Santa's Little Helper realistic dilemma faced by many families who own dogs. Other episode ideas come from popular culture. For example, Santa's Little Helper fathering 25 puppies in "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" is a parody of the Disney film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", and Mr. Burns' technique of brainwashing him into an attack dog in "Dog of Death" parodies "A Clockwork Orange". Susan McHugh, who teaches theories of animals, literature, and culture at the University of New England, wrote in her 2004 book "Dog" that, "remaining loyal to his unlikely saviours, the boy Bart and his father Homer, this greyhound has
Satan's Little Helper chubby little shoulders of a 9-year old. Still, horror buffs will delight in ingenious twists, perverse satire and gleefully off-kilter Amanda Plummer/Katheryn Winnick mother-daughter team." The website JoBlo.com gave the film a 8/10 rating, writing, "if you like your horror with a heaping dose of the blackest of black comedy, then "Satan’s Little Helper" will be quite the treat! The flick is a prime example of horror on a low budget done right. Characters are actually developed, jokes are skillfully executed, and the scares are delivered with flair." Dread Central called the film "Irreverent, subversive and deliciously caustic [...] a