Truman comes over to the Lorraine house, where Martha is watching TV. She explains that the Lorraines are away, but that she's watching a show called Canine Careers, about the jobs of different dog breeds. A man on TV introduces a bloodhound and explains that they're good at scent-tracking. Truman says he wishes he had a bloodhound, since he lost something at Dog Head Lake, and there could be "trouble" if he doesn't find it. Martha offers to help, and Truman is dubious since she's not a bloodhound, but she points out that she's still a good "sniffer" and seeing as she's a mutt and doesn't know what breeds she has in her, she may have some bloodhound DNA. She asks what he misplaced, but he refuses to tell. She asks how she's supposed to find it, and he explains that it smells of him.
They go to the lake, and Martha starts sniffing, but all she finds is a half-eaten, mouldy baloney sandwich. She points out that she could find the thing faster if Truman told her what it was, but he's worried it would damage his reputation as a "rugged tough guy". He reveals that it's to make him feel safe and lets her guess what it is, but after a few guesses, she fails.
She searches around for a bit, but doesn't find anything that smells like Truman. He points into the woods nearby and reveals that he thinks it might be there, but he can't go there since there are bugs there, and his thing protects him from bugs. He then explains that he's afraid of bugs because they're itchy and "unpredictable". As he's talking, a grasshopper lands on him, scaring Martha. He asks what's wrong, then realises a bug is on him and runs off screaming.
After he's done screaming, Truman is ready to give up, however, he then realises that he and Martha are now lost. Martha, however, explains that they're not lost since she knows where they are. She convinces him to tell her what the item is, and he reveals that it's his "lucky rock" and it eases his fears.
They begin searching for the rock in a pile of rocks, but to no avail, and are about to call it quits, when Martha remembers the monster Big Minnie and thinks of asking her where it is. Truman, being too scared and believing Big Minnie to be made up anyway, doesn't follow. He thinks he sees his rock, but there's a bug on it. He grabs it anyway, then Martha comes back with Truman's rock (that has his name on it), revealing that the rock he picked wasn't his own. Realising that he doesn't need a rock to be brave, he throws both away. Then, they head home.
This episode provides examples of
- An Aesop: Subverted. The episode seems like it's about to have a moral on how one doesn't need an emotional crutch to be brave, but Truman states that's not the lesson he learned.
- Alliterative Title: Martha's show is called Canine Careers.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Downplayed. Big Minnie apparently gave Martha Truman's rock, but she doesn't appear onscreen.
- Buffy Speak: Martha claims that nothing in the area smells "Truman-y".
- Dramatic Irony: Big Minnie was revealed to be real in "Martha Camps Out", but in this episode, Truman thinks Martha made her up to scare him.
- Embarrassment Plot: The reason why Martha is having so much trouble finding Truman's item is he's too embarrassed to say what it is.
- Everyone Has Standards: Truman may rely on an emotional crutch, and he may be a bit of a scaredy-cat, but when Martha wonders if his item that makes him feel safer is a teddy bear, he says, "I'm not a baby!".
- Face Your Fears: While it doesn't stop him from being afraid of bugs, Truman does make himself grab a rock with a bug on it in spite of his fear.
- Fantasy Sequence: Martha imagines getting a job as a sniffer dog.
- Heroic Dog: Discussed when Martha imagines tracking down a woman's lost puppy by smell.
- I Can't Hear You: When Truman thinks Martha is trying to scare him by talking about Big Minnie, he puts his hand over his ears and sings.
- Never Trust a Title: Martha and Truman are never actually lost; he just thinks they are at one point.
- One-Episode Fear: Subverted. Truman is revealed to be afraid of bugs, then he faces his fear making it seem like he's no longer afraid of them... but then he reveals that he's still afraid of them and probably always will be.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: When Truman realises there's a bug on him, he lets out a high-pitched scream. Perhaps justified since his voice hasn't changed yet.
- Spoof Aesop: Truman says that the lesson he learned is that he'll always be afraid of bugs.
- Unmanly Secret: Truman keeps his lucky rock a secret because he fears it'd hurt his reputation as a "rugged tough guy", though played with since while he's not that effeminate, he's not actually tough at all, and a lucky rock isn't really considered girly, just weird.
