Terrence goes to sit on the couch next to a sleeping Lily, tightens a screw on the coffee table, but then accidentally rips a hole in a pillow with his screwdriver. He leaves to replace the pillow, and while he's gone, Lily wakes up. She runs to the Lorraines' house and tells Martha and Skits, thinking that she'd chewed the pillow after waking from a "crazy dream". Martha assures Lily that she tore lots of things as a puppy, but she does admit she got in trouble for it, so she decides that she and Skits will help Lily hide the pillow.
Terrence goes to the store to buy a new pillow, while the dogs inspect the old one. Martha tries burying it in the couch, but feathers leak out and make a mess of the living room. To make matters worse, Martha also sheds on the couch, then Skits turns the fan on, causing newspapers to blow everywhere.
Despite all three of them being afraid of vacuum cleaners, the dogs decide to vacuum the living room. Martha chickens out and decides to sweep it instead, but accidentally knocks over a chair in the kitchen and a painting and a glass of milk in the living room. Luckily, Skits laps up the milk, but unluckily, there's still all the other messes to deal with.
Terrence chooses his pillow, but finds a long line to the counter. Martha then tries cleaning up the feathers with her mouth, but has trouble, so she enlists Francois's help. She has him kick the feathers off the sofa so she and Skits can hide them under the rug, but he accidentally kicks the rest of the pillows off, knocking over a potted plant and a lamp and knocking the curtains down and breaking a vase.
Then, the dogs try to get a mop, but it lands on Martha's head, then when Skits tries to get it off her, he bumps into a table and spills cereal. While Francois eats the cereal, Skits wets the mop and tries to mop the floor, but he used the toilet to wet it. Even worse, Martha slips on the water, crashes into the trash bin, and knocks it over.
Martha decides to ask the zoo monkeys to clean the house, since they have thumbs, but they just throw things around instead. The dogs go outside, as Terrence comes home. Martha tries to stall by having Terrence go away, ostensibly so she can remember something she wants to say, but it doesn't work. Then, she tries telling the truth, but because of the way she phrased it ("Your house is full of monkeys"), he thinks she's joking.
He's about to go in, but thankfully, he's left his keys at the store and goes off to get them. The monkeys leave, but there's still the mess to deal with. Martha brings Jeffy over, and he sucks the debris up with his trunk, while Terrence searches for the keys. Then, Skits and Jeffy mend the broken vase, and Jeffy sews up the broken pillow and puts the lamp, painting, curtains back, and pillows. Terrence realises he's left the keys outside the store, while Jeffy cleans up the potted plant and the wet floor.
Soon, the whole house is clean, but Jeffy and the dogs still need to get away. Terrence is home, but the door is stuck. Luckily, Martha, Skits, Francois, and Jeffy are able to leave, and Terrence comes in, stumped as to how the broken pillow got fixed.
This episode provides examples of
- Animal Jingoism: Discussed when Terrence sees Lily flailing around in her sleep and wonders if she's dreaming about chasing rabbits.
- Bait-and-Switch: Terrence is heard yelling, "Oh, I can't believe it!". It seems like he's seen the mess and/or the monkeys, but he's actually left his keys at the department store.
- Dramatic Irony:
- While we see how the pillow got ripped, Lily doesn't know and thinks she did it.
- When Terrence first hears the monkeys, he thinks he's left the TV on the nature channel.
- At the end, Terrence sees the sewn-up pillow, and, unaware that Jeffy fixed it, wonders if Lily did.
- Early Personality Signs: In one of Martha's puppyhood flashbacks, she eats some spilled food.
- Flashback: When Martha talks about how she tore things all the time as a puppy, we see scenes of it.
- From Bad to Worse: Each clean-up attempt creates another mess (until Jeffy succeeds in cleaning the house).Martha: "Face it: dogs make lousy housekeepers."
- Hidden Depths: Jeffy is revealed to be able to sew.
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: Martha covers her eyes as Terrence is about to discover the monkeys.
- Irony: Martha and Skits's attempts to clean up actually end up making more of a mess.
- Loud Gulp: Martha gulps when she decides to use the vacuum cleaner.
- Marshmallow Dream: Discussed when Lily thinks that she's chewed her pillow in her sleep due to her "crazy dream", but actually it was ripped by Terrence's screwdriver.
- Priceless Ming Vase: Double-Subverted. Francois knocks over a potted plant, but the pot doesn't break. However, he then knocks over a vase, which does break.
- Right on Queue: When Terrence chooses his pillow, he finds a long line to the counter.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Downplayed as it's not the main plot — Jeffy fixes the torn pillow, making Terrence's misadventures to get a new one all for naught.
- Silly Simian: When the zoo monkeys are asked to clean the house, they just throw things around.
- Slapstick:
- In one of Martha's flashbacks, she pulls on a dishtowel and a tray of food lands on her head.
- Martha struggles to walk with the broom, knocking over a chair and getting stuck in a doorway.
- When Martha tries to steal a mop, it lands on her head. Then, Skits pulls it off, but bumps into a table.
- Martha slips on the wet floor and bumps into the trash can.
- Toilet Humour: Skits uses toilet water to wet the mop.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Martha is revealed to have been a lot more destructive as a puppy than she is now.
- Unsuccessful Pet Adoption: Discussed when Martha reveals that she used to fear being sent away by the Lorraines for tearing things.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Martha, Skits, and Lily are revealed to be afraid of vacuum cleaners.
