Editing Mutts (comic strip) (section)

==Characters and story==
[[Image:Mutts (Earl and Mooch).png|frame|right|Earl and Mooch]]
The friendship of Mooch and Earl focuses on the differences between cats and dogs as human companions and as friends with each other: Earl is friendly, loves the company of his human companion, and likes to play outside; Mooch is often indifferent to his human companions, except when being fed, and prefers to stay inside or is often seen with Earl, his best friend. Both animals frequently express themselves through [[thought balloons]] when their owners are present.

===Earl===
Earl is an innocent black and white [[Jack Russell terrier]] who lives with his human companion Ozzie, a bachelor. They love spending time together and taking frequent walks. Earl often howls in loneliness when Ozzie is away from home. Earl spends much of his free time with Mooch, either inside or wandering around town visiting other animals. He loves to eat both human food and his own dog food. It is revealed in a 2011 Valentine's Day strip that Earl was adopted by Ozzie from a shelter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=February 14, 2011, Daily Comic Strip |url=https://mutts.com/products/strip-021411 |access-date=March 25, 2022 |website=MUTTS |language=en}}</ref> Earl was inspired by Patrick McDonnell's late Jack Russell terrier, also named Earl, who lived with Patrick and his wife for more than 18 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Story: All About the MUTTS Comic Strip |url=https://mutts.com/pages/our-story |access-date=March 17, 2022 |website=MUTTS |language=en}}</ref>

===Mooch===
Mooch is a curious [[bicolor cat#Tuxedo|tuxedo cat]] with a large nose who lives next door to Earl with his human companions Millie (who often calls him "Moochie," "Moo Moo Cakes," or "Shmoochums," and he calls her "Shmillie") and Frank, a goldfish named Sid, and a snail named Little Earl. Mooch can be reclusive, sometimes preferring to stay inside and nap, or play with his Little Pink Sock,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The MUTTS Comic Strip Archive: Little Pink Sock |url=https://mutts.com/collections/comic-strips?page=2 |access-date=March 25, 2022 |website=MUTTS |language=en}}</ref> rather than go outside with Earl. He has a speech impediment that causes him to insert an ''sh'' into words, such as ''yesh'' (yes), ''shmilk'' (milk) and ''shmousie'' (mousie). He frequently snubs (or shnubs) his cat food, much to Millie's chagrin, dislikes car rides, and, like Earl, he eats human food at every opportunity.

=== Appearances in other comics ===
In 2005, Earl and Mooch appeared as guests in Blondie and Dagwood's 75th anniversary in the comic strip ''[[Blondie (comic strip)|Blondie]].'' In 2004, ''[[Pearls Before Swine (comics)|Pearls Before Swine]]'' crossed over with ''MUTTS.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2004/04/26|title=Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, April 26, 2004 Via @GoComics|last=Pastis|first=Stephan|website=GoComics.com|access-date=September 13, 2016}}</ref> In that strip, Rat goes to Comics Re-education Camp, where Earl and Mooch try to teach Rat to be a Lovable comic strip character. In another strip, Frank and Mooch are hanging out with many old comic strip characters, including but not limited to: ''[[Dick Tracy]]'', ''[[Peanuts]]'', and [[Little Nemo]]''.''