Lucky and Chuckles arrive presently back at the pound. "Hi, Lucky," Squirt greets them. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Chuckles." Lucky replies.
"I used to be a circus dog," Chuckles elaborates dolefully. "But my owner Roscoe the clown replaced me in his act."
"I brought him here to stay with us until things can get patched up between him and his owner." Lucky adds.
"Well, you're certainly quite welcome here, sweetie." Cookie says kindly.
"Yeah, our pound is your home-uh, or is that, 'Our home is your pound?'" adds a befuddled Niblet.
"Awww, thank you so very much, you guys." a very moved Chuckles sighs contentedly. A wistful look then crosses his face. "Say, folks, would you like me to teach you some circus tricks?"
"Oh boy!" "We'd love that!" the dogs and cats reply excitedly.
Chuckles promptly takes out a large brightly colored case, opens it up and takes out various circus props, such as a hoop, a beach ball, hacky-sacks, and a parasol. Chuckles then holds up the hoop as Squirt promptly jumps through it. "Hey, this is pretty fun." the Chihuahua notes happily.
Niblet then tries to jump through but only succeeds in getting the hoop stuck around his middle. "Oopsies."
Fluffy merrily balances the beach ball on her nose, while the Pup Club happily juggle the hacky-sacks. "Whee!" Meanwhile, Strudel tiptoes across a rope lying on the ground while holding the parasol in the manner of a tightrope walker. "What fun! I could certainly enjoy doing this for a living(1)."
Hoping to join the fun, Ace steps up on a small wooden crate and announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, we now present to you the famous performing puppies and kittens!" upon which the dogs and cats join Chuckles in doing backflips and somersaults, laughing merrily as they go.
Looking at her watch, Cookie suddenly notes, "Goodness, we've been having so much fun with this I hadn't noticed it was lunch time!" The Pup Club quickly hurry toward the dinner table. "I'll put out the plates and silverware." says Cupcake. "And I'll put out the glasses." adds Patches. "Thank you, dears." Cookie replies graciously.
After the table is set, the Puppies and Kittens promptly seat themselves. "Chef Francoise(2) should be by soon." Lucky notes. Seconds later, a tall thin beige cat in a chef's outfit, holding a covered tray, enters the room. "Ah, bonjour, mes amis," she politely greets them. "I see you have a new friend."
"This is Chuckles," Rebound replies happily. "He's a circus dog."
"A circus dog? Ohh, how very nice! I hope that you weel like what I 'ave prepared for us today." Francoise sets the tray down and removes the cover, revealing several dishes of piping-hot stew. "Our special today ees a savory beef stew. Only the best for our guest." She then serves each of the dogs and cats.
"Oh, thank you very much, Francoise, this is delectable." Chuckles says as he takes a bite of stew. "You're quite welcome, my dear." she replies as she then leaves.
"My," Strudel muses as she eats. "Walking the tightrope certainly was very enjoyable. How wonderful it would be to be able to do that all the time..."
"I just wonder if Roscoe even misses me," Chuckles says sadly. "I sure do miss him, and I miss working at the circus."
Little did Chuckles know that Roscoe was missing him at this very moment.
(1)This was originally her ambition in "Dog on a Wire."
(2)She's based on Chef Louie from the 1985 special and book series.