Guard Dog made his debut in Mutts in 1995 and quickly became one of the comic strip’s most beloved characters. As a chained dog longing for freedom, he’s played an important role in raising awareness about the cruelty of tethering and has inspired countless Mutts readers to become involved in animal welfare. In October 2023, nearly three decades after his debut, Guard Dog’s freedom story began to unfold in newspapers and online. After being abandoned by his owner, left alone and suffering, Guard Dog was discovered by his animal friends Mooch and Earl, and ultimately rescued by Doozy, a kindly neighborhood girl, and Ozzie, Earl’s guardian. After years of visiting Guard Dog to provide him with comfort and support, Doozy adopted himmarking the end of a long life of neglect and the beginning of one filled with love and safety. Featuring the complete story, now in color for the first time, Breaking the Chain is an emotionally resonant vignette whose grounding in the real-life animal neglect issues that affect millions of chained dogs worldwide will move both long-time Mutts fans and first-time readers.