears outside and reveals the 12th puppy. Eduardo tries to stop her, but he accidentally drops the box of puppies, letting them run on the loose again. Just as Mr. Herriman is about to explain exhibit "E", he sees the puppies running towards him, and screams and falls on the floor as the puppies jump onto and lick him.
The next morning, Eduardo is inside the Foster's foyer holding su perrito, apologizing to him. Frankie then walks in, dragging a scared Herriman who begs her not to leave him. She opens the door, and a dog catcher walks in and asks her if someone called about strays, which she says that she did. Eduardo sadly watches as she puts him in the dog catcher's box and gives the box to the dog catcher. Bloo tells the guys that it's too bad for the puppies and tells an upset Mac it's a tough break and says bye-bye to each puppy. The dog catcher puts Stupid in the box, but right after that, she pops her head out with a smiley face in front of Bloo and she says to him, "Goodbye, Bloo. I'll miss you!", to Bloo's shock.
Bloo's jaw drops as another one of the puppies flies out of the box like a helicopter. Another puppy pops her head out and changes colors every time she blinks. Another puppy pops out and breathes fire. One puppy hops into Wilt's hand, then disappears like magic, making Wilt shocked. "No wonder we couldn't find you!" Another puppy lands on the back of Coco and lays a plastic egg and says "Roro!" Mac's puppy, Lucy, turns her eyes glowy and red, and she shoots lasers at the floor, the lasers scaring the dog catcher out and onto the porch. Chewy runs to Eduardo, who picks him up. Chewy opens his mouth wide and his teeth turn sharp, and he bites Eduardo making him yell in pain. Stupid tells Bloo she always loved him best, and Bloo makes a sad face and yells out that her always loved her the best, too. Everyone continues playing with their powerful puppies, and Frankie, who's watching them, calls them "Imaginary puppies". Mr. Herriman worridly peeks out from behind the curtains, but Frankie happily tells him that it's okay, because the puppies are not real dogs, but imaginary, causing him to faint.
Spoilers end here.
Trivia[]
- In the Swedish dub of this episode, they changed Eduardo's replaced word of "burrito" into "bicycle" instead.
- This episode marks the first appearance of Don Lickles.
- This is the first episode where Mr. Herriman actually calls Frankie by her preferred name instead of "Miss Frances".
- The episode reveals some animal-like imaginary friends can also be difficult to identify as imaginary friends due to how animal-like they are.
- This episode reveals that Mr. Herriman has cynophobia (fear of dogs).
- This is the 13th episode and the last made for Season 1, according to the production code.
- This is the official update of Frankie without strings hanging over her ears, which remains in her design through the rest of the series.
- When Bloo gasps in shock seeing Mac getting tickled by the puppies, his animation is recycled from "Store Wars" when seeing Coco bought the real massage chair.
- Frankie states that her parents helped her conquer her fear of ghosts when she was a child, yet in "Bloooo", she acts like she is still scared of ghosts.
Cultural references[]
- This episode's title is a reference to Baha Men's hit song, "Who Let the Dogs Out?".
- Wilt names his puppies Michael, Magic, and Kareem. These are references to famous NBA all-stars such as Michael Jordan, Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr., and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- Bloo agrees with Frankie telling Mr. Herriman to relax, saying “Frankie Says Relax!”. This is a reference to the song “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, more specifically the popular phrase “Frankie Says Relax” that is commonly associated with the song itself.
- When Eduardo is showing Chewy his toys, a toy star can be seen that is shaped similarly to the Starman power up from the Super Mario series.