Pal

Pal
Minor Character
Gender	Male
Animal	Golden Retriever puppy
Age	Puppy
First appeared	Arthur's Pet Business
Family	Perky (mother)

"I always thought that dog was dumb, I guess it was just you, Arthur."

— D.W. Read, "The Perfect Brother"

Pal is Arthur's pet dog of ambiguous breed in the Arthur books and TV series. His mother is Perky. In a few episodes he can talk to infants and other animals (humans can't understand him.) He barks in his debut Arthur's New Puppy. His last talking role was in Mei-lin Takes a Stand. Pal was one of the in the main characters in the animated CGI film Arthur's Missing Pal and the Season 1 episode that inspired it, Arthur's Lost Dog.

History and Appearance

Pal was born to the dog Perky of Mrs. Wood in Arthur's Pet Business, where Arthur petsat many animals including Mrs. Wood's dog. When Mrs. Wood was about to pick up Perky Arthur believed that he had lost the mother of Pal, but really she was just giving birth behind one of the Reads' chairs. Mrs. Wood let Arthur pick Pal out of the litter. Pal is a small golden-haired dog with smooth fur and wears a red collar with a silver pendant. In the TV series and CGI movie, his eyes are black; although in the books and in many detailed illustrations, they're normally white with a black dot in each one, but he is occasionally seen with black eyes. When he was a newborn puppy, he had fuzzy fur.

Personality

In some episodes, it's shown that Pal can communicate with other animals and human babies. In these episodes, he speaks with a high-brow accent. He also likes to sleep under the couch, but he usually loves to sleep on Arthur's bed with him. He dislikes being alone in places.

When he was a newborn puppy, he was easily excited and not housetrained biting his leash and popping Francine's bike tire with his teeth. Because of doing these things Arthur's parents gave him the options that Pal will either stay in the garage (against his will) or be sent away, much to Arthur's objections, and until he becomes housetrained. However, Arthur spent a lot of time training him and he has since then learned to become intelligent and Arthur has trained him to do some tricks.

Friends and Enemies

Pal generally gets along well with others, with the exception of pet cats, in which he has ailurophobia (also known as fear of cats).

• Arthur Read: He is Pal's main owner in the family whom he is always tended by. At night, he enjoys sleeping on Arthur's bed with him. Arthur always refers to him as the "smartest dog on Earth", even though Pal occasionally makes mistakes, such as turning off the computer when Arthur is doing his homework.

• D.W. Read: She always refers to him as Arthur's crazy dog; and even though he likes her, she always thinks he's bothering her, but she sometimes treats him nicely.
• Kate Read: In The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies from Season 6 and many subsequent episodes, they are seen talking to each other and with other pets and babies, but the people older than Kate's age dismiss it as gibberish whenever they're around. His first known friendship with her was when he ran across Elwood City to get a balloon to cheer her up after she wanted one and had a meltdown over it.

• Amigo: He is the Molinas' dog whom Pal became best friends with after the family moved into the neighborhood in Season 6. He often has adventures with him and Baby Kate.

• Nemo: He is Francine's cat who is Pal's worst enemy. Originally, they were friends playing around in Francine and the Feline from Season 3, which Arthur stated that Nemo was threatening to kill Pal, causing Francine to walk off from Arthur. In later seasons, they became mortal enemies. On the front cover of Arthur's Pet Follies, Arthur was holding them both in appreciation.

• Fur Elise: She is Dr. Fugue's cat in D.W.'s Furry Freakout from Season 12 and is another one of Pal's enemies who caused a lot of disasters in the Read household.

• Buster Baxter: When he comes over to Arthur's house, he seems to have fun with him too, such as petting and massaging him.

• Francine Frensky: When she comes over to Arthur's house, he seems to get along with her sometimes, such as when he licked her face at Arthur's 8th birthday party. However, he dislikes her cat, Nemo, far more than her as of Season 4. She also once mentioned that she was sad that she didn't even get a puppy.
• Muffy Crosswire: She and Pal don't have much of a relationship with each other. When Pal was lost in Elwood City just to get a balloon to cheer up Kate, she referred to him as a "rude dog" every time he ran off whenever she and Francine wished for him to thank them.

• Brain: When he came over to stay at Arthur's house when his parents went to the Ice Creamer's Convention, he taught Pal some tricks, such as walking on his hind legs than on all fours. His friends once imagined him getting a puppy who looks like Pal, but with brown fur instead of golden.

Pal's favorite books: The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barraca, And I Mean It, Stanley by Crosby Bonsall, Art Dog by Thacher Hurd, and The First Dog by Jan Brett,Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See by Eric Carle and The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Pal's enemy

Pal the puppy.jpg