Helen and her dogs are trying to decide what to watch on TV, but there is nothing on but sports, which bores them. However, a show about animals doing sports captures Martha's attention. A man on TV demonstrates a dog agility course, then Martha imagines herself on the show and wants to try it for herself. However, Helen disagrees, thinking that Martha would dislike it, as she's unathletic. Martha convinces Helen to let her try, however, so Helen agrees to ask Mrs. Clusky for advice.
As it turns out, Mrs. Clusky owns an agility course, which Francois uses. She shows Helen and Martha the course, and Francois demonstrates. Martha is cocky that she's be able to do it well, but Helen isn't so sure, since Martha has been clumsy in the past. Martha then tries the course, but she falls off the balance beam, knocks the poles over, slides backwards off the seesaw, knocks the beam down as she jumps over it, and gets stuck in the hoop and the tunnel. Francois yips at her, which apparently translates to "You're a clumsy sausage".
Martha has a nightmare about climbing a giant seesaw-ladder to escape a giant Francois. She falls off the seesaw-ladder and escapes through a small tunnel, but then gets stuck... and finds her hind legs and butt are still on the other side. She tries to go through some poles while still in the tunnel, only to get tangled up, and then laughed at by the giant Francois, along with Mrs. Clusky, Helen, Alice, Danny, Truman, and Skits. Helen wakes her up and they talk about the nightmare. Helen tries to reassure Martha that she just needs practice, but Martha is convinced she is a "clumsy sausage" and vows never to move in public again.
The next day, Helen walks Skits but has to push Martha in a little red wagon. Then, because Alice is visiting, Helen has to carry Martha to her food bowl and bring the bowl to her mouth. Alice asks Helen why Martha isn't moving, and Helen explains that Martha fell down in front of another dog, who made fun of her. Alice says that if she stopped moving just because she fell down in front of something, she would have stopped at six months, and she once even fell down standing still in an empty room.
The girls and dogs go out, with Martha still in the wagon, and the girls try to convince Martha that falling down is no big deal. They go to the beach, but although Skits swims, Martha refuses to. In Helen's treehouse, she expresses worry about Martha. Alice is sure that Martha isn't clumsy, but just needs practice, and Helen agrees, likening it to learning to ride a bike. The girls talk about bikes, and Alice reveals that she still uses training wheels, but only because her bike is too tall. Helen then realises that maybe the agility course was just too small.
The girls and Mariella make Martha a bigger course, and at first she's afraid to try it for fear of embarrassing herself. However, the girls give her a pep talk, and then they and Skits have a go, only to mess up. However, they laugh at their own mistakes, so Martha, thinking it looks fun, joins in.
This episode provides examples of
- Aside Glance: The episode ends with Martha looking awkwardly at the viewer.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Martha's nightmare has a giant Francois, Mrs. Clusky, Helen, Alice, Danny, Truman, and Skits.
- Canine Confusion: Martha's teeth are shown, but she has no fangs.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Mrs. Clusky says that there's more to dog agility than "running in a circle and jumping over rails", Martha thinks that the "more" is that it's a lot of fun.
- When Alice says that her bike is too tall, Helen says, "Maybe that's Martha's problem!". Alice replies, "She... needs a smaller bike?".
- Continuity Nod:
- When Martha states being an agility dog as her "lifelong dream", Helen responds, "I thought your lifelong dream was to be a firehouse dog", which is what Martha wanted to be in "Fire Dog Martha".
- Alice mentions her ballet classes, which she took up in "Alice Twinkle Toes".
- T.D.'s line "You can't let a little thing like total humiliation stand between you and a good time" from "Martha Gives Advice" is alluded to again.
- Double Standard: Martha finds sports shows boring if they're about people, but enjoys watching other dogs play sports.
- Embarrassment Plot: The episode's plot hinges on Martha failing an agility course, being teased, and then being so ashamed she doesn't even want to walk in public.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Helen realises the agility course was too small when Alice mentions that her bike is too tall.
- Fantasy Sequence: While watching agility on TV, Martha imagines herself on the show.
- Flashback:
- When Martha asks Helen why she thinks she's not "smooth", Helen flashes back to a few of Martha's clumsy moments.
- Alice flashes back to a time she fell down standing in an empty room.
- Help, I'm Stuck!:
- Martha gets stuck in a hoop and plastic tunnel.
- She later gets stuck in another plastic tunnel in her nightmare.
- The episode ends with Martha and Skits getting stuck in a hoop.
- Irritation Nightmare: Zigzagged for Martha's nightmare. It involves some annoying things (such as being laughed at) but some legitimately scary things (such as a long fall and leaving her back half on one side of the tunnel while her front half is stuck).
- Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: Subverted. The girls try to tell Martha that she only failed the course because she needs practice, but then it turns out that that's not even the problem; the course is just too small.
- Nightmare Sequence: After failing the agility course and being called names by Francois, Martha has a nightmare about having to escape a giant Francois through obstacles that resemble a nightmarish agility course.
- The Pratfall: When Alice falls in an empty room, she lands on her behind.
- Speak in Unison: The girls quote T.D.'s "total humiliation" line in unison.
- Tempting Fate:
- Martha claims to dislike sports shows, only to find one she likes seconds later.
- Martha thinks she will ace the agility course, but she fails miserably at it.
- Alice notes that she didn't fall after stumbling and wonders if her ballet classes are paying off... only to immediately bump into a pole.
