Lady Alcester, owner of fourteen dogs and the mother of Gertrude, who is engaged woth Rupert "Beefy" Bingham, worries about her daughter being seemingly infatuated with Orlo Watkins, a tenor singer Lady Constance Keeeble has invited to Blandings Castle. And when she asks Freddie to try and talk some sense into Gertrude he responds by giving her a sales talk about the Donaldson Dog Joy biscuits he is promoting and which according to him cause Bottles, Beefy's dog, to be in the perfect health he is today she turns a deaf ear to his discourse and walks away. Freddie goes to Beefy to borrow his dog to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Dog Joy cookies Beefy agrees, being rather depressed because he has just received a letter from Gertrude telling him that she is reconsidering their engagement. Out in the garden with Bottles Freddie meets Lady Alcester sitting on a bench with a Pekinese on her lap, whereupon the two dogs get entangled in a fight resulting in Bottles trying to climb a tree to escape the ferocious Peke. Freddie tells Lady Alcester that Bottles is much better at chasing rats, but this just results in her lifting an eyebrow. When Freddie gets to talking to Gertrude about her and the tenor she is unresponsive and tells him to go sell his dog biscuits, to which Freddie replies that there will be a demonstration of their effectiveness later on. When all the guests except Beefy have gathered in the salon for the after-dinner coffee Freddie comes in with Bottles and a sack containing a couple of rats to show the company the rat-chasing capabilities of a dog reared on Donaldson Love Joy. A tumultuous scene ensues, with Orlo hiding behind a couch and Bottles engaging in a dog fight with Lady Alcester's Airedale in which Bottles seems to be on the winning side. Then Beefy Bingham comes in, grabs the dogs by the neck, throws Bottles out of  window and restores the peace. Gertrude sees the light and returns to Beefy, and Lady Alcester, convinced of the quality of the dog biscuits that gave Bottles the upper hand, places a substantial order with Freddie.