Pound Puppies: Showstopping Pups

K-Gr 3—The Pound Puppies are more than meets the eye. In front of humans, they are just regular shelter dogs waiting to be adopted, but behind the scenes, they talk, sing, and solve problems. Equipped with an underground lair, Lucky, Niblet, Cookie, Squirt, Strudel, and their friends regularly save the day and help pups find homes. The Pound Puppies have their own headquarters and innovative agents to maintain their secret lives and to help one another. The characters are cute and fairly developed through fun, bright animation. Though there isn't much of an educational component, there are some opportunities for learning new phrases and vocabulary. Overall, this five-episode collection is entertaining and amusing, without being overly cutesy or saccharine, though some of the jokes or plot points may be missed by younger viewers. However, some of the character stereotypes are somewhat offensive, such as the nerds at school being exceptionally dorky and gross, the Venezuelan dog being portrayed as a womanizing smooth player, and the girl dogs fighting over a boy dog.