When the fat, scruffy, doltish Afghan puppy (What-a-Mess, 1978) decides to become a Good Dog (""like his mother, whom he loved""), the results are, inevitably, disastrous. In pursuit of three unwelcome ants, What-a-Mess destroys the greenhouse, disables the bicycle, pulls off wallpaper, spills paint, etc., etc. The ending has him, told by his mother to ""Think before acting,"" carefully eating two inches of his basket all around--which is only worth mentioning because, like the rest, it's so unimaginative. The illustrations, on the other hand, have a certain manic vitality--which still doesn't lift this above the slapstick cartoon level.