| SPOILER ALERT!!! This article or section contains spoilers. Read at your own risk! |
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–The Book's Blurb | ||
Dog Man: Mothering Heights is the 10th book in the Dog Man series. This book was released on March 23, 2021.
Plot[]
Dog Man is down on his luck, Petey confronts his not so purr-fect past, and Grampa is up to no good! The world is spinning out of control as new villains spill into town. Everything seems dark and full of despair. But hope is not lost! Can the incredible power of love save the day?
Characters[]
- Dog Man
- Petey
- Li'l Petey
- 80-HD
- Grampa
- Chief
- Nurse Lady
- Big Jim
- Grace (flashbacks only)
- Sarah Hatoff
- Zuzu
- Molly
- Sippy Cups
- Roscoe
- Dr. Scum (dream only)
- MiIIy
- Robo Shark Duck (dream only)
- Dippy
- Kinney
- Unnamed Meerkat Robot
- Mean Officers
- Buster
- Robo-Kitty 3000 (from Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers) (cameo in flashbacks only)
- Robo Bee (from Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild) (cameo in flashbacks only)
Summary[]
Meet The Cast[]
A special 2-page look at the cast, reciting their biographies, strength and weaknesses, indexed with their mugshots.
Chapter 1: The Line of Duty[]
Chief jumping out of bed after finding out that Dog Man was injured.
Chief racing to the hospital.
Chief has a dream of himself as a muscled version saving Dog Man and Milly from Dr. Scum and his Robo Shark Duck. After that, he and Dog Man start flying through the sky, with a parody of the song "The Greatest Love of All" playing in the background. He wakes up due to his phone ringing, and is informed that Dog Man was injured in the line of duty. Chief quickly rushes to the hospital only to discover that Dog Man was injured in the line of doodie. The two cops demonstrate that Dog Man was drinking out of a toilet bowl, and then the toilet bowl lid fell and slammed on his fingers. Chief gets mad and yells at the cops, making them flee out of the hospital. He goes to meet Dog Man with Nurse Lady, and finds him wearing a dog cone and with his hands wrapped in bandages.
Chapter 2: The Cone of Shame[]
Chief is very surprised that Dog Man is wearing a cone and the Nurse Lady tells him that he has to wear it for a few days. Chief is worried that everyone will make fun of Dog Man for his cone, but Nurse Lady reassures him that she is glad that Chief is a good friend and protector to Dog Man. As Chief starts taking Dog Man home, Nurse Lady says that she likes and noticed Chief's slippers. Chief is so happy that his expression looks like he has a crush on Nurse Lady. After arriving at Dog Man's house, Chief leaves, and Dog Man heads into a "Supa Pillow Fort", which is small but bigger on the inside, where Li'l Petey and 80-HD are residing. Dog Man describes his worries about wearing his cone for a few days to Li'l Petey and 80-HD. Both assure him that they have a plan and leave the "Supa Pillow Fort" to work on a new invention.
Chapter 3: Escape from Cat Jail[]
Meanwhile, Grampa formulates an evil plan and tries to escape from Cat Jail using the Cupcake Exit, but Big Jim (as Commander Cupcake) has installed a security mechanism so Grampa can't get through. Big Jim claims that only him and his cardboard robot can escape, but he can't get his robot to work. Grampa claims that the robot needs a battery, so Big Jim runs up to get a battery. After Big Jim leaves, Grampa starts disguising himself as Big Jim's cardboard robot.
Chapter 4: Cone of Destiny[]
Meanwhile, Li'l Petey and 80-HD have finished building a new Mecha-Cone Suit for Dog Man. 80-HD puts an umbrella into the new cone because "you never know when an umbrella might come in handy." They return to the Supa Pillow Fort and take off the old cone from Dog Man and replace it with the new one. Dog Man is happy with the new cone, and Li'l Petey dubs it "The Cone of Destiny". Li'l Petey tells Dog Man if he ever needs help, he just needs to press the button on top, and all of his dreams will come true. Dog Man rushes out of the house to the police station, knocking over Petey who has come over to pick Li'l Petey up for the week. Petey takes Li'l Petey and 80-HD to his lab, telling the latter that he needs to fix the damage he caused in Dog Man: Grime and Punishment.
