It’s from a website called “Sleepypod“, where I’m not quite certain what happens.  ”Provides security and comfort for pets at home or on the go”.  Okay, I think maybe it’s a travel bag… that looks like a canine crash-test dummy.  I’m not sure, but I think maybe you don’t want your pet zippered up in a bag that looks like if you leave it unattended for a moment some car-company guy who needs to test out the effect of a crashed car on a plastic mutt and might grab it and put it to use.

There’s also another sleep-pod for felines that looks like a space helmet.  That seems about right, since we all know everybody wants to jettison cats into space.

I met Bob a few years ago when he came to hear me pontificate about myself at the Kenosha Cartooning Festival near Chicago, and he’s a wonderful chap.  Bob, I’m not sure if you want to tell people how they might order some of your comics, but feel free to plug yourself in the comments section of this post if you so desire.

Congratulations to Christopher Wood, for the winning contest entry!  Here it is:

We received over 600 entries here at Pooch Central.  As you may have guess, a large portion of them were plays on Life of Pi.

Other recurring movie springboards were Jaws, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat,” Casablanca, “Of all the lifeboats…”, and Cast Away references to Wilson.  Also popular were variations of the Mailman’s “nor sleet nor snow” code, the end of Saturday mail delivery, threats of who is going to eat who, and the pun “being up the creek without a poodle.”

Some of these were quite clever, but I felt I should choose winners partially based on originality, as I didn’t want to select a winner with multiple variations on the same gag.

Here are some runners up.  From Kathy Fisher:

From John Neuenschwander, an interesting play on the farmer-fox-chicken riddle (Pooch fans are so learned):

And lastly, one of my favourites which was thought up by not one, not two, but three clever readers, Joanne Pritchard, Robert Peven, and Mark Saliers:

The winner gets a Pooch Cafe original strip of his choosing.  The other 5 honorable mentions shall receive a little something for their giggle-inducing contributions.

Thanks once again to everyone who took the time to send in some captions, it was a load of work going through them all but rewarding to hear from so many Pooch readers.  I’ll try this again sometime.  Hope you all had fun and thanks for carrying the leash!

Click here to check it out!  (And let me know how it looks.  I haven’t joined the e-reader revolution yet!)

A rare, front-on view of the Ponch-ular one.

In honor of the 10-year anniversary, Universal is giving away some signed Pooch prints.  Simply click here and visit the GoComics website to enter for a chance to win one.

Thanks to all my readers, new and longterm, for being such loyal fans of Poncho and his buds.  I raise a bowl of water to you.

I was a Call of Cathuhlu kid.

…would we be kibble?

Huge appreciation to all who tried their hands/minds at caption writing.  I’ve been told it’s customary to let the winner be known at time of publication, so the strip with the winning caption will run on Saturday, May 18.  I’ll post it here along with any honorable mentions and some details about how everything went.

This has been a hugely rewarding experience, I’ll have to make sure to try it again sometime.  It’s a lot of work, but it’s great connecting with so many readers.

More to come!

In the meanwhile, here’s an advance panel:

Margaret writes:

“I recently visited the Museo de Arte Popular (Folk Art Museum) in Mérida, Mexico, and I thought there was a familiar look to these carved jaguars made by a folk artist from Izamal, Yucatán. Do you think Poncho would think so?”

Hmm, perhaps a touch cat-like for our tastes here at Pooch, but we do like the concept of Poncho appearing everywhere one looks. Keep an eye out for any other Poncho-shaped sightings.

What an amazing response so far!  I’m blown away by the hundreds of caption contest entries, as well as the wave of Pooch-love that has accompanied so many of them.  I wish I had time to respond to all the positive-vibe-senders individually, but seriously, you’ve made my cartoonist heart swell cartoonishly large and vibrantly red.

Feel free to keep the ideas coming.  The contest doors will remain open till Wednesday, April 24.

Now it’s up to you to make with the funny.  It can be a single caption, or you can add dialogue to one or both of the characters, or you can just say “Wow, that drawing is such perfection words would only tarnish it”, whatever you think.

The best way to enter is to click ”email Paul” under “MEET” in the column to the left (that way you can keep your nuggets of wit private for now), or you can also put your entries on this thread if you’d prefer.  I’ll read the captions entered under “Instgram” and try to look at the message board as well (although I’m getting the impression there’s been some trouble with that), but the best way to go is either of the two methods above.  (You can try entering psychically, but I’ll warn you, I wear one of those Magneto helmets from time to time, and it’s raining today).

First place: A Pooch Cafe original!  Hopefully one of your choice or one like it.  There may be additional prizes based on merit, hilarity, and how much coffee I’ve consumed.  So no rush, and often multiple times if inspiration strikes.

No word yet on the contest deadline, but it’ll be at least a few weeks.  I’ll get back to you re that, and with another little promo announcement regarding actual sort-of contact with yours truly.

Thanks in advance to all those who enter!  Pooch On!

