Oh Behave!

In 1994 Patrick McDonnell created the comic strip MUTTS, which now appears in over 700 newspapers in 20 countries. MUTTS has been described by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz as “One of the best comic strips of all time.” McDonnell has received numerous awards for this strip, including the National Cartoonists Society’s highest honor, The Reuben, for Cartoonist of the Year; five Harvey Awards for Best Comic Strip; Germany’s Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip; and the Swedish Academy of Comic Art’s Adamson Statuette. MUTTS has also won awards for its environmental and animal advocacy: two Genesis Awards from The Ark Trust, The HSUS Hollywood Genesis Award for Ongoing Commitment, the PETA Humanitarian Award, and a Sierra Club award.

The MUTTS cartoons have been published in 22 compilation books in the U.S. and in numerous collections throughout the world. In 2003, fine art publisher Harry N. Abrams published MUTTS: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell, a monograph on McDonnell’s career. In 2007, The Best of MUTTS was released containing a decade of McDonnell’s favorite strips along with insightful commentary. Available in 2008, Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed features his popular animal shelter–themed strips accompanied by real-life pet adoption stories submitted by readers worldwide. In 2009, McDonnell collaborated with The Power of Now author Eckhart Tolle to create Guardians of Being.

In 2005, McDonnell embarked on a children’s book career. His first children’s book The Gift of Nothing quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. Art (2006), his second release, told the story of a boy named Art who makes art. His next release, Just Like Heaven (2006), heralding the joys of simple blessings, was hailed in a starred review by Kirkus as “a meditation on the true nature of miracles.” In 2007 McDonnell again returned to the New York Times Best Seller list with Hug Time, featuring a kitten named Jules who goes around the world hugging endangered species. Since then, he has produced two additional childrens books (South and Wag!) along with the 2012 Caldecott Honor winner Me…Jane, a biography about the young Jane Goodall, and The Monsters’ Monster.

McDonnell is involved with many animal and environmental charities, and is a member of the board of directors for both the HSUS and the Fund for Animals. His characters have been enlisted by the U.S. Marines for their 2006 Toys for Tots holiday poster, the American Library Association’s 2007 “Read!” poster, and by the HSUS for their humane postage stamps. The MUTTS characters appear on the New Jersey Animal Friendly license plates that fund state pet population programs. The 2007-2008 MAZDASPEED Team featured MUTTS-themed vehicles promoting pet adoption and the work of the HSUS.

Prior to creating MUTTS, McDonnell had a successful career as a freelance illustrator, drawing the Russell Baker Observer column for the New York Times Sunday Magazine from 1978-1993. He also created Bad Baby, a monthly comic strip for Parents Magazine, which ran for 10 years. During that time he also was a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, Forbes, Time, and many other national magazines. His work has been animated for television commercials, most notably a PSA for the New York Philharmonic. He is coauthor of Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman, published in 1986 by Abrams.

McDonnell’s website, MUTTS.com, promotes his animal- and earth-friendly philosophy. Consistent with McDonnell’s concern for the environment, all of the MUTTS books are printed on recycled paper. He and his wife Karen O’Connell are vegetarian and happily reside with Amelie, their rescue Jack Russell terrier, and Not Ootie, their formerly feral cat.

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: It's Oh Behave with Arden Moore.

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Announcer: This show that teaches you how to have Harmony in the household with your pets.

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Announcer: Join Arden as she travels coast to coast to help millions better understand why cats and dogs do what they do.

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Announcer: Get the latest scoop on famous faces.

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Announcer: They're perfectly pampered pets in Who's Walking Who in Rin Tin Tinseltown.

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Announcer: From famous pet experts and best selling authors to television and movie stars, you'll get the latest buzz from wagging tongues and tails, garner great pet tips and have a doggone fur flying fun time.

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Announcer: So get ready for the pause and applause as we unleash your Oh Behave host, America's pet edutainer, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: Welcome to the Oh Behave show on PetLife Radio.

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Arden Moore: I'm your host, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: Hey, comic strips, they definitely make us smile and laugh, but guess what?

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Arden Moore: They can also motivate us to take action and become advocates for companion animals.

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Arden Moore: That's why I'm so doggone happy.

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Arden Moore: Yep, I said doggone, to welcome on our show today, the creator of the popular Mutts Comic Strip.

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Arden Moore: Please join me in giving pause and applause to Patrick McDonnell.

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Arden Moore: Welcome to the show, Patrick.

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Patrick McDonnell: I'm so doggone happy to be here also.

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Arden Moore: All right, it's starting off good on the right.

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Arden Moore: Oh man, you know this strip.

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Arden Moore: Since 1994, the Mutts Comic Strip has featured the day-to-day adventures of a dog named Earl and a cat named Mooch.

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Arden Moore: And do the math, we are now celebrating the 30th anniversary, your 30th anniversary in print.

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Arden Moore: Congratulations, Patrick.

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Patrick McDonnell: Thanks, goes by fast.

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Arden Moore: Some guy named Charles Schulz, I don't know.

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Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, he did it for 50 years, so I have a way to go.

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Arden Moore: Yeah, but he called you and your creation, one of the best comic strips of all time.

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Arden Moore: That's a pretty good praise from probably the godfather of comic strips for pets, wouldn't you say?

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, the nicest thing about becoming a cartoonist is I got to meet and become friends with my hero Charles Schulz.

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Patrick McDonnell: I mean, Peanuts and Charles Schulz was the reason I became a cartoonist.

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Patrick McDonnell: And when I showed him the strip and he liked that, I felt like I could have retired.

