I have been creating cartoon dogs, cartoon cats and various miscellaneous animal cartoons lately. Did you know that you can actually sign up to get them weekly? Yep, I’ll tell you how in a minute, but let me explain why I started drawing them.

Wait a minute, that memory is taking me back many years (to the mid 1950s!) Yes, being the daughter of an artist, and surrounded by talented siblings, it was easy to while away the pleasant hour by drawing cartoon dogs, cartoon people and so on. My brother even had a running comic strip featuring a dashing young man by the name of (if I got this right) Dashly. Alex was the really talented visual artist of the 4 kids, and of course he, like I,  grew up to be a full time artist.

So the Hutton kids sat around the kitchen table drawing in between meal time and pet care (we had a tank of tropical fish, a Dalmatian, tabby cat, hamster and various “rescued” baby birds, especially in the spring. Oh, and there was the tank of salamanders and the jar of frog eggs on the porch. (Watching frog eggs hatch in the spring was my idea of high entertainment.)

Anyway, none of us consulted with the others on what kind of comic to draw. We just dove in, and the only sound beside the scratching of the number 2 pencils on newsprint was an occasional giggle when a particularly humorous cartoon panel was born. Then the sharing began. I would give a thousand bucks to see those creations now! But our hard-working artist mom didn’t have time or storage space for those sentimental early efforts, so they have long been lost to the dustbin. Alas.

But the real lasting result was a crew of kids who knew how to laugh, draw, imagine and actually DO. There were no video games to entertain us for way too many hours, like the “underprivileged”  children of today.  We entertained ourselves, using our God-given abilities to create. And the results have reverberated down through the decades. Thus I am still, at age 60, drawing cartoons! I never would have guessed, back in that pink and white 1950s kitchen, that one day my cartoons would be seen by thousands of people on the internet (and what a concept an internet would have been to us then!)

So here is how you can get my weekly cartoon, if you should be so inclined! Click on link at the end of this post which will take you to  The Magic Zoo store. On the left side is a cartoon dog and a cartoon cat having a conversation. Just type in your first name and your email address, and I will send you a cartoon a week!  But warning; they are pretty wacky and kind of “out there.” But if you like off the wall comic humor, I think you’ll get a kick out of them. And if you find them not to your taste, you can always unsubscribe! So click here to sign up for my comic! (And get a free necklace, too!)

Keeping off the Chill

Dog clothing seems to be quite the fashionable thing these days. I can understand how putting a sweater on a short-haired or hairless Chinese Crested might have its point. After all, our domestic dogs are the result of breeding out many of the characteristics of their wild wolf ancestors. These wild forefathers of the pug and Pomeranian could survive no matter what the elements threw at them, including below freezing temperatures for extended periods of time.

Is there anything wrong with clothing your dog?

The only drawback I can find is the possibility that clothing might obscure a dog’s natural body language (raising the hackles, drooping the tail and so forth) from his or her “peers”. Presumably this could lead to some sort of altercation between a couple of canines.

Then there is the matter of tasteless outfits. As far as I’m concerned, this would include, as a subheading, outfits that match a dog’s human companion. But I’m not a big fan of matching anything. A friend of mine has adopted twin girls, and on their birthday I make it a point of NEVER giving them identical dresses.

Dogs are not children

It’s true! But if life in Japan can be a forecast for the future, more and more people will be adopting dogs in lieu of having children. There seems to be a trend of carrying Yorkies in strollers, toting Chihuahuas in purses and even wrapping small dogs in baby slings to wear on your chest.

What about a dog’s dignity?

I don’t think that dogs have the same emotional response as people, but I believe there is truth to the idea that all domesticated animals (well, with the possible exception of the cat) like to contribute to the “pack” survival. You, of course, are part of his or her pack. So put some dog clothing on George the Doberman if you like, but be sure he wears a little backpack on that holds water for the two of you when you go on your next hike!

What does this mean?

I think it means that a dog is happiest if he has appropriate work to do. I don’t believe that “being cute” should be a job description, especially for a dog. Even a little Chihuahua can find something to do to help his adopted family. Maybe he brings you your slippers, one at a time!