After Mrs. Demson (in the hospital) explains that the vocabulary is on illness, Helen and Martha are seen going for a walk, during which Martha greets humans. Helen tells her not to do it, lest she meet someone who dislikes dogs, but Martha doesn't believe anyone could dislike dogs. However, she then runs into Mrs. Demson, who sneezes and starts itching, causing her to believe she's allergic to dogs.
As paramedics take Mrs. Demson to the hospital, Martha feels guilty, but Mariella says that Mrs. Demson probably only imagined that she was allergic to dogs. Mariella then reveals that the hospital is looking for a "therapy dog", so Martha and Skits apply. However, only Martha gets the job, since Skits is declared too young when he chases after an IV. Martha has fun entertaining the patients all day, but the last patient is Mrs. Demson. She makes a fuss and insists Martha be kicked out, even though the doctors have confirmed that she's not allergic to dogs and they're only giving her a hospital stay to humour her.
The next day, the doctor (Dr. Hart) phones Martha and reveals that Mrs. Demson tried to be a "therapy human", only to make the patients cry. He decides to sneak Martha in, and she agrees to it. She sneaks in disguised as an old woman named Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Demson looks at her through the binoculars and mistakes her for a woman with a nose rash. However, when she trips and falls out of her clothes, Mrs. Demson sees her and kicks her out.
Martha then decides to win Mrs. Demson over with a musical number, so she enters as a one-dog band, only to be kicked out again. So, Martha then decides that they need to get Mrs. Demson out of her room for a few hours by using something she likes. She phones her up, pretending to be a saleswoman, and claims there's a sale on hard candy.
This works, and Martha starts work in the children's ward, but when Mrs. Demson comes back and finds one of Martha's hairs on the floor, she sets off a siren she brought with her. When she explains to Dr. Hart that it's because "that dog is back", he tells everyone it's a false alarm and orders Mrs. Demson back to bed.
Helen and Martha prepare to leave, but Mrs. Demson rings her buzzer, demanding a compress for her head. Mrs. Demson thanks Martha (who she can't see because the compress covers her eyes), but then finds out who she is when she touches her paw. They finally convince her she's not allergic since she touched Martha and had no symptoms, so she goes home.
This episode provides examples of
- Air Quotes: Helen makes quotation marks when recounting something that Mrs. Demson said regarding Alice's lemonade stand.
- Annoying Patient: Mrs. Demson insists on being hospitalised for an imaginary rash, yells at the staff to get rid of the therapy dog, and even brings a siren into the hospital.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Martha's "Mrs. Smith" disguise includes a wig, headscarf, and bathrobe, but no shoes.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Mrs. Demson asks when she'll experience "relief" from her rash, Dr. Hart echoes back, "Relief?!", surprised because Mrs. Demson doesn't actually have a rash. However, she thinks he doesn't know what relief is and defines it.
- Fun with Homophones: When the doctor says Martha found her first "patients", she thinks he said, "patience".
- Fuzz Therapy: Martha gets a job as a "therapy dog", cheering up hospital patients.
- Innocently Insensitive: Mrs. Demson tries to be a therapist, or as she calls it, a "therapy human", but due to her negative attitude, ends up making the patients sad instead of happy.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Dr. Hart is seen in a lab coat.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Martha feels very guilty about possibly giving Mrs. Demson a rash.
- Not So Above It All: Despite claiming not to know what happiness even is, Mrs. Demson says, "Woo-hoo-hoo!" at the prospect of a sale on hard candy.
- Plot Allergy: Subverted. Mrs. Demson thinks she's allergic to dogs, but it's revealed to be psychosomatic. She also apparently once thought she was allergic to citrus when she wasn't.
- Slapstick:
- Martha initially has trouble standing up on the lino floor in the hospital.
- She then trips on her bathrobe when disguised as "Mrs. Smith".
- Sweet Tooth: Throughout the episode, Mrs. Demson is seen eating hard candy. Exploited when Martha tricks Mrs. Demson by pretending there's a sale on it.
- Tempting Fate: Martha says, "Who could not like a dog?!", only to run into the animal-hating Mrs. Demson.
- Word, Schmord!: Mrs. Demson says to another old lady, "Oh, broken hip, schmoken hip. You don't know pain!".
