The Perishers enchanted into a dog by a gypsy wench (as he puts it, "I knew I should have bought those damn clothespegs!") – the strip gives occasional hints that this is actually true as opposed to another fantasy. As a lord, he demands to be treated with respect, and often tells Wellington so to his face. Unfortunately Wellington only hears barking. Wellington thinks Boot is lazy and should help out with the household chores, but Boot usually manages to find some way to "accidentally" mess things up in the hope that he won't be asked again. He hates taking baths, and
The Cartoon writer, Bruce Eric Kaplan, had himself contributed many cartoons to "The New Yorker", and he drew upon some of his own experiences for this part of the plot. Kaplan said of the cartoon subplot, "To me, the most interesting part of that story was the idea of not understanding a cartoon." Elaine tries to contribute to the magazine with a simpler and understandable cartoon, but ends up subconsciously lifting a "Ziggy" joke. This part of the storyline was later remembered by the media when in 2008 Jessica Seinfeld was falsely accused of plagiarizing a cookbook. On July 18, 2012, "The