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Patrick McDonnell: I was done.

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Arden Moore: Now, did you visit him in Santa Rosa?

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Arden Moore: Isn't that where he was from?

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Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, that's where he was from.

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Patrick McDonnell: Quite often I would try to get out there and visit with them and on occasion we would talk on the phone and he always ended every phone call with keep drawing those funny pictures.

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Arden Moore: He did nice.

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Arden Moore: Well, my late great aunt and uncle used to live in Santa Rosa.

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Arden Moore: So I knew that's why I threw that.

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Arden Moore: I thought I would impress you with my homework.

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, there's a Charles Schulz Museum now in Santa Rosa and my wife and I sit on the board.

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Patrick McDonnell: It's a wonderful museum.

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Patrick McDonnell: So if you have a chance to go, I can't recommend enough.

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Arden Moore: All right.

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Arden Moore: I think Luther Burbank is also from Santa Rosa, the gardener, if any botanist, if anybody really cares about the connections of Santa Rosa, I just threw that in there for you.

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Arden Moore: But let's get back to the strip, Mutts, because, you know, Earl and Mooch, they've been doing a lot of fun together, but you are using that as a platform to help animals in need.

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Arden Moore: And we're able to spill the beans now because this is going to air after you do the big reveal.

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Arden Moore: But for folks that have been faithful followers of Mutts, the comic strip, there's been this recurring dog, guard dog, the dog's name is guard dog.

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Arden Moore: So kind of tee us up, Patrick.

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Arden Moore: I'm so glad you're here because you've got a really good message about no dog should be tethered and all that in the backyard.

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Arden Moore: But can you kind of walk us through because guard dog has had some issues, but you've had, you know, nice kids that have come by and and and helped him out.

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Arden Moore: So tell us about guard dog.

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Patrick McDonnell: Well, you know, guard dog started about a, I was about a year into doing Mutts.

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Patrick McDonnell: And I was thinking that maybe Earl and Mooch needed a neighborhood bully, you know, some kind of villain type of character that would give them a hard time that they would have to, you know, figure out.

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Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, I started in my sketchbook, Jordan's a big tough dog.

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Patrick McDonnell: And you know, using the cartoon cliches, I put a big studied collar on him and gave him teeth.

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Patrick McDonnell: So he was a little tough, just in my sketches, I drew a chain around them to make them look tough.

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Patrick McDonnell: And boy, as soon as I drew that chain around them, I realized I didn't have a villain.

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Patrick McDonnell: I had a tragic character.

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Patrick McDonnell: And I thought it was an opportunity to put them in the strip and get that message out there of, you know, that we should be on chaining these dogs.

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Arden Moore: And I think if you ever did this as a little clip on video, you should be the voice of guard dog.

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Arden Moore: You really have that gravelly voice.

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Arden Moore: But yeah, isn't that weird for you?

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Arden Moore: You were you were thinking one way, but you saw your work with your eyes and it hit a moment for you, didn't it?

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Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, you know, it's funny when you do a comic strip, you kind of go with the flow and see what you do.

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Patrick McDonnell: You do it every day.

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Patrick McDonnell: So you're never sure.

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, when you write a novel, most people know what the novel is going to be about and how it ends.

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Patrick McDonnell: But when you do an early comic strip, it's more like life.

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Patrick McDonnell: You just take it one day at a time.

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Patrick McDonnell: And again, I thought Gardeau was going to be this funny character that was the bully in the comic.

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Patrick McDonnell: And I put that chain on him and it just became a really important part of the strip.

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Patrick McDonnell: And, you know, in doing Mutts, I always try to see the world through the animal's eyes.

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Patrick McDonnell: And that got me thinking about shelter animals and, you know, Earl and Mooch have loving homes.

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Patrick McDonnell: But I started thinking about the dogs and cats that are waiting for that.

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Patrick McDonnell: So that became part of the strip.

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Patrick McDonnell: And then Gardeau with the chain around him became another part of the strip to get that message.

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Arden Moore: Definitely a symbol.

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Arden Moore: And we want to introduce to the girl, the little girl, Doosie.

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Arden Moore: Tell us about her.

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Patrick McDonnell: Well, I was doing Gardeau for quite a few years.

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Patrick McDonnell: And then I had these two little girls are in the calf in this cask, Doosie and Bushy.

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Patrick McDonnell: All of a sudden I had Doosie starting to visit the Gardeau.

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Patrick McDonnell: She would climb the fence and treat him kindly and bring him treats.

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Patrick McDonnell: And she kind of adopted him.

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Patrick McDonnell: And he bonded with her right away.

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Patrick McDonnell: And it became a really special relationship.

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Patrick McDonnell: And boy, I tell you, after, you know, now that we're doing the Gardeau, the free Gardeau story, we've been getting so many emails and there's so many stories of people that have similar fates, where they try to help the dog in the neighborhood that wasn't treated that kindly.

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Patrick McDonnell: And boy, a lot of them had happy endings like the Gardeau story has.

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Arden Moore: So you can tell us because this will air after the strip where you have Gardeau dog have a good life.

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Arden Moore: So tell us about that.

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Patrick McDonnell: Yeah.

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Patrick McDonnell: Well, I'm going to spoil it for you right now.

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Patrick McDonnell: No, but it do Z eventually gets our dog and baby, she becomes he becomes her dog.

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Patrick McDonnell: Ah, and I couldn't have been anything else.

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, I'm amazed as the as the story was running.

