New angle

I was searching for a viable reason for Burt to visit the Barnes. I think I have it: Burt lent Arnie some money a while back so that he could get his dog surgically enhanced eyelashes and a hair transplant from his flank to his gristle (beard). Now Burt's calling in the favor after he comes up short in a show that he thought he was going to win. Arnie doesn't have the money when Burt gets there, but he promises it shortly. Olivia is irritated and repulsed by Burt's demands, but Burt becomes infatuated with her. Inevitably he becomes envious of the Barnes' marriage, so in a bid to belittle Arnie in front of his wife Burt decides to enter into the local competition that Arnie has been prepping for, as the money prize is small-town but respectable. Arnie is heartbroken, and Olivia is infuriated. The day of the show she feeds Puck something that will make him sick (ideally something that Burt made for her, but I'd have to make sure that was set up to seem plausible, as he's not really a chef), but she overdoes it and the dog ends up dead. Its still keeping with the basic line of the story and I think it's still true to the characters, though Burt's a little less pitiful and a little more sinister in this one. Huzzah..maybe