Spike Runs Away

"Spike Runs Away" is a Season 3 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Stu
 * Didi
 * Lou
 * Spike
 * Winston St. George
 * Dog Warden
 * Chas (mentioned)
 * Betty (mentioned)

Synopsis
''Spike gets loose from his doghouse and runs away. Will Stu and Didi ever be able to find a suitable replacement for Tommy? - Description from Klasky Csupo''

Plot
One evening, Spike chases an insect out of the Pickles garden and upon losing it runs off down the road. Once realising Spike is missing, Stu searches the streets by foot however fails to find him. Tommy and Chuckie (who is staying with the Pickles while his father is at a conference) hear that Spike has run away however Tommy isn't concerned thinking Spike will be back soon. Stu and Didi go to the dog pound to report Spike missing but the warden doesn't give them much hope. They also pin up flyers but receive no word. Tommy realises that Spike might never come back and starts crying.

After seeing Tommy and Chuckie sitting by Spike's empty dog house looking thoroughly depressed, Didi decides that it's time to move on and get a new pet to replace Spike so that the babies won't feel lonely anymore. Lou objects to this knowing that Stu won't approve. Didi admits that it will be hard on everyone at first, but she thinks it's for the best. Didi brings home a poodle named Cuddles. Although Cuddles seems to like Didi, she hates Stu and the babies, taking and wrecking their toys, eating their cookies, constantly barking (and in Stu's case, biting) at them, and refusing to share Didi. Because it's obviously not going to work out, Didi returns Cuddles to the man she bought her from (who she reports was promptly bitten by Cuddles once she got through the door).

Stu suggests that they get a boa constrictor, because he had one as a kid and it almost ate Drew once. Didi refuses to allow a snake in the house knowing it might eat Tommy. Didi suggest a parrot, but Stu said that he heard parrots live over a 100 and they don't want something that old in the house besides Lou, who is looking for his truss. Stu goes to a pet store with a different idea in mind: turtles. The salesman discourages Stu from getting a turtle because of the horror stories he's heard about turtles. Stu asks if he has anything he can recommend.

Stu, to Didi's horror, comes home with a tarantula. Stu insists the tarantula is friendly, and he even had him de-fanged so he can't bite. Stu named the spider Terry and asks Didi if she wants to pet him. Didi quickly replies "maybe later", so Terry is introduced to Tommy and Chuckie. They let Terry out of his container to try and have him play with them, but instead the spider wanders the house. It eventually ends up in Lou's room, and on his bed, where he's currently sleeping, but soon wakes. Back in the kitchen, Stu has just revealed Terry cost $50.00 when they hear Lou scream upstairs. Moments later he walks into the kitchen with a wad of tissues. He explains there was a huge spider in his room, but it's okay because he "got him" as he throws the tissue and the dead spider in the trash.

The next pets are a pair of gerbils named Tanya and Rupert. Stu purchased an elaborate habitat for the gerbils, which Didi finds impressive, though she doubts their ability to turn on their jacuzzi. Tommy and Chuckie watch the gerbils and decide to let them out of their habitat. The gerbils run out and promptly vanish, and nobody can find them. Two weeks later, the grownups know the gerbils haven't left because they keep finding their "presents" all over the house. Tommy and Chuckie decide to try and find gerbil presents, and are disappointed when they find out it's actually gerbil poop. They hear a noise coming from the basement door, think that the real presents are downstairs, and open the door. "The floor is moving!" Chuckie exclaims. Stu finds them moments later and also looks downstairs. It turns out the gerbils have been reproducing in mass numbers!

Some time later, Tommy and Chuckie are in bed, and missing Spike. Tommy hopes that Spike is happy on Jupiter, because according to Chuckie, dogs love it there. Downstairs, Didi and Stu are talking about how they haven't had any luck with new pets. It looks like Spike will never come back. They think about how awful it must be out on the streets for Spike when the doorbell rings to their surprise. A very wealthy looking man is there, and explains he had recently found a well bred Siberian tiger hound. He explains that he intended to keep the dog and breed him, but saw their ad in the paper and decided to return him.

The Siberian tiger hound turns out to be none other than Spike! Stu wants to wake up Tommy right away and show him. Didi says they ought to wait until morning since it's late, but Spike rushes upstairs on his own and jumps into the crib. Tommy and Spike are both overjoyed to be back together again.

Trivia

 * When Tommy tells Chuckie, "Chuckie, I knew Spike! Spike was a friend of mine! And let me tell you something, that poople is no Spike!", his dialogue is reference to a remark made during the 1988 United States vice-presidential debate by Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis' vice-presidential running mate Senator Lloyd Bentsen to Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle.
 * This episode reveals Spike's breed to be Siberian tiger hound. The writers evidently came up with it because Spike does not resemble any possible real life breed of dog, although he appears to be somewhat of a bloodhound mix.
 * While in the pet store, the salesman says turtles are a bad idea and that he's heard horror stories about turtles. This is likely a reference to the real life ban of turtles as pets in the United States because turtles carry salmonella, which is easily spread.
 * This episode is similar to "Dino Disappears" from The Flintstones, the Peanuts movie "Snoopy, Come Home", "Pluto Runs Away" from Mickey Mouse Works, "Have You Seen This Snail?" from SpongeBob SquarePants, the Arthur movie "Arthur's Missing Pal", "Oh, There You Are Perry!" from Phineas and Ferb and "Come Home Abner" from Hey Arnold!
 * Winston St. George is voiced by the late Tony Jay.
 * At the petshop, if you read closely near the outside door, its says that there are "Wombles" available. The Wombles are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in creative ways. Wombles were created by author Elisabeth Beresford, and originally appeared in a series of children's novels from 1968.
 * The presents are actually gerbil poop. 
 * This episode shows that Didi loves poodles.
 * This was the last speaking appearance of Grandpa Lou until Chanukah a few months later.
 * It is revealed that Lou hates spiders.
 * For some reason, Chuckie wasn't at the dog pound with the Pickles, although he was staying with them while his father is away.
 * It is also revealed that Stu had an eight-foot boa constrictor when he was a kid.
 * According to the Rugrats timeline, the episode takes place in April 1991, before "Tommy's First Birthday".
 * In flashbacks with Spike, Tommy wore a green shirt instead of his traditional blue one.
 * Moral: Make sure your home is secure and locked so your pets won’t run off.

Animals For Sale At "Waldo's"

 * Elephant
 * Giant Mantis
 * Giant Snail
 * Lion
 * Blue Gorilla
 * Shark
 * A Mad Coyote
 * Black Cats
 * Snakes