Dogs make us laugh, surprise us, and occasionally outsmart us. In My Support Dog Ate My Comfort Food: A Collection of Canine Comics, acclaimed cartoonist Dave Coverly celebrates their irresistible quirks and unique personalities through cartoons that will feel instantly familiar to anyone who loves dogs.

Best known for his award-winning comic Speed Bump, Dave Coverly spoke with us about the rescued dogs who have inspired him, the connection between humor and empathy, and what dogs might demand if they formed a union.

Have you ever met an animal who instantly felt like a cartoon character waiting to happen?

Ha! Yes, literally, and I say this with nothing but love and affection, every single dog I’ve ever met. They can be so genuinely derpy and derpily genuine, so open to fun, and so completely unselfconscious that they practically write jokes for me.

But in the spirit of the question, two dogs from my life stand out: Shag, who my grandpa found roaming the streets of Detroit, was almost a caricature of a street dog. You could easily envision him taking a drag off a cigarette in an alley, a bottle of fermented gravy in one paw and dice in the other. He slept in the garage in a dog bed of hay my grandfather made him, but in the morning my dad would wake to find him sleeping on top of his car (my dad’s car, not Shag’s car, to be clear, he wasn’t that spoiled).

The second dog, Dandy, was my sister’s. She was a tiny black chihuahua mix, also a rescue, and despite her size she could and would eat anything. Any. Thing. One day, while dog sitting her, she got under the fence of our backyard and shot out of there like a miniature cannonball. We lived next to a golf course, so all we could see, and this was also very cartoon-like, was a black dot going over a fairway hill, then disappearing, then reappearing on a farther fairway hill, then disappearing. We chased her in a panic and were only able to capture her when she fell for our trap: we brought Pop-Tarts.

Your cartoons often make us recognize ourselves in other species. Do you think humor helps people feel empathy for all animals in ways facts and statistics sometimes can’t?

Thanks, and yes, I absolutely think humor is a way in to empathy. In the case of cartoons, I think it’s not only the humor that creates a connection between people and other animals, it’s the speed of the humor. Facts and statistics are clean cut and very persuasive on their own but can also take more time to process, whereas a good joke should make its point quickly.

The truth is that most people, whether they think about it much or not, instinctively understand that other animals have feelings and personalities. So when I put a dog in a situation that normally you’d see a human in, it’s completely different than putting an inanimate object in that situation. To that end, I try not to anthropomorphize the dogs as much as I put dog in a human situation…and then let the dog still react like a dog. The difference is that instead of them simply being proxies for people, they’re still dogs. A lot of humor comes from recognition, so seeing what a dog would do in a situation we’re familiar with can create both humor and empathy at the same time.

What’s the funniest thing an animal has ever taught you about being human?

I have a great story about that, and it goes back to Shag again. I mentioned that he’d sleep on top of the car at night. What I didn’t mention is that it drove my dad absolutely around the bend. He’d get so angry (in his defense, the car was a soft-top convertible and those doggy nails poked holes in it). Every morning he’d go the garage and yell at Shag and get him off the car. And every night Shag would do it again.

After far too long of this routine, my dad one morning went out, saw Shag up there and said, “Damn it, Shag. You win.” He gave him a pet and went back inside.

Shag never slept on top of the car again.

My dad loves that story and has told it often. What a lesson.

If dogs formed a union tomorrow, what would be their top demand?

Haha, this might be my favorite question of all time given my love of dogs and my politics! Of course, there are very serious answers I’d like to see happen, like “end puppy mills” or “stop breeding dogs as a luxury item” or “spay/neuter dog abusers.” But I’m a cartoonist, so I’m going with:

“Waggers of the world, untie! You have nothing to lose but your chains!”

My Support Dog Ate My Comfort Food is a joyful tribute to dogs and the individuality, humor, and affection they bring to our lives.

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Order a signed and personalized copy, complete with a dog doodle, from Schuler Books.