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, a lot of people on the Internet were really worried about who is going to get Gardeau or Gardeau was even going to live.

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, I never thought people would think that I would get rid of one of my characters that way.

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Patrick McDonnell: But you know, I think people have mentioned it on the site, too.

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Patrick McDonnell: But if you're familiar with, for better or worse, Lynn Johnson strip, yes, yes, you know, her strip is done in real time.

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Patrick McDonnell: So people age and she had her dog Farley actually pass away.

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Patrick McDonnell: And I think because of that, people thought there was a chance that I might do the same.

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Patrick McDonnell: So I think it added added a lot of drama, but I was a little surprised that they thought I would do that to guard dog.

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Patrick McDonnell: But my intention was always to use the guard dog were meant to be together.

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Arden Moore: So that's how it does it as a cartoonist.

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Arden Moore: And I'm listening to you.

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Arden Moore: You get some feedback, some guidance, some comments, some requests, I guess, from your loyal followers.

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Arden Moore: And how does that shape your strips?

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Patrick McDonnell: Well, you know, with the guard dog story, you know, as a cartoonist, we're six weeks ahead.

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Patrick McDonnell: So, you know, even if someone gave me a great idea, it was it's so, you know, well, I tell you, I really haven't gotten any ideas from readers.

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Patrick McDonnell: I, you know, take pride in doing the strip myself.

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Patrick McDonnell: But I did know the shelter stories happened because of the Humane Society of the United States.

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Arden Moore: You've been a director, we're a director many years, right?

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Patrick McDonnell: I was on the board of directors for like 12 years.

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Arden Moore: Nice.

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Patrick McDonnell: I think 12 years, I might be 10, 12.

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Patrick McDonnell: But I was starting to play with the ideas in my notebooks to have shelter animals in the strips to show the world from their point of view.

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Patrick McDonnell: But I wasn't really sure how I was going to put that in.

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Patrick McDonnell: And then I got a letter from the Humane Society asking me if the first week of November is animal shelter week.

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Arden Moore: Yes.

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Patrick McDonnell: And they asked if I could do something for that week and I thought, wow, that's a perfect place.

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Patrick McDonnell: That's how shelter stories start.

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Arden Moore: I mean, when you were a little child, Patrick, were you a doodler?

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Arden Moore: Or what got you into becoming a cartoonist?

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Arden Moore: Were you secretly wanting to be a NASCAR driver or a dentist?

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Arden Moore: I don't know.

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Arden Moore: What were some of your childhood maybe directions?

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Patrick McDonnell: Most cartoonists are born to be cartoonists.

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Patrick McDonnell: If you ask, you know, the cartoonists get together, we have an organization called the National Cartoonist Society and that's a party place at 90% of them wanted to be a cartoonist since they were a kid.

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Patrick McDonnell: And that's true of me since I was probably four or five years old.

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Patrick McDonnell: And it's funny, I was once I once gave a talk at a at a veterinarian conference and I mentioned that story and all the vets told me it's true with vets too, that most vets when they're five years old, that that's what they're going to be.

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Arden Moore: Did you have anybody in your family that was an artist?

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Patrick McDonnell: You know, I was really lucky.

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Patrick McDonnell: My mom and dad met at Cooper Union Art School in New York City and you got it in your jeans, man.

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Patrick McDonnell: And neither one of them ended up doing that for a living before my siblings and I were definitely encouraged to make art.

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Patrick McDonnell: And that's so important.

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Patrick McDonnell: I mean, they were they were a real strong influence on me and gave me, you know, the encouragement to follow that dream.

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Arden Moore: So question, did you learn your ABCs before you learned how to draw a dog?

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Patrick McDonnell: I'm sure I've been doodling since I can remember, I'm sure.

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Patrick McDonnell: And to this day, when I write Muts, I always start with the art, not the words.

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Patrick McDonnell: I always start doodling different situations they could be in.

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Arden Moore: Wow, that's cool.

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Arden Moore: So we're speaking with Patrick McDonnell.

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Arden Moore: He is the creator of Muts.

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Arden Moore: And we're going to find out more about the guard dog story and also how we can help animals in need with people like Patrick after we take this quick break.

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Arden Moore: Y'all know the drill.

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Arden Moore: You got to just sit, stay, we'll be right back.

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Announcer: Time for a walk on the red carpet, of course.

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Announcer: Oh Behave will be back in a flash right after these messages.

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Announcer: On Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: petliferadio.com.

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Jim Davis: Hi, this is Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield, urging you to listen to the Oh Behave show with Arden Moore on Pet Life Radio.

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Garfield: Oh yeah?

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Garfield: We'll see about that.

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Announcer: >We're back from the lot.

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Announcer: Just check the paper and we had a record showing at the box, the litter box that is.

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Announcer: Now back to Oh Behave.

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Announcer: Here's Arden.

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Arden Moore: Welcome back to the Oh Behave show on PetLife Radio.

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Arden Moore: I'm your host, Arden Moore.

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Arden Moore: We have Patrick McDonnell and he has the comic strip Mutts 30 years.

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Arden Moore: And you know what?

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Arden Moore: I hear in your voice, Patrick, you're not tired of it.

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Patrick McDonnell: No, like I said, it's amazing how fast it goes by.

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Patrick McDonnell: I mean, some days it feels like I've been doing it for a hundred years, but most days it feels like I just started.

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Arden Moore: Well, I want everyone after the show, please go visit mutts.com, the site.

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Arden Moore: And you actually have a couple of real guard dog stories with good endings.

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Arden Moore: And I want you to talk.

