Dances with Dogs

"Dances with Dogs"
King of the Hill episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 5
Production code	7ABE02
Original air date	December 1, 2002
Guest stars
Scott Hamilton
Episode chronology
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List of King of the Hill episodes

"Dances with Dogs" is the 131st episode of King of the Hill, and the 5th episode of the 7th season. On Cartoon Network and Fox TV, this episode is rated TV-PG for violence (V).

Plot

When Hank and Peggy head out for ice cream, Bobby stays behind to secretly dance with Ladybird in the family room while watching a tape of other people likewise dancing with their dogs. However, the dance is cut short as Hank and Peggy return home earlier than anticipated, and Hank rebukes Bobby for making Ladybird dance, as old and arthritic as she is. Hank muses about the incident in the alley with Dale, Boomhauer, and Bill; Bill appears to become enamored with the idea of 'dog dancing'. Later, as Hank putters around his workbench, Ladybird responds to a song on the radio by whimpering for Hank's attention and attempting to get him to take her paws for a dance. Hank decides to indulge her and discovers he enjoys it, after which he begins dancing with Ladybird anytime he can find the privacy to do so. Meanwhile, Bill visits the animal shelter in search of a dog of his own to dance with. The shelter staff trick him into adopting an ill-tempered, muzzled Rottweiler; upon getting the dog home, Bill removes the muzzle only to have the dog begin viciously tearing apart everything in the house to get to Bill, who locks himself in his bathroom to escape.

As news spreads for a dog-dancing competition being held in Arlen, Bobby borrows the Souphanousinphones' dog Doggie for a dance partner and begins training with him, while Hank continues dancing with Ladybird. Bobby discovers that Hank has been dog dancing when they run into each other at the competition signup. Tensions mount in the Hill household as the two vie for training privacy so that neither steals the other's moves. When Peggy, who has tried to remain neutral, becomes fed up with Hank and Bobby's bickering, Hank offers to take her out for a romantic evening away from all of the dog dancing quarreling, only to begin pumping her for information on Bobby's dance routine during their night out; whereupon Peggy promptly renounces her neutrality and begins to root exclusively for Bobby.

The day of the competition finds Hank and Bobby no less antagonistic toward one another than before. Hank goes on before Bobby, performing a graceful, elegant slow-dance with Ladybird to Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight"; Bobby and Doggie follow with an energetic, acrobatic routine to Technotronic's "Move This". Both of their dances are very well-received by the audience. Bill arrives, too, with his Rottweiler in tow, having managed to get the dog muzzled and under control only by tricking it into devouring a pile of sleeping pills. However, he is told that dogs are not to be muzzled for the dance, and as soon as Bill removes the muzzle the Rottweiler turns on him again, and he flees for his life. When the top three contestants are named, an ecstatic Bobby finds that he and Doggie have won second place; Hank is dismayed to find that he and Ladybird have not placed. He tells Ladybird that it's just 'a young dogs' sport', and they go home. Later, with Hank back at his workbench, Ladybird again entreats him to dance; when Bobby and Peggy join them in the garage, Hank allows Bobby to cut in with Ladybird and dances with Peggy. In the end, the dancing just ended up being for fun, for all involved.