User Reviews

Kimble works at Bodin-Russet Kennels, a dog breeding and training operation run by Max Bodin, played by actor George Voskovec. Max has a complex relationship with his son Johnny and Johnny's wife Cora. Johnny is unhappy about his place in the family business and that his father appears to care more about the dogs than him. Johnny is influenced by Cora, who hates the business and wants Max to sell so they can leave. Max has an offer to sell, but is unsure if he wants to.

When Cora finds that the dog Colleen has hip dysplasia, she schemes to conceal it, because it would reduce the selling price of the business. When Kimble interferes, he gains an enemy who places him in danger. Kimble has to save the dog, tell Max the truth, and patch up the relationship between Max and Johnny before he can leave.

Richard Kimble is in Virginia in this episode and working as a kennel manager for a place famous for its Irish Setters. However, he is horrified to see some odd behaviors from the lady of the house, as she's rather callous about the dogs. SOMEONE keeps letting the gates open and when one of the dogs gets tangled up in barbed wire, she is quick to tell Kimble to shoot the dog! Since Kimble is a doctor, he knows how to care for the animal and secretly takes it back to his place and treats her. He also comes to realize that the dog has another problem..but not one related to the accident...she has hip dysplasia, a genetic defect she could pass on to her offspring. Sadly, when the nasty woman learns the dog is now getting better, she seems more than willing to keep the dog and breed it! What's next?

Sadly, after having quite a few dogs and a few show dogs, I have known MANY folks like the one in this episode. Folks who deliberately breed sickly animals because they look nice and show well in competitions is NOT unusual. So, in this case, I think the episode does a great public service exposing this as well as providing an enjoyable and unusual episode. Well worth seeing.

Kimble is working for a dog breeder, (George Voscovic) whose son, (John Considine) and daughter-in-law also work for him. He likes Kimble but has been hard on his son, who feels unappreciated. The wife, (Nancy Malone, formerly on "Naked City" as Adam Flint's girlfriend), wants the place sold so they can have some money for the finer things in life. It turns out the dogs have a congenital defect in their blood line which Kimble recognizes which will make them worthless. It makes the son and his wife want the place sold all the more quickly- before anyone can find out about the defect. Naturally, they find out about Kimble so he has to leave. But he's got an extra problem- his relationship with the dogs means they can find him wherever he's hiding in the woods.

There's a touching moment where Kimble, who has developed a sort of father-son relationship with the breeder, (who seems to prefer him to the son), says "I always thought I'd be working with my father."

Doc is working at an Irish Setter kennel where he runs into some dirty dogs of the human variety. The owner is a good guy but his son and daughter-in-law have some fleas and ticks. The daughter-in-law is trying to ditch Colleen before anyone can find out she has hip dysphasia. Kimble sees the dog running loose and instantly knows which dog it is, even though they all look alike. Colleen runs into some barbed wire and the woman, who fits the term used for a female dog, orders Dick to put her down. The B and her husband leave Kimble alone with the dog and soon hear a shot. Thinking the dog is dead, they go home. Of course, doc does not shoot the dog but instead brings her home to use his doctor's skills to save her. He notices the dog is walking funny and gets a dog book which tells him the dog has dysphasia. Funny he never noticed the funny walk before. Even funnier, the owner never noticed it either. Anyways, the owner is thinking of selling the place to Parley Bayer, who also happens to be the mayor of Mayberry. The son and his wife want him to hurry up and sell before he notices the dysphasia, but he doesn't want to rush into it. The son feels like his dad cares more about the dogs than him, and the wife eggs him on. The wife is suspicious of Dick because he sees through her and seems to have medical knowledge and is wary of the law. So she asks the sheriff, who has a liking for her, to see if there might be a doctor on the run for something serious, like murdering someone. And the sheriff comes across the wanted poster. As he is heading to the kennel to check out the hired hand, Kimble mends the years long, maybe lifelong rift between father and son. He is great at that. The wife leaves and father and son plan to remove Colleen from the breeding program and fix the bloodline. So that problem is solved. Kimble jumps out the window into the woods, and the cops send out Colleen, who they mistake for a bloodhound, to track down Kimble. Colleen does, and does so without walking funny even though her leg is still bandaged, and doc pleads with her to leave. He tells her he likes her as a friend but he can't stay, being a fugitive. He explains about the cops, the one-armed man and everything. Colleen finally understands and leaves before the cops get there. Kimble gets away and mails a nice dog tag to Colleen as thanks.