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Arden Moore: You've got a dog named Bigfoot and one name.

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Arden Moore: I love this one, Freddie Furkery with Homage to the Queen.

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Arden Moore: So, tell us about the role that you and Mutts, the comic strip, are playing to kind of get on this issue.

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Arden Moore: Pets need to be unchained.

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Arden Moore: They do not need to be tethered in the backyard.

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Patrick McDonnell: Yes.

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Patrick McDonnell: And, you know, so I'm telling, I told this story in the newspapers, but included under all the strips was the mutts.com backsplash guard dog tag.

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Patrick McDonnell: And if you go to mutts.com backsplash guard dog, we have information of what how you could help.

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Patrick McDonnell: We've teamed up with a lot of great organizations, and you can get a lot of information how you can help with legislation.

00:13:55.260 --> 00:13:59.460
Patrick McDonnell: You know, only 23 states in our country have laws about it.

00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.640
Patrick McDonnell: And they vary in, you know, how good the laws are.

00:14:02.780 --> 00:14:07.100
Patrick McDonnell: But we got a long ways to go to make that a nationwide project.

00:14:07.340 --> 00:14:16.720
Arden Moore: So 23 states currently have some type of law against keeping a dog chained in the backyard or some other place.

00:14:17.060 --> 00:14:19.780
Arden Moore: And I'm doing the math, Patrick, I'm not a mathematician.

00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:24.460
Arden Moore: That means there's 27 other states, we got a lot of work to do, don't we?

00:14:24.560 --> 00:14:25.760
Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, less than half.

00:14:25.820 --> 00:14:37.580
Patrick McDonnell: And I think if you go to our site, we link you to different organizations that could help you explain how you could write to your congressman and, you know, try to get legislation in your state if it doesn't have it.

00:14:37.900 --> 00:14:42.980
Arden Moore: You also have on your site a section on mutts.com called Friends of Guard Dog.

00:14:43.400 --> 00:14:52.640
Arden Moore: And just wanted to do a shout out, you got Tripods, Sidewalk Angels, PETA, Dawn Watch and the Michigan Pit Bull Education Project.

00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:55.460
Arden Moore: You got a pretty good team going there, Patrick.

00:14:55.480 --> 00:15:15.180
Patrick McDonnell: You know, those are the real unsung heroes, you know, all the people who work in the shelters and devote their lives to helping animals and that was a big part of the Guard Dog story that, you know, not only doozy's relationship with Guard Dog and freeing them, but remind people of all the people that dedicate their lives to helping animals like that.

00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:18.780
Patrick McDonnell: So hopefully the story was a big shout out to all those people.

00:15:19.260 --> 00:15:29.600
Arden Moore: So I mean, you can use it in your comic strip to give messages, but is there something someone can do if they notice there's a dog tethered in a backyard that's being neglected?

00:15:29.880 --> 00:15:33.340
Arden Moore: Any tips or guidance on what maybe someone could do?

00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:35.780
Patrick McDonnell: You know, there's a lot of that on the site.

00:15:36.020 --> 00:15:43.860
Patrick McDonnell: You know, small things like, you know, you can knock on the door and say, oh, I, you know, my dog just passed away and I have a lot of dog food left over.

00:15:43.880 --> 00:15:45.040
Patrick McDonnell: Do you want it?

00:15:45.780 --> 00:15:50.280
Patrick McDonnell: You know, I'm taking my dog out for a walk and I help take, you know, with your dog like that.

00:15:50.300 --> 00:15:52.940
Patrick McDonnell: I mean, like there's little things you could do in a friendly way.

00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:54.660
Arden Moore: That's the key, isn't it?

00:15:54.980 --> 00:16:00.740
Arden Moore: Because if you say, pardon me, I have a 99 year old friend named Flo from it's her expression.

00:16:01.020 --> 00:16:02.800
Arden Moore: You don't want to be dumber than batch.

00:16:03.640 --> 00:16:10.280
Arden Moore: You don't want to be aggressive towards somebody or are being mad at them or yelling at you.

00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:13.820
Arden Moore: Got some little sneaky little beneficial approaches.

00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:16.840
Arden Moore: Hey, I'll walk your dog or I got some extra dog food.

00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:17.820
Arden Moore: I love that approach.

00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.040
Arden Moore: And why is that a good approach?

00:16:19.280 --> 00:16:24.040
Patrick McDonnell: Because you're not accusing them of anything and they might be more open to your generosity.

00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.760
Patrick McDonnell: And then the main thing is the dog benefits.

00:16:27.780 --> 00:16:31.100
Patrick McDonnell: The main thing at the end of the day, if you can do that, the dog will get some food.

00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:37.160
Patrick McDonnell: If you have even like, hey, you say I have some, hey, I'd like to give you to make a little bed for the dog.

00:16:37.180 --> 00:16:41.400
Patrick McDonnell: And I mean, most people I don't think are going to refuse free items like that.

00:16:41.400 --> 00:16:44.520
Patrick McDonnell: So that's a way to start the conversation.

00:16:44.760 --> 00:16:47.240
Arden Moore: People should know that pets are very much part of the family.

00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:53.560
Arden Moore: But there are places where people don't understand that amazing bond that we have with our dogs.

00:16:53.760 --> 00:17:02.540
Arden Moore: What do you think is going on in the minds of some people just leaving a dog in a backyard, maybe even forgetting to put water, fresh water in that bowl and having them change?

00:17:02.560 --> 00:17:03.820
Arden Moore: What do you think is going on?

00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:06.460
Patrick McDonnell: Well, that's a bigger question.

