A couple is at the vet's with their white dog, and the vet doesn't know what's wrong with him. She brings Martha forward, and Martha asks the white dog (named Teddy) what's wrong, but he doesn't know. The vet supposes that Teddy is sick from something he ate or drank. Teddy claims he didn't eat or drink anything weird, but the vet suggests maybe he ate or drank too much of something, and points out that dogs eat non-food sometimes.
She has Martha go to Teddy's place to determine what he could have ingested, so she does, accompanied by Helen, T.D., Skits, and Mariella. In the car, Martha isn't sure she can find out what Teddy ate or drank, since he's a bit of a dope. They arrive at Teddy's place, and Martha reveals that Teddy says he didn't eat anything weird, but T.D. points out that Teddy has a strange idea of what counts as food.
Martha and Skits summon Burt, Francois, Rinty, and one other to see if they can smell what Teddy might have eaten. The dogs can't smell anything poisonous, and then Rinty suggests that maybe Teddy walked on a dangerous substance and then licked it off, like what happened when he (Rinty) walked through a yard that had pesticide on it and licked his paw. Helen wonders if that's what happened to Teddy, but his female owner says that can't be the case, since he never left the yard and she and her husband don't use pesticides. Burt reveals that he once puked from wearing a flea collar, but his female owner says that that's happened to Teddy before but can't have happened now since he no longer wears a flea collar. She then reveals that she can feel a hard, round object in his stomach.
The other dog, whose name is revealed to be Leon, wonders if Teddy ate a cat, but Skits points out that Teddy likes cats. Francois wonders if it was a purse strap and Leon wonders if it was a chicken bone, but those aren't hard and round (and besides, Teddy's owners are careful about how they throw away chicken bones). T.D. wonders if it was a roly-poly bug, but Martha says bugs aren't poisonous to dogs. T.D. wonders if the squirrels made Teddy sick so the dogs wouldn't chase them by building a "Trojan Bone" (like a Trojan Horse), only to run away when they realised they couldn't fight him and poison him with a grape. Martha points out that Teddy could have eaten a grape himself, and besides, grapes aren't hard. She then sees some rocks and wonders if Teddy ate one of those.
She tells the vet and Teddy that he ate a rock, embarrassing Teddy. In the waiting room, Helen asks why Teddy would eat a rock, and Martha explains that he was hungry and thought his owners would never stop being too busy to feed him, so he ate a nearby rock. Then, Teddy's owners reveal that the vet got the rock and Teddy will be fine.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: T.D. draws the King of Squirrels wearing a crown, a builder squirrel wearing a hard hat, and another builder squirrel wearing a welding mask.
- Alliterative Title: The Trouble with Teddy.
- Animal Jingoism: Played with. Martha and Leon find cats annoying, but Teddy likes them.
- Big Eater: According to Martha, Teddy is "always hungry".
- Catching Some Z's: T.D. draws a sleeping Teddy with Z's above him.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Martha thinks she could never find out what Teddy ate or drank, T.D. says, "You found out what Butterscotch ate", referencing the events of "Nurse Martha".
- Francois is seen using his agility course, which was first seen in "Martha Fails the Course".
- Didn't Think This Through: T.D. wonders if the squirrels tried to trick Teddy with a "Trojan Bone", only to realise they were "still just squirrels" and run away when they actually came face-to-face with him.
- The Ditz: Teddy is a bit dumb — he can't play catch, he doesn't know how doors work, and he has an irrational hatred for water.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: Discussed when T.D. thinks the squirrels made Teddy sick to stop all the dogs from chasing them (feeling that they'd be scared off chasing squirrels if the biggest dog was made sick).
- Eat Dirt, Cheap: Deconstructed. Teddy eats a rock and it makes him seriously ill.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Martha realises Teddy ate a rock upon seeing some more rocks
- Extreme Omnivore:
- Teddy has eaten chunks out of furniture, a diaper, and a rock.
- T.D. admits to having eaten roly-poly bugs when he was younger.
- Flashback:
- When Martha is explaining that Teddy isn't smart, we see a series of his past dopey actions.
- When T.D. points out that Teddy might not know what counts as a weird thing to eat, he flashes back to Teddy being dog-sat by the Boxwoods and chewing up the living room furniture.
- When Martha explains that Rinty once walked on pesticide and licked his paw, he's seen doing it.
- A scene is shown in the past of Burt throwing up from his flea collar.
- When Martha is explaining why Teddy ate the rock, it's shown to the audience.
- The Food Poisoning Incident: Discussed when Martha wonders if the thing Teddy ate that made him sick was a rotten egg or piece of meat.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Francois is seen doing agility in a shirt and helmet but no pants.
- No Animals Allowed: The pesticide-covered yard is seen with a sign banning dogs and cats.
- Noodle Incident:
- Apparently, Martha once ate a rug.
- Martha once asks, "Remember when Teddy ate Jake's diaper?", to which T.D. covers his ears and says, "No! Don't say it! It's too gross to even think about!".
- The Pratfall: One of the dog owners falls on her bottom when the dog runs past her.
- Scary Science Words: Martha freaks out when she hears that Teddy "ingested" something, only to realise she doesn't know what that means.
- Shaped Like Itself: Teddy apparently says the rock "tasted like a rock".
- Stock Animal Diet: Discussed and exploited when T.D. wonders if squirrels tricked Teddy with a "Trojan bone".
- Tastes Like Chicken: Teddy apparently wondered if the rock would taste of chicken.
- Toilet Humour: Teddy apparently once ate Jake's diaper.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: When Burt throws up in his flashback, his face is just offscreen.
- Voodoo Shark: T.D. wonders if the reason Teddy is sick is because squirrels fed him a grape. Martha says that this raises the question of why they'd do that when there were already grapes nearby that Teddy could eat himself anyway.