Chapter 5: Bring on the Bullies[]
The mean officers wet their pants as they watch Dog Man's mecha-suit transformation.
Dog Man arrives at the police station and the Mean Officers start bullying him because of his cone. Dog Man is humiliated at first, but remembers what Li'l Petey said and presses the button on the top of his cone, which causes him to change into his Mecha-Suit. The mean officers wet their pants and run away in fright after this encounter, and they hide behind the plant Dog Man usually hides behind. Dog Man turns off the Mecha-Suit and heads into Chief's office, where Chief is writing a love letter to Nurse Lady. Chief asks Dog Man if the letter is any good, and Dog Man expresses his dislike of it by blowing a raspberry. Chief crumples it up and throws it away and admits that he'll always be alone. Dog Man then comforts Chief after realizing what he's done.
Chapter 6: The Playdate[]
Big Jim returns with a battery from Grampa's alarm clock. He then sees a note from Grampa, which says that he "escaped" while Big Jim was getting the batteries. After tossing the battery into the head of the robot, Big Jim is convinced that the robot came alive. Grampa (disguised as the robot) says that they need Living Spray and Cannery Grow "because cupcakes are delicious forever". They exit through the Cupcake Exit and run off to find the ingredients.
Meanwhile, Petey employs 80-HD to fix Petey and Son. Petey gives Li'l Petey a bath, telling him that Sarah is going to interview him on his former villainous life. Suddenly, the doorbell rings, and Li'l Petey jumps out of the bathtub to answer it, causing Petey to clean up the spilled water. Two minutes later, Li'l Petey asks Petey if Molly can come over to play, and Petey says no, unbeknownst to the fact that Molly has already arrived. Petey lets Molly and Li'l Petey play downstairs, as long as they don't mess up the interview.
Chapter 7: A Buncha Stuff That Happened Next[]
Meanwhile, Dog Man digs up roses from Mayor's newly renovated garden. He drops them off at the hospital, expecting Nurse Lady to give them to Chief, but she shares them with her patients instead.
Meanwhile, Grampa and Big Jim go from store to store trying to find Living Spray and Cannery Grow, with no avail. When they ask Kinney, he says that Living Spray was banned due to complaints, and the Cannery Grow factory was destroyed in book #5; Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas.
Meanwhile, Sarah, her cameraman, and Zuzu arrive at Petey's house where 80-HD is fixing it up. Petey welcomes them, calling Zuzu "little doggy", causing her to growl at him. They begin the interview, but Li'l Petey and Molly interrupt by singing a parody of "If You're Happy and You Know It", much to Petey's annoyance. They request a snack, specifically chips. As Petey gives the chips to the kids, Molly asks for "chip dip" from Petey, but he says that he doesn't have any. After eating a chip, Molly says that they taste way better with chip dip, causing Petey to say once again that he's out. Molly tells Petey that he can get chip dip for the next time she comes over. After Li'l Petey and Molly head back to the basement, Sarah asks Petey why Molly calls him "Wally", and Petey replies, "I HAVE NO IDEA!!!"
Chapter 8: Becoming Petey[]
Grampa and Big Jim ask the people at Cal and Bunga's for living spray.
Grampa and Big Jim try going to Cal and Bunga's surf shop for living spray, but to no avail. Big Jim considers giving up and doing something else until they notice on a TV that Petey is giving a tour around his lab, which contains living spray and cannery grow. Grampa decides to go steal the living spray from Petey's home. On their way to the lab, Big Jim comes across Dog Man, who is holding a box of chocolates and informs Big Jim about his situation. Big Jim tries to cheer up Dog Man by telling him that everything will be okay, then leaves for Petey's lab. Dog Man drops the box of chocolates off at the hospital, once again expecting Nurse Lady to give them to Chief, but she shares them with her patients instead.
