 Mr. Burns says in the episode that the puppy that stands up only on its hind legs reminds him of Rory Calhoun , an American actor who lived from 1922 to 1999 . The Simpsons writer George Meyer came up with the joke , but Groening argued against it because he did not think the audience would know who Calhoun was . The writers decided to keep it in anyway , because it was later expanded into a key part of the episode 's ending . Several years later , Groening stated that he was proven correct after pointing to discussions on the Internet about the episode asking who Calhoun was . 
