The Princess is carrying a tree branch. The narrator asks what she's doing, and she explains that she's making a den for Gilbert. As she struggles to bring the branch inside, the narrator asks if the Princess is allowed to build a den inside. She says yes, as long as she doesn't make a mess. He asks what happens if she does, and she replies that the den will be taken away.
She takes the branch upstairs and builds the den, then goes to the kitchen and takes some cookies. On her way back, however, she notices that some leaves and twigs fell on the floor. She tries to clean it up with a mop and a pail, but not only would that not work on leaves and twigs, it only makes things worse because some water spills.
Then, when the Princess reaches the mess, she sees the Maid is already there, cleaning it up. The Princess says, "Uh-oh", making the Maid suspicious. The Princess lies by saying the episode title, then Scruff comes along and jumps into the leaf pile. The Maid assumes he did it, so the Princess sneaks off.
Unfortunately, she's not out of the woods yet because the King and Queen, plus Puss, have found the water puddle. She again claims not to have done it, so the King asks who did. The Princess tries to think up another lie, when Scruff comes along. They assume the puddle is his pee, and brand him a "messy pup".
The King decides to take Scruff outside as punishment, prompting the Princess to feel guilty and admit it wasn't Scruff. She's not ready to own up, though, so she claims Gilbert did it. Of course, no one believes that and Scruff is put in his kennel anyway.
That night, the Princess is looking out the window. The narrator is happy that she's kept her den, but the Princess is more concerned about Scruff. She tries to reassure herself by reminding herself that the Queen says he's all right and that lots of dogs live very happily in kennels. She isn't so sure though when a thunderstorm starts.
The next morning, the Princess calls for Scruff, but he can't come to her because a chain is attached to his collar. The narrator notes that Scruff looks unhappy, so the Princess thinks that he could be bored. Meanwhile, Puss tries to break Scruff's chain.
The Princess tries to cheer Scruff up by making Gilbert dance, but Scruff doesn't seem interested. She wonders if he isn't "comfy" and puts pillows in the kennel, but he still doesn't seem happy. She wonders if he's hungry, so she steals some chicken for him, but he doesn't want it, scaring the Princess as Scruff likes chicken usually.
The scene cuts to the Princess looking glum in her den. The narrator is surprised that she doesn't seem to be enjoying her den, and she explains that she feels bad. The narrator thinks that the Princess ate something bad, but she explains that her reason for feeling bad is that Scruff is sad and she's at fault. No longer caring about the den being taken away (as "it's no fun without Scruff anyway"), she decides to own up to the King and Queen.
The Princess tells the King and Queen, "I did it," then asks to be put in the kennel. They're confused though, so she specifies that she was the one who "made the big mess". The King and Queen call her brave and let Scruff out, but, because of the pillows, he wants to stay. So, the Princess converts the kennel into a den.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Puss wears a bandit mask when trying to break Scruff's chain.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the book, the Princess simply felt a bit grumpy for being mistaken for misbehaving. In this episode, she gets a scene where she's wracked with guilt for her lies. Justified in that in the book, she truly didn't do it, while in the episode, she did.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. In the book, the Princess truly didn't do it, whereas in the episode, she did. She's still by no means a jerk in the episode, though.
- Adapted Out: The Little Prince features at the end of the book of the same name, but there's no sign of him in the episode.
- Agony of the Feet: Or rather, paws. When the Princess calls for Scruff, Puss is startled and drops his pliers on his paw, hurting it.
- Blatant Lies: When the Princess is trying to avoid telling the truth about the mess but prevent Scruff from being punished, she says that Gilbert was the one responsible for the puddle of what the King and Queen think is pee but is actually water.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: A rooster is heard crowing in the morning.
- Dramatic Irony: The Chef sees the cookies gone and Scruff eating one, then assumes he ate them all. We know that Scruff only ate that one cookie.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Princess is not above lying, but she doesn't want someone else to be punished for something she did.
- The Food Poisoning Incident: Discussed when the Princess says that she feels bad and the narrator asks, "Is it something you've eaten?". Thankfully though, she's just sad.
- Grossout Fakeout: The King and Queen mistake some spilled water for dog pee.
- Happy Dance: The Princess is seen dancing on the spot once Scruff's name is cleared.
- Howl of Sorrow: Scruff gives a little offended howl after the Maid unfairly calls him a "messy pup", then later he howls several times as he's being taken to his kennel.
- Hurt Foot Hop: Puss hops on one leg when one of his hind paws gets hurt by his pliers falling on it.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The Princess ends up feeling really guilty for causing Scruff to get unfairly punished.Princess: "I feel bad because Scruff is sad and it's all my fault!"
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Scruff turns down his chicken, Princess says, "Oh dear! You must be really sad if you won't eat chicken!"
- Snap Back: This is the first time the King is seen playing croquet since "I Want My Dummy", in which he was forced to give it up. It's not a very blatant example though, since he's playing it with the Queen, who told him to give it up, so she must have changed her mind.
- Speak in Unison: The King and Queen say, "Yes" in unison when the Princess asks if Scruff can come out of his kennel.
- Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Scruff is sad in his doghouse and so doesn't want any chicken.
- Urine Trouble: Discussed. The King and Queen think Scruff peed on the floor, but it was only water from the Princess's bucket.
