Santa's Little Helper and is the center of the plots of several episodes. During the course of the show, he has fathered litters of puppies, passed obedience school, had surgery for bloat, replaced Duffman as the mascot for Duff Beer, and been trained as a police dog at Springfield's Animal Police Academy. Some of the episodes that focus on Santa's Little Helper have been inspired by popular culture or real experiences that staff members of the show have gone through. Although cartoon animals are often anthropomorphized, Santa's Little Helper generally exhibits canine behavior. Cast member Dan Castellaneta currently provides the dog's sounds on
The Search for Santa Paws that is and take them there. Eli tells Jimmy to keep the pin and dubs him an official Santa's helper for his perseverance, before Jimmy heads home. Haggis, Rasta and T-Money arrive and join in as well determined to keep their promise to Paws. When Kate and James tell them he's in the hospital, they work together to rescue him and give him back the crystal. But the crystal is too weak to revive Santa. Paws tells Eli to put his crystal next to Santa to help, sacrificing himself as he'll turn back into a stuffed animal. Santa wakes up