Boy and Dog
is a webcomic drawn in basic sketchy style by a guy named Nate Anderson.
It follows the adventures of a baby boy named Rowan and a dog named Murphy, who are based on Nate's own son and dog. While Rowan is still a baby, the trope Not Allowed to Grow Up does not apply; Rowan started off not able to even stand up, but later, he learnt to walk.
Secondary characters include Rowan's parents, his grandma, and the family cat Milo.
Boy and Dog provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal:
- In the Halloween strip, Murphy wears pirate accessories.
- He's also seen with a fake turkey's tail in one strip.
- He wears a scarf when he and Rowan dress as stereotypical detectives.
- Affectionate Nickname: Rowan's father calls him "spud" and apparently "squishy bub", "little squat", "Mr. Tiny", "squishy squisher", and "Squaty Stumps". He also calls Murphy "Mr. Fuzz", "doggeroo", "fluffy flumper", "pooch", and "fuzzy britches".
- And the Adventure Continues: The story Rowan's parent (it's never revealed if it's his father or his mother speaking) tells him ends with the hero going off to have another adventure.
- Animal Lover: Rowan has made friends with dogs, cats, and even a fly. Helps that he can talk to animals.
- Animal Talk: Murphy and Milo can understand each other despite being different species.
- An Arm and a Leg: The story told by Rowan's parent involves the hero mistaking a half-starved villager for a living skeleton and so chopping his arm off.
- Ass Shove: When Murphy goes to the vet, he gets his temperature taken rectally.
- Baby Language: Rowan can't talk yet, but he speaks his own language, called "Rowan".
- Big Eater: Both Rowan and Murphy love their food.
- Rowan apparently has two breakfasts, brunch, elevensies, lunch, afternoon milk, dinner, supper, and snacks.
- Murphy has only three meals but he desperately wants more, although he does have the strange habit of pretending not to be hungry when fed.
- Big Friendly Dog: Murphy weighs 90 pounds and is a very friendly dog with everybody.
- Big "NO!": When Rowan walks towards the vacuum cleaner, which Murphy thinks is a monster, Murphy says, "Rowan, nooo!".
- Birthday Episode: When Rowan turns one, a sign comes up saying that he's "leveled up".
- Blowing a Raspberry: At one point, Murphy wants to show something to Rowan but the latter interrupts him with raspberries.
- A Boy and His X: A boy and his dog, just like the comic's title. Rowan and Murphy are the best of friends and Murphy was one of Rowan's first friends if not the first friend he had.
- Buffy Speak:
- When Rowan gets a stuffy nose, he says that his "sniffer is full of stuff".
- Rowan gets a medal for being the "goodest" eater.
- At a restaurant, one of Rowan's parents says, "Try this fruit pouch thingy".
- When the electricity stops working, they claim that the "zappy stuff isn't zapping".
- But You Were There, and You, and You: When Rowan's parent tells him and Murphy a story, Rowan imagines the hero as himself and the hero's horse as Murphy.
- Catching Some Z's: When Rowan sleeps, he says, "Zzzz".
- Chewing the Scenery: In one strip, Rowan falls over slowly on purpose while saying, "This is the end! All is dark!".
- Christmas Episode: One strip consists of Rowan and Murphy near a Christmas tree and the words "Merry Christmas".
- Congestion Speak: In one strip, Rowan has a stuffy nose, but says that he has a "duffy node".
- Cool Old Lady: Rowan thinks his grandma Vickie is cool because she gives him candy.
- Curious as a Monkey: Like a typical baby, Rowan learns about thinks by touching and sucking them.
- Curse: In one story told to Rowan and Murphy, a troll curses some villagers to make everything they eat taste of liver.
- The Darkness Before Death: When Rowan does a slow, dramatic fall, he pretends to be dying and says, "All is dark".
- Dem Bones: Subverted in the story Rowan's parent tells. It looks as though the village is full of living skeletons, but they turn out to be half-starved living people.
- Does Not Like Spam: In the story told by Rowan's parent, all the villagers except one dislike liver, so when they are cursed to make all their food taste of it, they begin to starve. Apparently, the troll dislikes liver as well, because he apparently put the curse on the villagers because his father made him eat it.
- Dressed to Plunder: In the Halloween strip, Murphy is dressed in a pirate hat and eye patch.