After a weird transition, Petey's interview continues back in his living room, but Sarah does not give him any opening to answer her questions. As soon as Petey gets the chance to talk, Molly and Li'l Petey interrupt again by singing a parody of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", much to Petey's chagrin. They are thirsty and request for a drink because "potato chips can get pretty dry if you don't have chip dip." So they walk to the fridge like an angry Petey. Petey tells them what drinks they have, and Li'l Petey and Molly request apple juice. As Petey pours some apple juice into sippy cups, Molly asks for real cups because "Sippy cups are for babies." Petey mentions that "Last week you kids spilled cherry juice all over the couch!" and replies to Molly by saying "... It's either sippy cups or nothing!!" After leaving the kitchen and drinking, Li'l Petey and Molly drop their sippy cups on the floor next to the stairs and head back down to the basement, where they wonder why "Wally" is such a grouch today.
Chapter 9: The Bad Old Days[]
Petey takes Sarah and the kids on a walk to continue the interview. Petey talks about his past mistakes and his first prison, Jail 4 Cats. He says that he tried to become a better cat during his prison life, but after being released, he couldn't get a job, a home, and a second chance. Everywhere he went, people only saw the bad in him, which is why we went back to being a villain.
Meanwhile, Grampa and Big Jim arrive at Petey's lab, where 80-HD greets them. Grampa starts heading to the basement, but slips on the sippy cups that Li'l Petey and Molly dropped earlier and falls down the stairs, with his robot disguise falling off in the process. After finding out that Grampa was acting like his robot the whole time, Big Jim starts defying Grampa, but accidentally knocks over a can of living spray into Grampa's hands. Grampa and Big Jim start wrestling, accidentally bringing the two sippy cups to life. Grampa is annoyed about this, but Big Jim reassures him that they won't do any harm. However, he then accidentally knocks over a can of cannery grow into the sippy cups' hands. The sippy cups use the cannery grow to grow big, which causes them to start destroying Petey's lab, much to Grampa and Big Jim's horror.
Chapter 10: Night of the Living Sippy Cups[]
Right when 80-HD finishes fixing up Petey's lab, the giant sippy cups emerge and destroy it. The sippy cups then get a hold of Grampa and Big Jim, which makes Grampa berate Big Jim for assuming that the sippy cups wouldn't do any harm. 80-HD then attacks the sippy cups, but one of them picks up the head of the meerkat robot (which was first seen in the previous book) and throws it at 80-HD, which makes him fall down to the ground. The sippy cup then squirts apple juice at 80-HD, causing him to fall apart and be destroyed, due to the malic acid in the apple juice. The blue sippy cup then picks up and swallows 80-HD. As the pink sippy cup is about to swallow Big Jim and Grampa, they say their goodbyes to each other, with Grampa calling Big Jim "buddy" in the process. After falling into the sippy cup and splashing into the apple juice, Big Jim and Grampa are fine as they float on the apple juice. Big Jim is happy that Grampa called him "buddy", but Grampa denies that he called him that. They start going on a back-and-forth argument about the said topic as the sippy cups continue to wreak havoc on the city.
Meanwhile, Li'l Petey and Molly are singing a parody of "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", much to Petey's chagrin. They tell Petey that they actually have to use the bathroom, so Petey takes them to some porta potties. After Li'l Petey and Molly finish their potty business, Petey takes them to where it all began.
