A Mutt Above

**"A Mutt Above"** is the fifteenth episode of the fourth series, and the one-hundred-sixty-fourth episode of *The Loud House*.

## Plot

Spurred on by a classmate's mocking about Charles, Lana decides to train him to compete in a local dog show.

## Synopsis

At the park, Lana and Charles are having fun playing fetch and digging through the trash can. Suddenly, one of Lana's classmates, Lacey St. Clair, arrives with her dog Victorie, and criticizes the two for how dirty they are. When Lana rebuffs that Charles is a good dog, Lacey challenges her by stating that Victorie has won the local dog show several times in a row. When Lacey leaves, Lana decides to accept the challenge.

At the Loud House, Lana watches a video containing last year's dog show and learns of the type of classes there are, which involve an obstacle course, dressing properly, and acting classy. Seeing how much work she has to do, Lana attempts to train Charles by trying to make him run through the obstacle course, trying to get him dressed properly and doing basic commands, but Charles either doesn't do what he's commanded to do or either refuses. When Lana starts to bemoan how helpless it is to train Charles, Lola arrives with her Princess Car and asks Lana to fix it for her. When Lana explains that she's trying to train Charles for a fancy dog show, Lola promises that if she fixes her car, she can train Charles for her too, to which Lana agrees.

On the day of the dog show, Lana waits for Lola to bring Charles. At that moment, Lola arrives with Charles, who now acts very sophisticated (even Lacey is blown away at how much Charles has changed). During the show, Charles proves to be a strong competitor, as he manages to perform all the classes flawlessly. When the dog show nears its end, the emcee announces that it's a tie between Charles and Victorie, and states that in the event of a tie, both dogs and their owners will partake in a walk-off. As the dogs get ready for the walk off, Lana wants to celebrate their victory later on, but Charles refuses, as he no longer enjoys those things anymore. Realizing what she transformed her closest friend into, she breaks down crying, wishing for Charles to go back to his normal self. When Lana hugs Charles, he suddenly picks up a familiar smell and discover it's his favorite tennis ball. This causes Charles to revert to his normal self, and Lana happily takes the costume off her best friend and forfeits the competition, much to Lola's dismay.

The next day, Lana and Charles play in the mud at the park again. At that moment, Lacey arrives with Victorie and the trophy, and proceeds to jeer at Lana some more. However, Lana simply states that she wouldn't want it any other way and drives her rival away by splashing mud on both her and Victorie.

## Cast

* Tex Hammond as Lincoln
* Jessica DiCicco as Lucy / Dog Show Judge
* Grey Griffin as Lana / Lola / Dog Show Judge
* Dee Bradley Baker as Charles / Victorie / Dog Show Judge
* Kay Bess as Dog Show Emcee
* Chandni Parekh as Lacey

## Trivia

* The premise of this episode is similar to "Toads and Tiaras," as both episodes involve someone trying to make someone very unsophisticated into a more proper person.
	+ Coincidentally, both episodes star Lana in them. However, in this episode, she is the trainer, as opposed to "Toads and Tiaras," in which she was the trainee.
* The dog seen doing a somersault and playing the harp in the Class Class of the recording of last year's dog show is a caricature of Jordan Koch's dog Lincoln.

## References

* ***A Mutt Above*** - The title of this episode references the term "a cut above the rest," meaning someone is more experienced in something than others.
* ***The Wizard of Oz*** - When Lana says that she and Charles will win the dog show, she says "we'll show that snob, and her little dog, too," a quote similar to the Wicked Witch's iconic line, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

## Video

The Loud House - Dog Champion - Nickelodeon UK