- Easily Forgiven: In the story Rowan gets told, the troll curses the villagers to make everything they eat taste of liver, which nearly starves the majority of them. However, when he says, "Sorry, guys. My bad. LOL!" and removes the curse, they invite him to their fondu party.
- Extreme Omnivore: Rowan eats grass once.
- Eye Scream: In one strip, Rowan pokes Murphy in the eye and says, "Here's your eye." Murphy says that it hurts and Rowan pokes himself in the eye, then says, "I agree with your assessment."
- Friend to Bugs: While Milo and Murphy eat bugs, Rowan just likes to look at them and touch them.
- Gasshole: Rowan farts rather a lot.
- "Getting Ready for Bed" Plot: In one strip, Rowan is sitting on the floor when one of his parents says it's time for bed. Rowan, however, wants to play.
- Good Parents: Rowan's parents seem to be loving, supportive parents.
- Groin Attack: When Murphy tries to play with Rowan's parents, he lands on the father's crotch.
- Hairball Humor: In one strip, Milo coughs up a hairball in the background.
- Halloween Episode: In one strip, Rowan is complaining because his parents took his Halloween candy, claiming he's not old enough.
- Heel–Face Turn: In the story Rowan listens to, a troll starts off evil but later promises to be good.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Rowan once gets his head stuck under his crib.
- I Am Not Weasel:
- Initially, Murphy mistakes Rowan for a dog because the latter pees on things just like dogs do.
- Murphy thinks Milo is another dog who's just confused.
- Injured Limb Episode: In one story arc, Murphy "stresses his leg" and needs to keep off it.
- Made of Iron: In the story, the hero (imagined as Rowan) decapitates the troll, but the troll can still talk and just screws his head back on.
- Mistaken for Undead: In a story that Rowan's parent tells him, the protagonists see some half-starved villagers and mistake them for skeletons.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Being a baby, Rowan celebrates every little achievement, like growing teeth and learning to stand. Murphy celebrates along with him.
- Nature Tinkling: Rowan once says that he can't wait for the snow to melt so he can pee on rocks.
- New Baby Episode: There is one arc dedicated to Zane's birth. It starts with Rowan's mother going into labour and him and Murphy having to stay with Rowan's grandparents. Soon after, they go home and there is a newborn brother who thinks he's a taco. Rowan and Murphy then explain to him that he's a baby, not a taco, and his name is Zane.
- Nose Nuggets: In one strip, Rowan has a stuffy nose and learns to sneeze.
- Power Outage Plot: The comic had a series of strips where the titular characters notice that "the zappy stuff isn't zapping" and an electrician comes over to fix it.
- Say My Name:
- In one strip, Murphy licks Rowan and a voice says, "Murphy!".
- When Rowan's father wants him to stop eating grass, he yells, "Rowan!".
- Shout-Out:
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Rowan can understand cats and dogs.
- Stock "Yuck!": In the story Rowan and Murphy listen to, liver is so unpopular that the villagers would rather starve than eat food that tastes of it.
- Toilet Humour:
- A running gag is Murphy liking to pee on things.
- One of Rowan's onesies has "Bum" written on the area covering his backside. He also has a pair of pants that reads "Toosh".
- Some jokes center around Rowan having a stuffy nose.
- Rowan imagines the empty village in the story he gets told as smelling like "dog food toots".
- When Rowan does "baby yoga", one pose is "downward farting dog".
- The vet sticks a thermometer up Murphy's butt.
- When Rowan says he feels funny, Murphy asks, "Do you need to poop?".
- Murphy describes flies as "flying around and eating poop".
- When Rowan boasts about being grown up, Murphy says, "You still pee in your pants."
- When Murphy gets wet, Rowan calls him stinky, but then farts, so Murphy says that Rowan is stinky too.
- Two of Rowan's video-game-esque achievements are "Rip Tooter" for lifting a cheek while farting and "Blowout Boss" for getting poop down his back.
- Rowan once burps and farts, calling them "tricks".
- Trademark Favorite Food: One of the villagers in the story Rowan listens to is defined by being the only one to like liver, and he loves it.
- Unsound Effect: Things often have "sound effect" words even when they don't have sounds, for example when Murphy lands on Rowan's father's crotch, it says, "NUTS".
- Urine Trouble: Apparently, Murphy once peed on another dog.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In one strip, Milo is illustrated as coughing up a hairball.
- You Are Fat: While Rowan is actually normal-sized, Murphy says, "No wonder you're so fat" upon learning how much Rowan eats.