Chapter 11: Where It All Began[]
Petey tells Sarah that after his father abandoned him, he moved into the Happy Home Shelter with his mother when he was little. Even though they were very poor, his mother never gave up hope and always showed Petey love and forgiveness, even after she passed away and even after all of Petey's mistakes. Petey then tells Sarah that he eventually felt that love with Li'l Petey and concludes that love can last forever. After that, Sarah is satisfied and ends the show, saying that she can't think of anything going wrong. Suddenly, the giant sippy cups appear out of nowhere and the blue one snatches Sarah, the cameraman, Zuzu, Petey, Li'l Petey, and Molly. Sarah admits that just one thing has gone wrong.
Chapter 12: Big Fight[]
The blue sippy cup swallows the gang and a majority of them splash into the apple juice. Luckily, Molly doesn't splash into the apple juice since she can float. She reassures the others that she will save them and floats out of the sippy cup. She then uses her psychokinetic powers to control and defeat the blue sippy cup, and it was working at first. But then, the pink sippy cup sprays her with its apple juice, causing her to fly over to the remains of Petey's lab. She notices the destroyed lab and worries that "Wally" is going to be mad.
Meanwhile, Chief and Dog Man have written millions of love notes to Nurse Lady at the cop station, but can't come up with the perfect one. Then, Milly comes in and tells Chief and Dog Man that Nurse Lady has called for Chief, so Chief and Dog Man run to the hospital. Chief is excited to see Nurse Lady until he notices the sippy cups about to attack the hospital. Chief enters the hospital to help Nurse Lady evacuate the hospital, while Dog Man activates his Cone of Destiny robo-suit and uses it and the umbrella to defeat the sippy cups. While he dukes it out with one sippy cup, the other tries to destroy the hospital. Chief and Nurse Lady decide to attack the sippy cup and tickle it, and it was working at first. But then, the sippy cup notices a big fly swatter and uses it to swat Chief and Nurse Lady off of him and into the air. Chief and Nurse Lady are at least happy to have held each others' hands. Suddenly, Dog Man saves them by throwing the umbrella at them. After getting a hold of the umbrella, Chief and Nurse Lady use it and start safely floating down to the ground.
Chapter 13: The Most Romantic Chapter Ever Written[]
As they are floating down, Chief and Nurse Lady admire the view. Chief asks Nurse Lady if she wants to hold hands with him again, but Nurse Lady offers to kiss him instead. They then proceed to kiss in Smooch-O-Rama.
Chapter 14: Meanwhile, Back at the Terrifying Battle...[]
Dog Man continues to battle the sippy cups until the pink sippy cup swats him into the blue sippy cup's mouth. Dog Man splashes into the apple juice and loses his Cone of Destiny due to the malic acid. After Li'l Petey explains why he lost it, Petey, Sarah, and the cameraman yell "DARN YOU, APPLE JUICE". Meanwhile, Molly searches the remains of Petey's lab for anything she can use to fight the sippy cups back. She then comes across the headless meerkat robot and realizes that she can move it with her mind powers, so she swoops into it and becomes Mecha Molly. With her new mecha suit, Molly slices up and defeats the sippy cups with its built in chainsaws (with some rock/action music from Dippy playing the drums). Everyone who was trapped in the sippy cups is now free. The gang was shook, as Sarah claimed that it was violent, to which Molly thanks her. Li'l Petey and Molly then say their goodbyes to everyone. Li'l Petey tells Dog Man to roll 80-HD home and plans to rebuild him the next day, to which Dog Man accepts. As Dog Man rolls 80-HD back to his house, Chief and Nurse Lady notice him while continuing the float down from the sky. Chief asks Nurse Lady if Dog Man can come with them on their date, to which Nurse Lady accepts. Chief says his main catchphrase ("Oh boy, this is gonna be great!") once again as Big Jim and Grampa are seen walking back to Cat Jail, continuing their back-and-forth argument that they started back in Chapter 10.
