Jim Reardon commented that one of the hardest feats with the episode was to make Santa's Little Helper not express any human expressions, as the staff preferred animals on the show to behave exactly the way they do in real life.
In the scene where Flanders is at Burns's Mansion trying to pitch recycling Burns states, before releasing the hounds, "I see you have your running shoes on. That's a good thing." You can see here that Flanders is wearing his Assassin shoes from Bart's Dog Gets an F (1991).
The scene in which Mr. Burns brainwashes Santa's Little Helper with the Ludovico technique is a parody of A Clockwork Orange (1971), including the way Santa's Little Helper's eyes are held open while he is forced to watch a film featuring dog abuse, such as dogs being physically assaulted and getting their heads slammed by falling toilet lids. Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony is heard during the sequence.
The flyer Homer replaces with the "lost pet" notice is Principal Skinner's "Have you seen my body?" flyer from Bart the Murderer (1991).
The plot was based on an experience John Swartzwelder had with his own dog that also suffered from bloat. However, unlike the events in the episode, Swartzwelder's dog did not receive treatment as the operation was too expensive and the dog was too old.
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