Laura neglects to watch Jack, who manages to get into mischief. Around the same time, a new and odd citizen, Miss Kezia, has chosen to occupy the scant remnants of a completely ruined house foundation. To Laura's great sadness, and the shock of the Ingalls family, Jack has grown older than they thought, and his time on the earth reaches an end. Without warning, Laura finds Jack has passed on in the barn, and everyone buries him up atop a hill. Reeling from the passing of the beloved sheepdog, the family, especially Laura, grieve slowly. However, another dog is about to enter their lives, though Laura is too hurt to let him into hers. It's the surprise arrival of a mischievous new hound during one of Charles's freight trips to Sleepy Eye. It acquaints him to a pup he deems "Bandit" for stealing biscuits.
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Cloudcuckoolander: Kezia Horn lives in a land where she pretends to have an imaginary house, and asks people to knock on her imaginary door. Mrs. Oleson is appalled by her behavior and leads a campaign agains the eccentric old lady to get her out ot town.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Kezia is a lonely, eccentric old lady whom some see as an embarassing presence in Walnut Grove. However, she's wise in her own right and Laura helps others see that their prejudice was affecting a completely harmless, good-natured person.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Laura's main reason to be hesitant to accept Bandit as the new family dog is because she's afraid to eventually go through the loss of another pet.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Kezia helps Laura realize that the townspeople's treatment and rejection towards herself wasn't that different than Laura's rejecting Bandit's attempts to gain her affections.
- Talking Animal: Played with; Kezia has a pet bird that repeats words like a parrot, but it's a raven.
- Trying Not to Cry: When they find Jack dead, Laura is shown visibly sobbing but Charles is also clearly holding back tears.
