This is the fourth in a four-part series about child psychology and education in Bluey. We’ve already explored Calypso’s approach to education along with the characters of Jack, Rusty, Coco, Indy, Winton, Chloe, Pom Pom, Snickers, Mackenzie —AH! MACKENZIE!—, and Mia and Captain in previous posts. So let’s jump in with another of Bluey’s peers…

Judo the Chow Chow: Parental Anxiety and the Transgenerational Model of Change
Okay, I’m stepping out of the assignment just a little for this one since Judo doesn’t go to school with Bluey; she lives next-door with her single mom, Wendy. Wendy is famously hovering, and her judgmental attitude is a running joke throughout the first two seasons. Whenever the Heelers are engaged in a strange or embarrassing game (which is about 90% of the episodes), Wendy inevitably walks by and looks dismayed or disdainful, only for Bandit or Chilli to respond with an uncomfortable “Morning, Wendy!” Of course, despite her prim and proper demeanor, Wendy isn’t unsympathetic, and in season three, she occasionally steps in to assist the Heelers when games get out of hand (such as in “Sheepdog” and “Ragdoll”). Even in the season two episodes “Baby Race” and “Sticky Gecko” where Wendy is something of an antagonist for Chilli, Chilli still acknowledges Wendy has a kind side. Judo’s dad has never been mentioned on the show, and with his absence from photos in their house, it’s strongly implied that Wendy’s doing all this on her own. As such, Wendy carries heavy anxiety to parent well, and this regularly escalates into perfectionism.

Back to Judo, Bluey states in the episode “Phones” that Judo doesn’t have many friends, and in the episode “Sticky Gecko”, Bluey admits that she doesn’t like playing with Judo because of Judo’s controlling disposition. (Sidebar: despite their fluffy exteriors, Chow Chows are some of the most dominant and aggressive dogs out there, so this is perfect writing.) Even with her ten-second appearance in the episode “Seesaw”, Judo only shows up to deliver an insult to another character. She’s kind of a stinker all the way up until the season 3 episode “Dirt,” which gives us a different perspective. We learn that, because of Judo’s long hair, Wendy devotes significant time to washing and grooming her. (At first, I thought this might be a subtle metaphor for caring for a medically-complex child, which could also explain why Judo isn’t in school with Bluey, but given that the problem in this episode is resolved with a haircut, I’m thinking not.) When Judo spots the Heeler girls playing in a large mound of dirt, she wants to play too, but all of that anxiety comes rushing in. Her mom spends so much time grooming her. Her mom would be so disappointed if Judo got dirty. Judo tenses up and tries to play very cautiously before Wendy ultimately relieves her stress through a haircut.

It’s not uncommon for people living with anxiety to express it through perfectionism, judgment, and high control, and Judo and Wendy certainly exhibit these stress responses. While the first two seasons of Bluey present Judo and Wendy as mostly antagonistic, the third season gives a little more of a window into their pain and makes them more sympathetic as a result.

Judo and Wendy also exhibit one of my favorite psychological principles: the transgenerational model of change. (Try working that phrase into a casual conversation!) Simply put, when parents pass down traits from generation to generation, they have a way of escalating until someone makes an intentional change. For example, the child of a workaholic parent may exhibit full-blown absenteeism toward their own children, and then it will be up to those children to either (A) repeat the pattern with even greater intensity or (B) upend the pattern with a radical behavioral change. It’s probably a safe assumption that Wendy’s mom was a little perfectionistic, and in the present day of Bluey, we see Wendy escalate that perfectionism in her own parenting. The episode “Dirt” represents the type of reflection and change the transgenerational model calls for. Upon recognizing her own anxiety amplified in Judo, Wendy breaks out the clippers and makes a big change for her daughter’s benefit.

Muffin Heeler: Being a Three-Year-Old
Since we’ve already gotten away from Bluey’s school, let’s take a further detour to talk about Bluey and Bingo’s cousin, the infamous Muffin Cupcake Heeler. Now, I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but I am a dedicated Muffin apologist. I love that little twerp. After all, nine times out of ten, Muffin’s bad behavior is the result of a caregiver drawing a boundary poorly or explaining a concept inadequately. Let’s look at some examples:

In the episode “Charades,” Nana enables Muffin’s outbursts, and on close inspection of Muffin’s facial expressions, she is just as often confused as she is angry. When she cries out “I don’t want a frog card! I want a ballerina card!” the look in Muffin’s eyes isn’t demanding; it’s pleading. Unfortunately, instead of empathy or teaching, Nana opts for appeasement and even voices a somewhat-mocking fear of Muffin’s outbursts to the other Heeler kids. (Dick move, Nana.)

Likewise, the highly quotable events of “The Sleepover” are shown to be mainly Uncle Stripe’s fault, as he inadequately communicates Muffin’s needs to the Heeler parents and then takes off at a sprint as if fleeing for his life. Chilli’s facial expression in this moment says it all: she and Bandit have been there before —twice in fact—, but they probably handled things a little more calmly and deliberately than the ever-anxious Stripe.

And while we’re talking about Stripe, the chaos in the episode “Library” is entirely Stripe’s doing because of his heartfelt but reckless statement, “Muffy, you’re the most special kid in the whole world.” Without proper context or explanation, of course Muffin takes her dad’s comment to its logical conclusion and torments her cousins!