00:17:06.580 --> 00:17:07.860
Patrick McDonnell: What's wrong with humanity?

00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:10.640
Patrick McDonnell: I don't know, a lack of empathy.

00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:14.220
Patrick McDonnell: I think we're so in our heads and there's so much distraction.

00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:20.180
Patrick McDonnell: That's my main goal in much is just to encourage empathy and compassion.

00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.040
Arden Moore: And you pick a girl, doozy.

00:17:23.120 --> 00:17:23.460
Arden Moore: Go ahead.

00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:24.340
Patrick McDonnell: For all animals.

00:17:24.360 --> 00:17:34.280
Patrick McDonnell: I mean, I also feel like dogs and cats are the gateways to people thinking about the farm animals and maybe thinking again about what they're eating and how those animals are treated.

00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:39.280
Patrick McDonnell: But yeah, there's a lot of unfortunately humans, we really have to get to people's hearts.

00:17:39.520 --> 00:17:44.100
Patrick McDonnell: And you know, it's funny that and I think that, you know, hopefully the guard dog story helped with that.

00:17:44.120 --> 00:17:51.420
Patrick McDonnell: You know, Jane Goodall was once, I love this quote, Jane Goodall was once asked, you know, she was saying how tough it is to change people's minds.

00:17:51.820 --> 00:17:55.380
Patrick McDonnell: And she said, you really can't change minds, you have to change hearts.

00:17:55.600 --> 00:17:58.200
Patrick McDonnell: And they asked her, how do you, how do you change hearts?

00:17:58.220 --> 00:18:00.400
Patrick McDonnell: And she said, you change hearts with stories.

00:18:00.760 --> 00:18:09.140
Patrick McDonnell: And I feel like that's a powerful statement that you could and that it's true that you tell the right story and it bypasses the brain and just gets right to the heart.

00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:14.440
Arden Moore: So it's amazing because we need to add to a shout out to you and your Jane Goodall connection.

00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:19.580
Arden Moore: Tell us a little bit about the award winning me, Jane, the biography you did.

00:18:19.860 --> 00:18:30.840
Patrick McDonnell: You know, in much I did a cartoon once I have a animal activist character named Stinky Puddin, a little, a little stripe, a little hope you didn't name your own child that there's going.

00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:31.260
Arden Moore: All right.

00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:35.100
Patrick McDonnell: A friend of his asked him, how does he deal with compassion fatigue?

00:18:35.280 --> 00:18:41.620
Patrick McDonnell: And I'm sure a lot of your listeners know compassion fatigue is a lot of shelter workers get that.

00:18:41.860 --> 00:18:47.880
Patrick McDonnell: And Stinky replied that he deals with compassion fatigue that his photograph, his autographed photo of Jane Goodall helps.

00:18:48.340 --> 00:18:53.500
Patrick McDonnell: And the Jane Goodall Institute saw that in the paper and asked if they could use it on their emails.

00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:56.760
Patrick McDonnell: And I said, of course, you can use it any way you want.

00:18:57.060 --> 00:19:02.400
Patrick McDonnell: And then I threw in, if I could, I would love to send the original art to you to give to Jane.

00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.040
Patrick McDonnell: And they said, well, Jane's going to be in New York next week.

00:19:05.060 --> 00:19:06.600
Patrick McDonnell: Why don't you give it to yourself?

00:19:07.040 --> 00:19:07.960
Patrick McDonnell: Are you kidding?

00:19:08.800 --> 00:19:11.180
Patrick McDonnell: So I had the honor and pleasure to meet Jane.

00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:16.000
Patrick McDonnell: And at that meeting, I suggest that maybe we could do a kids book together someday.

00:19:16.180 --> 00:19:18.420
Patrick McDonnell: And she was busy with the book she was working on.

00:19:18.560 --> 00:19:20.980
Patrick McDonnell: But she said when she was done with that, we should talk.

00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:28.300
Patrick McDonnell: So after that meeting, I went home and reread her autobiography Reason for Hope, which I can't, you know, yeah, I've read it.

00:19:28.320 --> 00:19:28.580
Arden Moore: Yes.

00:19:28.780 --> 00:19:33.740
Patrick McDonnell: And in that book, there was a picture of Jane as a two year old holding a stuffed chimpanzee doll.

00:19:34.020 --> 00:19:34.900
Patrick McDonnell: And Jubilee.

00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:43.040
Patrick McDonnell: And I looked at that and I said, that's the book I wanted to do a book about her childhood dream to go work with animals that came true.

00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:45.960
Patrick McDonnell: And I did a little dummy of it.

00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:49.520
Patrick McDonnell: She was back in New York a few months later and I presented it to her.

00:19:49.520 --> 00:19:50.280
Patrick McDonnell: She approved.

00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:52.280
Patrick McDonnell: And that's how the Me Jane book happened.

00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:55.640
Arden Moore: And it also was on stage at Kennedy Center, right?

00:19:55.840 --> 00:20:04.260
Patrick McDonnell: Yeah, you know, I did a children's musical at the Kennedy Center on my Gift of Nothing book by the Mutts characters.

00:20:04.340 --> 00:20:05.400
Patrick McDonnell: And that was successful.

00:20:05.420 --> 00:20:10.660
Patrick McDonnell: And then when the Me Jane book came out, they asked if we would do a Me Jane musical, which was a lot of fun.

00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:18.160
Patrick McDonnell: Although I tell you, Jane was at the opening night, sat right next to me, but it was nervous for me because it was the first time she had seen it.

