Martha and Jake are playing with a toy, but Skits feels left out and wants to join in. Then, Truman enters, but Martha reveals that Helen is at the library with T.D. However, Truman actually wants to see Martha instead of Helen, and he wants to speak to her alone.
He and Martha go into the dining room, where Truman reveals that he's been "having trouble with babies" lately. Martha asks why he'd have trouble with babies, and he reveals that it's because babies are so cute he feels like older kids like him can't compete with them. Martha suggests staying away from home when Mrs. Oatley's daycare is open, but he reveals that isn't an option, since she runs her daycare every day. He then claims that his mother wouldn't even notice if he wasn't around, since he feels she now doesn't see him as special and prefers the babies. Martha asks Truman why he thinks that, and he reveals that he got a star on a school assignment, but his mother paid more attention to the babies than to him when he tried to tell her. Martha replies that Mrs. Oatley is only giving the babies lots of attention because they need it, and she still loves Truman. Then, she reveals that she used to be jealous of Skits when he was a puppy, and we see a flashback.
At the beginning of the flashback, Martha reveals that she initially got along with Skits, but then she became jealous when the Lorraines and T.D. fawned over him but not her. Then, she decided to act like a puppy, the logic being that the humans apparently preferred puppies to grown dogs. However, she does this by tearing paper, chewing Helen's shoe, and peeing on the floor, which just makes Helen mad. Martha blames Skits and claims that Helen only notices him and not her.
At the flower shop, Helen tells Mariella about the situation and wonders why Martha is so touchy, since she actually loves both dogs equally. Mariella says that Martha probably feels like she's being snubbed since she's used to being the only pet. Helen decides to spend one-on-one time with Martha, and initially it works, only for her jealousy to come back when they get home.
She then starts to become mad at Skits and starts ignoring him and shooing him away. This makes Skits sad, and when he loses his appetite, the Lorraines think he's sick. Martha, being Afraid of Needles, doesn't want the vet to give Skits a shot, so she tells him to snap out of it. He asks (in barks) if she no longer likes him, but she assures him she does. She explains that she was jealous of him, but promises not to be anymore.
In the present, Martha assures Truman that younger animals (including humans) need attention, but Helen wasn't playing favourites; Martha was just being touchy. She assures Truman that his mother still loves him, but he still has his doubts. Just then, however, Mrs. Oatley arrives and is keen to learn what Truman did in school.
This episode provides examples of
- Afraid of Doctors: Martha considers going to the vet to be a bad fate and is nervous at the idea of Skits being taken there.
- Afraid of Needles: Martha becomes apprehensive at the prospect of Skits getting a shot.
- Appetite Equals Health: Discussed. Helen and Mariella wonder if little Skits is sick when he's not eating, but actually he's just sad.
- Copycat Mockery: When accusing Helen of only noticing Skits, Martha does a mocking impression of Helen fawning over Skits.
- Covered in Gunge: Martha claims that babies are "always covered in food".
- Ear Ache: Downplayed when Skits playfully bites Martha on the ear.
- Flashback: We see Truman in the past as he's explaining how his mom allegedly didn't care about the star he got on his project.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The reason Truman feels annoyed about the babies is because he feels that everyone (especially his mother) thinks they're special and he isn't.
- Howl of Sorrow: Skits howls when Martha calls him touchy, since he thinks she doesn't like him.
- The Hyena: Martha says that one reason babies are fun is because "they laugh at everything".
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Truman says that he doubts his mother likes him... only for Mrs. Oatley to show up, eager to hear what he did in school.
- Intentional Mess Making: When Martha decides to be a puppy, she tears up some paper, then later, she pees on the carpet.
- Jealous Pet: This episode reveals that when Skits was a puppy, Martha would be jealous of him since he got more attention from the humans.
- Manchild: Invoked when Martha decides that if the humans prefer puppies to grown dogs, she'd act like a puppy. She does so by tearing paper, chewing up Helen's shoe, and peeing on the floor.
- Nursery Rhyme: One of the things Helen does when spending one-on-one time with Martha is sing "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" with her while running in a circle.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: In one of the flashbacks, Helen says to Skits, "Who's a happy doggie?", and Martha replies, "Me!".
- Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: When the puppy Skits is unhappy about Martha being crabby with him, he doesn't want any dog food.
- Urine Trouble: Martha deliberately wets the floor when trying to be like a puppy.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Most of this episode takes place in the past, with Martha being jealous of a puppy Skits.
- You No Take Candle: Truman complains about babies having "horrible sentence structure" (saying sentences like "me tired").
