When Arthur desperately wants a dog, he starts a pet business. When he gets too many he decides to just take care of one pet.

Mr. Ratburn gives the class an assignment --- to write a story about anything they want. It seems like a simple assignment and it doesn't even have to be bound and sent to a publisher as Muffy suggests. Arthur, however, finds it a hard task when he starts trying to write to please everyone's tastes. He starts out with the simple story of how he got his dog Pal, but after following the advice of each of his friends, it morphs into a bizarre country tune about baby elephants being born in outer space.