Contest tomorrow!  Hold onto your leftover New Year’s horns!

No, it’s not a pie-eating contest, it’s a contest anyone, including those allergic to pie, can enter.  Tune in April 10th for details!

Rob writes:

“It was the first winter season with the first puppy I ever owned.  I was so caring and worrisome about how my puppy ‘Chelsea’ would take the change in the weather from hot summers to cold winters.  It does get snowy in the Great White North in Canada.  So I was contemplating on how I could keep her warm on those daily walks.  I didn’t want her to be spoiled, but did see the good in keeping her protected from the harsh elements, cold wind chills, sand and salt that would get on her paws.  I decided upon booties for her paws, and a jacket for her body.  It was late November when we finally received some snow. Joyfully, I put the winter gear on ‘Chelsea’, but she did not take to wearing them at all.  Especially the bootie’s, which made her walk funny.  She tried to kick them off with each step.  What have I done? I asked myself.
After a weekend walk, with my puppy all dressed up, I was relaxing by skimming the funnies.   Right there, staring at me, like some kind of sign from a higher power, was Pooch Café; and that’s when I got my dose of how she must have felt.  I burst into tears of laughter after seeing Snookie all dolled up in a sweater for walk, only to be ridiculed when the gang sees her.  But wait, along comes Poncho to take prize, for he’s dressed up even more.  Thanks Paul for sending me, and all other dog owners out there the truth that all dogs want to say to us.  Message received loud and clear.”

No problemo, Rob!  And here’s the pooch that benefitted from Rob’s knowledge:

This art comes from Gabriel Cervantes from Appleton, Wisconsin, who says: “Cows are common here in the Dairy State, as are Cheeseheads, so here’s my childlike Microsoft Paint drawing of an unusually spotted bovine that I may or may not have seen grazing about.”

In all the cow pastures in all the world, there must actually be a cow somewhere lucky enough to be sporting this marking.  And if there is, he can wear any hat he likes.

(Viewed on a recent trip to Sri Lanka).

I did an interview for an online Swedish web-zine called Digital Landscape.  Check the interview here.

Oh, wait, you don’t speak Sweedish?  Well then, here’s what I said på Engelska:

—–

1: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Who is Paul Gilligan?

When I was in grade 2, I was lousy at sports.  I found a MAD magazine and started drawing cartoons out of it.  Wendy, the class hottie, loved them, and I became convinced cartooning was the path to popularity and girls.  That proved untrue.  I now live in Toronto, and have had no further contact with Wendy.

2: What’s the story behind Pooch Café? How did you came up with the idea?

I tried a few other strips and got responses from a few syndicates saying I had some chops but that my concepts didn’t hit any demos that might help salesmen pitch to newspaper editors.  So I tried to figure out what demo I could attack.  I didn’t have a baby, an ethnicity, or any experience raising teenagers.  I tried a strip about working in an office, but since I’d never really worked in one that fell pretty flat.  Finally I decided that perhaps I could come up with the canine version of Garfield.  I’m still waiting for my big lasagna moment.

3: Most cartoonists change their style and technique over the years. How has it been for you?

I’ve definitely gone through various stages of the way I draw leaves on trees.  The rest of the changes I don’t really notice have happened unless I look at strips side by side.  One exception is that about six years back I gave Boomer a pupil.  It was a way to give him more expression and personality.  I’ve received feedback from fans saying the characters’ unorthodox features sometimes confuse things, and feedback from a guy at a party saying he didn’t know my characters were dogs at all.  Perhaps the cubist attributes of the main dogs didn’t help my lasagna cause.  Neither Poncho or Boomer can look directly at the camera, and Poncho facing forward and looking up appears as simply a white cylinder.

4: Let’s be honest. You are funny. Do you see yourself as a funny person in everyday life? Or is there something special that happens at the drawing table?

Well thank you!  I’ve been blessed with a really funny group of friends, so over the past 10-15 years we’ve all pushed each other with constant riffing.  Although it’s been mentioned by casual observers that nobody else gets what the hell we’re laughing about.  Insular or not, I’ve found this hilarity almost never translates to the page.  Instances where I’ve tried have produced question marks over the head of my editor.  Each type of joke-making has its own craft, whether it’s comics, stand-up, or drunken babbling.  When I’m writing for Pooch, sometimes I’ll just start a conversation between two characters in my head and let it run until they say something funny, and then just clip out that section.  Does that sound a little schitzo?

5: Do you get inspired by real events (like people, animals, news, ETC.) or is it mostly fantasies/own ideas?

Once in a while some event will inspire a storyline.  For instance there was a town recently that wanted to ban dogs from the downtown core, so I riffed on that a bit.  Also when I had a dog there were a few times I dropped the retractable leash handle and it skidded down the sidewalk making a huge racket and scaring the heck outta the dog.  I’ve put that to good use in the strip.  From tragedy… art.

6: Can you ever feel limited by what you can joke or write about? Or do you simply avoid grey areas?