Chapter 15: The Memory of Love's Refrain[]
As they walk back to the lab with Petey, Molly and Li'l Petey talk about Rudolph, Santa, and Batman. Petey is annoyed about their antics and wants five minutes of peace, until he notices his now destroyed lab. Petey is distraught over losing everything as he walks over his lab remains with Li'l Petey and Molly. Molly then asks Petey if she can keep the mecha suit. Petey sarcastically says yes and yells at Molly to take his last remaining material possession. Molly believes he isn't being sarcastic and thanks Petey by hugging him. She then flies away with her new mecha suit and says goodbye to "Wally", reminding him to get the chip dip, much to Petey's annoyance. Li'l Petey then finds Petey's mother's ukulele, which surprises Petey because he thought that he had lost it. He plays a few notes with it as the wind chimes in. Li'l Petey tells Petey that they can live at Dog Man's house until they rebuild the lab. Petey agrees since they don't have a choice and lost everything. Li'l Petey reassures him that they still have love and that it lasts forever, to which Petey replies by hugging Li'l Petey and saying "Forever and ever". The book ends with Petey and Li'l Petey heading to Dog Man's house where Dog Man is waiting for them.
THE END
Trivia[]
- In Chief's dream, the musical interlude in Chapter 1 is a parody of the song, "The Greatest Love of All" by Michael Masser, with lyrics by Linda Creed.
- Chapter 2's title, "The Cone of Shame," may be a reference to the cone of shame from the movie Up.
- Petey's red cardigan sweater and tie were based on the clothing often worn by beloved children's television host, Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
- On page 123, Petey is paraphrasing John 8:7 (New International Version) from the Bible. ["Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." - John 8:7 NIV]
- In full details, when the three civilians kept on shaming Petey for his mistakes, he said to them, "Let any one of ye who is without sin be the first to kick me out." This prompts all three civilians to kick Petey out at the same time.
- Petey's youthful "mistakes" and "bad choices" were chronicled in the graphic novel where he made his primary debut, Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers.
- The title of Chapter 15 is the final line of the 1927 song, "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.
- This book was inspired by the two songs mentioned above, the quote on page 6, and the law of conservation and energy (a.k.a. the first law of thermodynamics).
- On page 91, Sarah Hatoff says "Heeeeere's Petey!!!" This is probably a reference to Jack torrance from "The Shining and the famous line ''Heeeeere's johnny''
- On the fridge where Petey gets the juice, there is drawing of Petey by Li'l Petey.
- This is the first Dog Man book not to feature a George & Harold intro or a recap of "Our Story Thus Far."
- Piggy was originally intended to appear in this book, but never appeared. His return might've been scrapped.
- Piggy did return in the next book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea.
- The last pages did not show any spoilers of Dog Man 11 or Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives.
- Petey's flashback shows the parts from Books 3 and 6.
- A collection of evil stuff can be seen when Petey shows Sarah Hatoff his dangerous items. These are references to the past books in the series.
- The Word B Gone 2000 from Dog Man
- The Love Ray from Dog Man Unleashed
- Petey's Shrink Ray from Books 5 & 6
- Cannery Grow from Books 4 & 5
- The Remote from Dog Man and Cat Kid
- Living Spray from Books 1, 2, 3, 6, & 9
- The Fourth Wall was broken 4 Times in this book.
- When Kinney says to Grampa and Big Jim that the Cannery Grow Factory was destroyed in book 5.
- When Sarah and Petey see the hospital patients eating the candy and then Sarah says, "Speaking of weird transitions..."
- When Li'l Petey acknowledges Petey's thought bubbles twice (the first being when Petey's Mom is hugging young Petey and the second being when Petey is shocked to see Li'l Petey come out of the cloning machine).
- This has also happened in book 5.
- Molly mentioned Batman in this book.
- This is the second time in the series where Batman was mentioned. The first time was from Li'l Petey in Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild.
- It's possible that this book takes place about one week after the events of Grime and Punishment, most likely due to Petey mentioning some things that happen in that book as "a week ago".