“Muffin Cone” shows Muffin confused and overwhelmed because of Aunt Trixie’s misguided attempts at discipline, and while “Faceytalk” is arguably Muffin at her most chaotic, the episode shows just how much Stripe and Trixie are struggling to communicate. They’re equally inexperienced parents with different styles, and they’re struggling to get on the same page.

With all this working against her, Muffin comes off like a spoiled brat in most of the episodes where she appears, but here’s the thing: at three years old, Muffin is the second youngest character on the show, and she’s at a different stage of development than Bluey, Bingo, and their friends. While Muffin’s behavior and her parents’ ineptitude are mostly played for laughs, it’s not an unrealistic depiction of this stage of development and the challenges it presents.

We often use terms like “Terrible Twos” and “Threenager” to describe this age where children are testing boundaries and figuring out what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. Per Piaget, most children don’t start to understand the perspectives of others until Bluey’s age or later, so we should be careful about expecting high levels of empathy from Muffin (or even Bingo, Bluey, and the other kids for that matter). Children at Muffin’s age also have big feelings and limited vocabularies with which to express them, which can be frustrating for them and lead to temper tantrums. Rather than judging them or writing them off as spoiled, we should be sympathetic toward kids in this age range; after all, what looks like “bad behavior” is actually learning, and it’s totally developmentally appropriate.

Thankfully, Muffin finally gets a heroic turn in the season three episode “Granny Mobile.” So yeah, cut Muffin some slack. She’s a pretty normal three-year-old being raised by stressed-out first time parents.

(But seriously, what the hell is Nana Heeler’s problem?)

Bluey Heeler: Autism Spectrum Disorder or Normal Developmental Stuff?
Okay. So. I saved the most controversial one for last. While this theory has its defenders in the fanbase, I’ll admit I’m skeptical. Still, having a loved one with an autism spectrum disorder myself, I can see some similar struggles, and Jessi and I regularly speculate whether the show’s creators have coded Bluey as having a some sort of autism spectrum disorder or not. First, the evidence in favor:

There’s a whole episode (“Baby Race”) dedicated to Bluey’s delayed and out-of-order development, and throughout the series we see Bluey struggle with attention issues (“Hide & Seek,” “Road Trip,” and “Promises”), difficulty listening (“Hairdressers” and “Duck Cake”), discomfort with new environments and routines (“The Creek,” “Daddy Putdown,” and “Double Babysitter”), disordered sleep (“Unicorse” and “Fruit Bat”), and appropriate boundaries in play (“Mums & Dads,” “Trampoline,” “Rug Island”— basically the entire show really). While it’s presented playfully, the episode “Mini-Bluey” highlights that raising Bluey has presented more challenges for Bandit and Chilli than raising Bingo. There’s even an episode (“Movies”) where Bluey struggles with fear (and possibly sensory overload?) in a movie theater, and Bandit reassures Bluey it’s okay that she’s more sensitive than her peers. It’s difficult to say how much of Bluey’s behavior is normal six-year-old stuff and how much may be the show centering a subtly neurodiverse character.

Since the show doesn’t seem to be coming out and naming a disorder explicitly, it’s a matter of opinion whether Bluey’s tendencies are related to an underlying disorder or just where she is developmentally. After all, though “Baby Race” showcases some early delays, the majority of six-year-old Bluey’s behavior is fairly typical of a child her age. As discussed in the Coco section, Bluey fixates on rules and fairness, and that’s developmentally appropriate. Also, children Bluey’s age are often highly expressive with their emotions, and they’re still learning many of the attention skills and appropriate boundaries that the next phases of life will require. Bluey even shows steps toward empathy (such as with her dad in “Duck Cake”), which is pretty much on track with Piaget’s theory of development.

Of course, while Bluey’s behavior is acceptable for a six-year-old, if some of these patterns follow her into the preteen and teenage years, it will be cause for concern. For a prime example of this, we can look to the episode “Musical Statues.” As Chilli and the girls return home for the evening, Bluey drags herself across the threshold of their home and scoots across the floor. Having groaned the whole way into the kitchen, Bluey balks at her mom’s dinner suggestions and gives the unhelpful reply, “I know I want something. I just don’t know what.” This over-the-top behavior would be worrisome in a preteen or teenager, but again: Bluey is six. Is it good behavior? Not particularly. But is it developmentally appropriate? Yeah

Ultimately, I think it’s important to examine how we’re assessing Bluey. Sure, the sleep disruption and attention issues suggest Bluey faces some additional challenges, but are we holding Bluey to a fair standard for a six-year-old? Are we pulling together a few symptoms (many of which are appropriate to a child Bluey’s age) into a much larger diagnosis than is warranted? Are we committing the same mistake as with Muffin earlier and holding Bluey to an unfair standard? As the pediatrician says in “Baby Race,” maybe there’s nothing to worry about, and Bluey just needs to run her own race.

While this seems like an appropriate place to wrap up for now, know that I could ramble on about this topic pretty much indefinitely. Bluey is some incredible television, and I hope this show will continue to further Calypso’s mission: to help kids journey toward emotional health (so that maybe we start seeing more emotionally healthy adults too).