The Truth About Will and Dogs

The Truth About Will and Dogs is the 10th episode of the first season.

Against Will's wishes, Grace adopts a dog with whom he unexpectedly falls obsessively in love.

Synopsis

"Snausages"

During a game night with their friends, Grace expresses how much she is fond of dogs while Will does not share the same enthusiasm. The next day, Karen and Jack pressure Grace into adopting a puppy telling her it will be good for Will's love life as well.

Unexpectedly, Will begins to warm up to the puppy. Soon, Grace and her friends notice that Will has been ignoring his love life over his obsession with the dog so they decide that someone else should take care of the dog.

Cast

Main

Guest

Gary Grubbs (Harlin Polk)
Tom Gallop (Rob)
Leigh-Allyn Baker (Ellen)
Katie O'Rourke (Michelle)
Michael Lucas (Andy)
Anthony Paul Meindl (Cute Guy)

Notes

Title is a play on 1996 romantic comedy film The Truth About Cats & Dogs.
First appearance of Claus von Puppy, though he remains unnamed in this episode. Will also mentions The Von Bulows whose patriarch Claus von Bulow whom the dog is named after.
Only appearance of Michelle and Andy during game night.
The guy at the movies tells Will that they met at Jon Kinnally's party. Jon Kinnally is a writer and producer for the show.

Cultural references

During a game of taboo, Will is able to guess "Celine Dion" after Grace says that "if she misses her next meal, her heart won't go on", poking fun at Dion's thin figure and referencing her signature hit My Heart Will Go On.
Will jokes that Grace wants a dog because her "biological clock is barking", playing on the expression "biological clock is ticking" meaning a woman has limited time to conceive a child.
Grace mentions that she cannot "shame" the puppy because he is not a defendant on reality court show Judge Judy, where the tough judge notoriously scolds people who are caught lying or are acting ridiculously in court.
After Will tells Grace to stay at home and take care of the puppy, she sarcastically calls him master and imitates Jeannie in the 60s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, who lives in a genie bottle with a purple sofa.
When Harlin jokes that Will is more likely to like cats, he may be referring to the musical Cats and poking fun at the stereotype that gay men are theater fanatics.
When Grace calls Karen and Jack to dog-sit, Will is mad that they are leaving the puppy to Cruella de Vil, the villain in the 101 Dalmatian films who wants to make fur coats out of puppies' skins.
While playing with the puppy and pretending to be in Studio 54, Jack mentions celebrities Liza Minnelli, Mikhail "Misha" Baryshnikov and Bianca Jagger who were regulars at the club during its heyday.
When Will starts to obsess about the dog, Grace tells him it's not the Lindbergh baby who was kidnapped and murdered in 1932.
Will compares leaving the dog with Jack and Karen to "letting the Von Bulows" babysit, referring to the scandal during the 80s including socialite Sunny von Bulow and her husband Claus von Bulow who allegedly tried to murder her by insulin overdose, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state.
As Will and Grace's argument escalate, Jack refers to them as George and Martha, after the titular couple in the children's book series, who are known to usually engage in arguments.
Will admits that his obsession roots from "wanting a kid or something Sally Jessy Stupid like that", after Sally Jessy Raphael who became known for her tabloid talk show discussing family and personal issues.

Quotes

Ellen:	Harry caught a ball for the first time, and I got it on videotape.
Grace:	Oh, my god, you got it on videotape? Will, she got it on videotape!
Will:	You didn't get it on videotape by any chance, did you?

Spay him, spray him, throw him in a bag, and let's get out of here! — Karen, at the adoption center

I once had a golden retriever, and the man candy he retrieved? Golden! Ruff! — Jack

You just have to learn to compromise. I mean, take me and Stan. If he wants a little touchy-touchy... Well, if I cooperate, then I get a house in the Bahamas. It's tit for tat. — Karen

Got Thai food. Again. Mainly because I'm obsessed with the yum yai salad. You know, it announces its own goodness right in its name: yum yai. — Will

Grace:	He is the best. You're gonna love him. He is so cute. He--he even looks like you. He's got your eyes.
Will:	Damn it, Grace. I said no!
Grace:	...and your fangs.

Will:	You do what you want, but I just don't think it's fair to ask a dog to sleep outside, you know, when it's this cold out.
Grace:	Will, the dog's not gonna sleep outside.
Will:	Oh, really? 'Cause I figured you'd want some company.

Will:	I don't think it's such a great idea that you yell at him like that in front of the other dogs.
Grace:	Will, a light and breezy tone just doesn't cut it when he's eating a woman's blood pressure medicine.

Will, I'm not your mother. And I promise, if he's gay, I won't stand in his way. — Grace, raising the dog

Will:	It's funny, I never thought of myself as a dog person.
Harlin:	That's right... You people like the cats.
Will:	And by "you people," you mean...
Harlin:	Lawyers, of course.

Grace, the bitch we hate is on line one. — Karen, transferring the call

Forget the pooch. Where's the hooch? — Karen

All right, Pup, it's showtime. And focus. Uncle Jack needs a new pair of shoes. Preferably with a 6-foot gorgeous hunk of man in 'em. — Jack, going on a poop 'n cruise

Jack:	George, Martha, we'll be in the kitchen eating the free food. Let us know when it's intermission.
Will:	I'll be joining you.
Grace:	Oh, of course, so you can obsessively monitor every milligram that he eats.
Will:	I think you've got me confused with your mother.
Grace:	I would be very careful about opening the mom-bashing door. I've got a lot of bullets in my belt.

You need to be giving all this love and affection to something that's, I don't know, paper-trained? — Grace

You know, I'm not very fond of blonds, but you are fabulous. — Jack, to the puppy