- There is a reference to Book 4, where Zuzu growls at Petey, Sarah says "Be nice Zuzu" and Petey says "Yeah, be nice, Zuzu!" This first happened when Li'l Petey's "babysitter" took him to the movie studio.
- Jail 4 Cats first appeared in Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers.
Cultural References[]
- The title is a spoof of the classic book Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
- Li'l Petey and Molly's songs are parodies based on If You're Happy and You Know It, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
- Chapter 8: Becoming Petey's title page is based from the book cover of Becoming by Michelle Obama.
- The unknown book that Petey reads in page 93 is a part of Oprah's Book Club, which was started by TV Host Oprah Winfrey as a segment in The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996-2010, then relaunched in 2012.
- The onomatopoeic sounds in Page 65 has references to musicians such as Engelbert Humperdinck, Weird "Al" Yankovic, and Fonzie from the TV show Happy Days.
Goofs/Errors[]
- In Chief's dream, where he saves Dog Man and Milly, the hole that Chief kicks into the wall on page 8 is a much smaller size compared to Chief's actual size, yet Chief was still somehow able to go through the hole.
- In the first panel of page 11, the robo shark duck has 41 teeth, whereas in all of the other panels, it has at most 14 teeth, which is nearly three times as less.
- In the first panel of page 15, Chief's hat doesn't show the "Chief" on it. (This is probably because of the musical note overlapping the hat.)
- At the start of chapter 3, when Grampa is writing down his evil plan, the cover is on the wrong side for some reason.
- There are two instances in this book where the stripes on Grampa's right arm are missing, with the first being on the second panel of page 44 and the second being on the last panel of page 129.
- When the patient in Chapter 8 eats the candy that Genie S. Lady gives out, the bed that he was lying on in the previous comic panel is gone.
- On the last panel of page 136, one of Big Jim’s gloves is the same color as Grampa.
- At the start of chapter 10, when 80-HD is about to reattach the door on Petey and Son, the stripes on his arms are missing. (A similar error also occurs in Dog Man to Petey.)
- On the fourth panel of page 159, the second "i" in the word "forgiving" is missing its dot.
- On page 200, Genie S. Lady's Red Cross Symbol on her hat is black.
- On the How 2 Draw of "Chief & Nurse Lady", the last step says to change the color of Nurse Lady's cross from black to red, which is impossible.
- On the How 2 Draw of "The World's Most Terrifyingly Evil Sippy Cups," the last step says to turn the veins in their eyes from black to red, which is also impossible.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Characters[]
Others[]
Trailer Transcript[]
Dav Pilkey's Dog Man is back! Part dog, Part man, And all hero! This time the heroic hound gets a super new suit, Li'l Petey and Molly can't stop singing silly songs, and Petey reveals how his mom's love changed him. A love that lives on in Li'l Petey. But things take a turn for the worse! When Grampa sets off two sinister sippy cups. Will the Supa Buddies stop the apple juice onslaught in time? Or will all be lost? Not if they remember that love can win! Find out what happens in Dog Man: Mothering Heights!
Book Description (Amazon)[]
- Publisher: Scholastic; 1st Edition (26 August 2014)
- Language: English and French
- Hardcover: 224 pages
- ISBN-10: [[1]]
- ISBN-13: 978-1338680454
- Reading age: 7–12 years
- Item Weight: 500g
- Dimensions: 14.61cm x 1.91cm x 21.59cm
- Country of Origin: USA
- Best Sellers Rank: #28,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
External Links[]
| Dog Man Books |
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| Dog Man (2016) | Dog Man: Unleashed (2016) | Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties (2017) | Dog Man and Cat Kid (2017) | Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas (2018) | Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild (2018) | Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls (2019) | Dog Man: Fetch-22 (2019) | Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (2020) | Dog Man: Mothering Heights (2021) | Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea (2023) | Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (2024) | Dog Man: Big Jim Begins (2024) | Dog Man: Big Jim Believes (2025) |