The idea is simplicity; a dog, a cat and their owner.  Through the creator Patrick McDonnell, they form the immensely popular strip Mutts.

"What's the highest compliment I can pay Patrick McDonnell? He keeps coming up with ideas I wish I had thought of myself.

"To me, 'Mutts' is exactly what a comic strip should be. It is always fun to look at, and the two main characters are wonderfully innocent. Patrick has created a little world that exists within itself. Everyone in 'Mutts,' from the little pet fish to the butcher behind his counter, is funny. Earl, of course, holds it all together and, as always, it is the way he is drawn that makes him so good. It's hard to believe that after 100 years of comics, Patrick could come up with a new and perfect little dog. I like everything about 'Mutts.'"

So said "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz in the foreword to the first "Mutts" anthology.

Patrick and his "Mutts" are winners of the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for “Cartoonist of the Year” (a lifetime achievement), Germany's prestigious "Max and Moritz" Best International Comic Strip Cartoonist Award, and multiple Genesis Awards, now presented by The Humane Society of the United States, for ongoing commitment and outstanding work on behalf of animal welfare issues. Fifteen "Mutts" books have been published in the United States, including McDonnell's first children's book "The Gift of Nothing." "Mutts" now appears in more than 700 newspapers and is published in more than 20 countries.