00:20:18.220 --> 00:20:20.040
Patrick McDonnell: But luckily she enjoyed it.

00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:25.800
Arden Moore: I also want to talk about your other book, Mutts Shelter Stories, Love Guaranteed.

00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:26.880
Arden Moore: Tell us about that.

00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:29.500
Patrick McDonnell: Well, that was a book I did a few years back.

00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:32.720
Patrick McDonnell: It's a collection of all my shelter story strips.

00:20:33.260 --> 00:20:41.820
Patrick McDonnell: And also we included, we asked readers to send in pictures and stories of the best friend that they adopted from a shelter.

00:20:42.040 --> 00:20:47.120
Patrick McDonnell: So it's a nice combination of my made up stories and the true stories of people.

00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.320
Patrick McDonnell: And the photographs are so great.

00:20:49.340 --> 00:20:52.040
Patrick McDonnell: The stories are so great because you know, they're all done from the heart.

00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.820
Patrick McDonnell: I mean, people love people love to take pictures of their pets and love to talk about their pets.

00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.420
Patrick McDonnell: So it's a it's a very inspiring book.

00:20:59.580 --> 00:21:06.700
Patrick McDonnell: And that's similar to what we're doing on the site right now with the mutts.com back slash guard dog.

00:21:06.800 --> 00:21:13.720
Patrick McDonnell: Because we've asked people to send in photos and stories of chain dogs that now have a place in their home.

00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:20.140
Arden Moore: Well that's where Bigfoot is on your site, not the real Bigfoot and Freddie Fercarey.

00:21:20.540 --> 00:21:26.140
Arden Moore: And from what I see that Bigfoot was at a adopt a pit rescue in Daytona, Ohio.

00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:34.760
Arden Moore: After living his life with a chain on a concrete pad and he now has foster parents and he finally got adopted.

00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:35.820
Arden Moore: So kudos.

00:21:36.100 --> 00:21:44.980
Arden Moore: And Freddie Fercarey, I hope they kept that dog's name, was tethered and the chain was in his neck, ow, and he was rescued.

00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:49.960
Arden Moore: And he says he's living with his best friend, a gal named Bethany.

00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.260
Arden Moore: You're making a difference, Patrick, with the guard dog story.

00:21:54.940 --> 00:22:04.520
Patrick McDonnell: These real life stories are so touching, you know, and I think people are enjoying the fact that, you know, my little cartoon dog is finally getting a real home with Doosie.

00:22:04.800 --> 00:22:05.280
Arden Moore: I love it.

00:22:05.560 --> 00:22:16.620
Arden Moore: So just curious as a cat, why did you name the dog Earl and the cat mooch and anything from the childhood that influenced for your ongoing character?

00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:19.280
Patrick McDonnell: You know, names were really tough for me.

00:22:19.300 --> 00:22:20.760
Patrick McDonnell: It took me a long time to come up with.

00:22:21.080 --> 00:22:24.680
Patrick McDonnell: You would think Mutz is a natural, but it took me a long time to come up with Mutz.

00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:33.520
Patrick McDonnell: I'll tell you, with Earl, my dog in the strip, my first name from him, for some reason, I was going to call him Zero, which I don't know why I was thinking that.

00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:35.160
Arden Moore: I'm glad you didn't stick with it.

00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:36.780
Arden Moore: Maybe nil was already taken.

00:22:36.800 --> 00:22:37.300
Arden Moore: I don't know.

00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:41.480
Patrick McDonnell: Believe it or not, I got to meet Charles Schulz right before I started Mutz.

00:22:41.740 --> 00:22:48.920
Patrick McDonnell: OK, I was actually talking to him and I was saying I was having a really hard time coming up with a name for the dog.

00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:53.220
Patrick McDonnell: And Charles Schulz told me, why don't you name him after your own dog, Earl?

00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:55.220
Patrick McDonnell: Because that was my Jack Russell's name.

00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:58.720
Patrick McDonnell: And I thought Charles Schulz might have known what he was talking about.

00:22:59.060 --> 00:22:59.980
Arden Moore: I would listen to him.

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:00.360
Arden Moore: Yeah.

00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:01.620
Patrick McDonnell: So I took his advice.

00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:04.300
Patrick McDonnell: Charles Schulz actually named Earl.

00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:04.880
Arden Moore: There you go.

00:23:05.100 --> 00:23:05.620
Arden Moore: You know what?

00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:07.960
Arden Moore: If we're on Jeopardy, I hope that's a question.

00:23:08.100 --> 00:23:13.060
Arden Moore: Because you and I are the only ones that will now well, and the zillions that follow our show will know that answer.

00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.280
Arden Moore: Well, what about the cat?

00:23:14.300 --> 00:23:14.960
Arden Moore: What about Mutz?

00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:19.940
Patrick McDonnell: You know, Mutz again, I had some, I had many names in notebooks trying to figure out the perfect name.

00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:27.960
Patrick McDonnell: And Mutz is named after, you know how when a cat gives you a little kiss, my mom, when we had cats, my mom used to call that a Mutz.

00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:30.740
Patrick McDonnell: And I just thought that was a tribute to my mom.

00:23:30.840 --> 00:23:32.000
Arden Moore: So where did you grow up?

00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:32.620
Arden Moore: Where are you from?

00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:33.580
Patrick McDonnell: I'm from New Jersey.

00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:34.160
Arden Moore: Okay.

00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:35.760
Arden Moore: So is our producer, Mark Winter.

