the paw thing is just cause the dog thinks so highly of himself =p
(like when he added cute without sakura having said anything)

he thinks his paw is so good (PURI PURI! -- as they said, soft and tense or soemthing) to touch that it would be a good reward in itself =p it's just added for the sake of humor (hey i found it funny ^^)

the quality of the drawings has definately increased in this episode. just look at the detail and all the facial expressions that people didn't use to have in the other episodes =p

this is the first episode in a while that has made me want to watch it twice

and i havn't really watched the manga in a while, but i can't seem to ever recall anything to do with the bugguy (shino right?) listening to kakashi and gai... what was he doing there? (things are getting curiouser and curiouser&#33 i dont remember anything to do with that from the manga