Oh, it’s amazing what you can’t put on the comics page.  Stuff that’s been common on prime time television for 20 years will still land you in hot water.  Even the mildest curse words are verboten, and subject matter like breast enhancement or vasectomies are no go.  It’s not that it’s illegal or anything, it’s simply that it’s been such a high-decorum zone for so long that even slight indelicacies can provoke angry letters to the newspapers, and you don’t want to give them any extra reasons to yank your strip.  Then again, I’ve gotten away with a few things because my characters are — on the surface — dogs.  In one strip I had Poo Poo the male Bichon Frise being hired out to stud.  He heads off to his appointment wearing a cowboy hat to the theme song from Midnight Cowboy.  Male prostitution on the comics page.  My friend Rob Harrell (“Adam @ Home”) told me he spit coffee all over his keyboard when he saw it.

7: Now a very personal question. What do you really think about cats?

I like cats.  Don’t tell anybody.  I do prefer dogs.

8: Do you read much comics yourself?

Like everyone I was influenced early on by Shultz, Watterson, Breathed and Larson.  But past that I never much followed comic strips, I was more into “alternative” comics by Daniel Clowes, Chester Brown, The Hernandez Brothers, and — perhaps my biggest influence (writing wise), Peter Bagge.  Because of him Pooch Café has a lot more conversation than the average comic strip.  Perhaps to its detriment, (certainly to the detriment of those who need reading glasses).  Although lately I’ve been redeveloping an appreciation for the quicker, simpler gag.  Mark Buford (“Scary Gary”) is a master of this.  Sometimes they can be the most difficult to pull off.

9: What do you think is most important if one is to succeed in creating a successful comic?

Writing, hands down.  A strongly-written/poorly-drawn strip can succeed, but the other way around and it’s no dice.  Also (and I’m going to assume we’re talking about humor comics here) drawing funny is more important than drawing “well”.  I’ve seen strips drawn by fantastic artists who draw like Disney, but I don’t think humor can breath under such well-crafted lines.  Larson and Scott Adams and Stephan Pastis have been accused of not being great artists in the classical sense, but their drawings are funny.  They’re also unique and perfectly meshed to the writing.  This is harder to accomplish than craftsmanship.  (This point notwithstanding those enigmas Watterson and Richard Thompson who have managed to find the magic middle ground).

10: Do you have a favorite pen or other tool that you usually use?

I’m still analog, (read: behind the times), although I do scan in to make alterations and add type and color.  The Faber Castell brush pen is my instrument of choice.  (If you’re listening, FC, I’m willing to be paparazzi-ed in coffee shops cuddling your product).

11: What is your life like – what do you do on a typical day?

Pacing.  Lots of pacing.  If the world were even slightly more like a cartoon I’d have an oval trench worn in the floor.  It’s a circus up there in my head sometimes, but for whatever reason pacing helps keep me focused on whatever I’m supposed to be thinking about and away from the nagging urge to check Facebook.

Drawing time gets paired up with podcasts and phone conversations.  It only takes about 10% of my brain to draw Poncho, which leaves the unused remainder (roughly another 5%) free to be put to work on other tasks such as listening thoughtfully and going “hmm”.

12: (And when you have some spare time?)

All my work, projects and hobbies involve me sitting by myself and rarely putting on proper pants, so free time is best spent socializing to help keep me from becoming a translucent-skinned Gollum-esque creature who fears the light and makes too much conversation with bank tellers.

Quick questions:
1. Summer or winter?

Summer, definitely.  Unless winter vacations count.

2. City or country life?

Whichever’s closer.

3. Early mornings or late evenings?

I’ve recently taken up being a morning person.  There is way more daylight in a day then I previously thought.

4. Favourite food?

Are Manhattans a food?

5. Favourite holiday destination?

I’ll tell you at the end of my life.

Appreciation to the whole Stone family for their talent and taste!

“My sister started reading Pooch Café regularly before I did. I liked it when I read it, but it wasn’t a MUST read until Poncho wrote a letter to Justin Timberlake begging him to come take Carmen away with him. In all the years since, my day never really feels complete until I see Pooch Café.”

Thanks for sharing, Rhonda!

Also, James Kautz shares his fan first thusly:

“The first Pooch Cafe strip I remember reading was one where Chaz returned from shopping with Carmen and thanked Poncho for his money saving tip.  He had used the phrase “it makes you look a little heavy” when she asked his opinion on whatever items she tried on, and she hadn’t bought a thing as a result.  After that, I was hooked, and I’ve read every strip every day.

Incidentally, I tried that trick with my wife once, having shared the source of it with her.  She was somewhat disturbed at how effective it was, even though she fully knew I delivered it in good humour and not as a real opinion.”

I recall the strip, a very early one, but I can’t seem to find it in my archives, alas.  Great description though, James, and thanks to you too for sharing!

And thanks to you, Ryan!

(click to enlarge)