00:23:36.020 --> 00:23:38.420
Arden Moore: So you guys are Jersey in laws, I guess, too.

00:23:38.780 --> 00:23:39.820
Arden Moore: So that's pretty cool.

00:23:40.300 --> 00:23:45.400
Patrick McDonnell: So I know that I'll tell you one more now that no one knows this yet as we speak since this is taped.

00:23:45.560 --> 00:23:51.080
Patrick McDonnell: But people were asking what I was going to call guard dog because they thought to see all of guard dogs.

00:23:51.100 --> 00:23:52.400
Patrick McDonnell: So you'll be the first to know.

00:23:52.420 --> 00:23:53.540
Patrick McDonnell: But don't tell anybody.

00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:54.620
Arden Moore: I promise I will.

00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:55.260
Arden Moore: I promise.

00:23:55.300 --> 00:24:01.280
Arden Moore: I used to be for 20 years, a daily newspaper reporter, and I had to protect my sources.

00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.180
Arden Moore: So you're in good pause with me.

00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:06.360
Patrick McDonnell: I thought about it for a while, but I and I'll tell you the two reasons.

00:24:06.360 --> 00:24:11.780
Patrick McDonnell: But I ended up naming dark guard dog Sparky, Sparky, and two reasons.

00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:16.480
Patrick McDonnell: One is that that's Charles Schulz's nickname, all his friends call them Sparky.

00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:21.160
Patrick McDonnell: I thought there wouldn't have been a much trip and there wouldn't have been a guard dog strip without Charles Schulz.

00:24:21.180 --> 00:24:22.880
Patrick McDonnell: So I thought that was a nice tribute.

00:24:23.100 --> 00:24:32.580
Patrick McDonnell: But then the other connection, which really worked and talking about names, the little girl character, Doosie, is named after my sister-in-law, whose real name is Donna.

00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:36.080
Patrick McDonnell: But my wife used to call her Doosie as a kid.

00:24:36.100 --> 00:24:37.700
Patrick McDonnell: So it was like a nickname.

00:24:37.800 --> 00:24:42.800
Patrick McDonnell: And my sister-in-law, Donna Doosie, husband's nickname is Sparky.

00:24:43.340 --> 00:24:50.260
Patrick McDonnell: So it was just perfect between the two Sparkies, both having deep meetings.

00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:53.780
Arden Moore: When will the name of guard dog be revealed publicly?

00:24:54.120 --> 00:24:56.740
Patrick McDonnell: I believe that's next Friday.

00:24:56.760 --> 00:24:58.000
Patrick McDonnell: So whatever day that is.

00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:03.640
Arden Moore: So in December, mid-December 2023, this is airing after that.

00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:05.800
Arden Moore: So we are lips are sealed, right?

00:25:05.820 --> 00:25:06.560
Arden Moore: Mark producer.

00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:07.580
Arden Moore: Yes, he's nodding.

00:25:07.860 --> 00:25:08.620
Arden Moore: Oh my gosh.

00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:10.780
Arden Moore: What a full circle, Patrick.

00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:11.300
Patrick McDonnell: Yeah.

00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:11.760
Patrick McDonnell: Yeah.

00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.640
Patrick McDonnell: I feel like there's a lot of that life and definitely a lot of that with mutts.

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.960
Patrick McDonnell: It just it's a crazy, wonderful world a lot of times.

00:25:20.280 --> 00:25:22.860
Arden Moore: And I love that you got the page a day calendar.

00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:27.240
Arden Moore: Please guys grab his mutts calendar for 2024 and helping you out.

00:25:27.540 --> 00:25:28.520
Arden Moore: I'm an author too.

00:25:28.800 --> 00:25:34.460
Arden Moore: I've written 27 pet books and from one author to another, anything I could do to help you, I will.

00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:35.340
Patrick McDonnell: Oh, thank you.

00:25:35.340 --> 00:25:36.460
Patrick McDonnell: Well, if I could do plugs.

00:25:36.620 --> 00:25:40.600
Patrick McDonnell: Actually, I had two really interesting had two really interesting books come out this year.

00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:44.300
Patrick McDonnell: In January, I did a collaboration with the Dalai Lama.

00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.620
Arden Moore: Oh, he's kind of a known guy.

00:25:47.560 --> 00:25:49.940
Patrick McDonnell: That's another crazy small world story.

00:25:50.060 --> 00:25:58.220
Patrick McDonnell: What wonderful world but so old heart to heart and it's about the environment and it has some really strong messages about animals.

00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:01.580
Patrick McDonnell: Boy, he has a quote in that book that's like my favorite quote.

00:26:01.620 --> 00:26:03.380
Patrick McDonnell: I'm not sure I'll do it exactly right.

00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:11.380
Patrick McDonnell: But halfway through the book, he says that maybe someday we'll get on our knees and ask forgiveness to all the animals to all the animals.

00:26:12.020 --> 00:26:14.200
Patrick McDonnell: So it's a that's a pretty powerful book.

00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:16.100
Arden Moore: All right.

00:26:16.120 --> 00:26:16.920
Arden Moore: Heart to heart.

00:26:16.980 --> 00:26:19.600
Arden Moore: Everybody listen, get this book, get your paws on the book.

00:26:19.860 --> 00:26:21.800
Arden Moore: What's another project you're working on?

00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:30.940
Patrick McDonnell: And in September, I think, you know, what do you do after you do a book with the Dolly Lyon editor friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do a book with the Marvel superheroes.

00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:32.580
Arden Moore: Oh my gosh.

00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:33.080
Arden Moore: Okay.

