I haven’t read Pooch Cafe in a while, but I recall this dog is known for mooching food. I’m not sure what that has to do with the sweater and booties. Is it helping him (looks cute? makes him more noticeable? has some weird inflating mechanism?) or harming him (looks too well fed? makes him less dog-like? has some weird inflating mechanism?)? Dan’s right; this really is a CIDU.
There is a running gag where Poncho turns into a monster whenever there is food to mooch for (mooch: ask for or obtain (something) without paying for it.). I don’t remember if there is a specific reason the mooch Poncho looks like MODOK.
This came up in comments. Poncho turning into “Moochdok” is an occasional trope. I even gathered an example arc in a GoComics collection. That’s a useful premium feature to show old comics to those who can’t go back in the archives.
Not knowing this comic at all, I assumed that the dog wearing sweater and booties is hot, and as a result is plumping up, as hot dogs do when they get hot. The clue being he’s walking by a hot dog cart.
But I’ll defer to those who know this strip better.
Thank you, Brian. I guess it’s easy for a cartoonist to think that everyone follows his strip and knows all the nuances. They should stop thinking that, though.
There’s a reason I stopped reading this strip several years ago.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Why does he look like MODOK in that last panel?
Mobile Organism Only Chomping Hotdogs?
I haven’t read Pooch Cafe in a while, but I recall this dog is known for mooching food. I’m not sure what that has to do with the sweater and booties. Is it helping him (looks cute? makes him more noticeable? has some weird inflating mechanism?) or harming him (looks too well fed? makes him less dog-like? has some weird inflating mechanism?)? Dan’s right; this really is a CIDU.
There is a running gag where Poncho turns into a monster whenever there is food to mooch for (mooch: ask for or obtain (something) without paying for it.). I don’t remember if there is a specific reason the mooch Poncho looks like MODOK.
This came up in comments. Poncho turning into “Moochdok” is an occasional trope. I even gathered an example arc in a GoComics collection. That’s a useful premium feature to show old comics to those who can’t go back in the archives.
https://www.gocomics.com/profile/Brian/collections/45240
Not knowing this comic at all, I assumed that the dog wearing sweater and booties is hot, and as a result is plumping up, as hot dogs do when they get hot. The clue being he’s walking by a hot dog cart.
But I’ll defer to those who know this strip better.
Thank you, Brian. I guess it’s easy for a cartoonist to think that everyone follows his strip and knows all the nuances. They should stop thinking that, though.
There’s a reason I stopped reading this strip several years ago.
I enjoy Pooch Cafe.