00:26:33.100 --> 00:26:35.200
Arden Moore: We're going to definitely have to have you back on.

00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:36.420
Arden Moore: All right.

00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:37.320
Arden Moore: So tell us about that.

00:26:37.660 --> 00:26:39.340
Patrick McDonnell: Oh, the superheroes journey.

00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:42.360
Patrick McDonnell: And it's a very strange.

00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:48.600
Patrick McDonnell: It's part memoir, but I call it just it's a spiritual book disguised as a Marvel superhero book.

00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:51.060
Patrick McDonnell: It's got a strong spiritual message in it.

00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:55.080
Arden Moore: I'm trying to picture you in a superhero costume.

00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:57.640
Arden Moore: It's not happening.

00:26:59.020 --> 00:27:02.180
Patrick McDonnell: Well, you know, I grew up with those comics and just loved them.

00:27:02.200 --> 00:27:05.840
Patrick McDonnell: So that was a childhood dream come true to get to play with those characters.

00:27:06.040 --> 00:27:08.080
Arden Moore: So who was your favorite Marvel character?

00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:13.740
Patrick McDonnell: You know, I had an older brother and he told me my younger brother what we were allowed to collect.

00:27:14.100 --> 00:27:16.300
Patrick McDonnell: And back then he gave me the X-Men.

00:27:16.300 --> 00:27:16.800
Patrick McDonnell: So the X-Men.

00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:18.100
Arden Moore: Oh, that's decent.

00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:19.020
Arden Moore: That's good.

00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:19.440
Arden Moore: Yeah.

00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:23.200
Arden Moore: We're almost out of time.

00:27:23.300 --> 00:27:26.620
Arden Moore: Patrick, is there a message you want to send to everyone?

00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:29.080
Arden Moore: We are going to have everybody go to mutts.com.

00:27:29.100 --> 00:27:34.060
Arden Moore: We have a Dolly Lama book coming out with him and check out the Marvels book too in 2024.

00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:42.720
Arden Moore: But I'm so, so grateful to having you on the show and to share the guard dog story and that there is hope in this world.

00:27:42.860 --> 00:27:44.640
Arden Moore: But what would you like to say to folks?

00:27:44.780 --> 00:27:48.880
Arden Moore: Because we have a ton of people following our show.

00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:51.740
Arden Moore: We're the longest running pet podcast on the planet.

00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:52.940
Patrick McDonnell: That's fantastic.

00:27:53.220 --> 00:27:55.960
Patrick McDonnell: You know, I guess my message is like the Dolly Lama's message.

00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:59.660
Patrick McDonnell: Be kind, you know, compassion will win the day.

00:27:59.780 --> 00:28:03.060
Patrick McDonnell: You know, find it in your heart to have empathy for all beings.

00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:04.280
Arden Moore: That sounds good.

00:28:04.780 --> 00:28:07.060
Arden Moore: Everyone, please again, Patrick McDonnell.

00:28:07.260 --> 00:28:09.000
Arden Moore: He is the creator of Mutts.

00:28:09.300 --> 00:28:14.380
Arden Moore: I want you to go check out that strip, comic strip I said, not just strip, comic strip.

00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:16.160
Arden Moore: In fact, I will tell you this.

00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:22.340
Arden Moore: When I was in third grade, I got in trouble by my teacher because she was doing a film strip.

00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:23.400
Arden Moore: I'm so old.

00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:24.240
Arden Moore: We had film strips.

00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:28.680
Arden Moore: And I said out loud in class, we're going to go see a film strip.

00:28:29.080 --> 00:28:32.240
Arden Moore: And I was told, Arden, put your desk next to mine, Mrs.

00:28:32.260 --> 00:28:32.660
Arden Moore: Shields.

00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:36.740
Arden Moore: So comic strip, okay, so see, that's how my mind works.

00:28:36.760 --> 00:28:40.620
Arden Moore: So maybe I was destined to be a writer or a host of a show called Oh Behave.

00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:41.120
Arden Moore: What do you think?

00:28:41.580 --> 00:28:44.260
Patrick McDonnell: I think you found your purpose in life for sure.

00:28:45.580 --> 00:28:49.840
Arden Moore: At this time also, I want to give a shout out to our producer, Mark Winter.

00:28:50.080 --> 00:28:52.600
Arden Moore: He is the executive producer of PetLife Radio.

00:28:52.620 --> 00:28:54.820
Arden Moore: We have a lot of great shows on that network.

00:28:54.840 --> 00:28:57.900
Arden Moore: We are the largest pet radio network on the planet.

00:28:58.220 --> 00:29:01.820
Arden Moore: And we have great guests as you see, like the creator of Mutts.

00:29:02.220 --> 00:29:11.680
Arden Moore: And until next time, this is your flea free host, Arden Moore, saying just two words to all you two, three, and four legged out there, Oh Behave.

00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:16.580
Announcer: Coast to coast and around the world, it's Oh Behave with Arden Moore.

00:29:16.600 --> 00:29:19.500
Announcer: Find out why cats and dogs do the things they do.

00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:23.960
Announcer: And get the latest buzz from wagging tongues and tails in Rin Tin Tinsel Town.

00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:32.300
Announcer: From famous pet experts and best selling authors to television and movie stars, you'll get great tail wagging pet tips and have a fur flying fun time.

00:29:32.620 --> 00:29:35.920
Announcer: Oh Behave with America's pet edutainer, Arden Moore.

00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:40.880
Announcer: Every week on demand, only on PetLifeRadio.com.