Whereas Dog Man was a sequence of episodes presented as long chapters, Dog Man Unleashed is one adventure divided into short chapters, and the change works well enough. The police chief has good reason to be proud of his heroic half-man/half-canine cop, but he struggles not to lose his temper with him. What kind of policeman chews up sensitive documents, licks the chief's face because he's happy to see him, or uses the office floor as a bathroom? Dog Man has a lot of unintended mischief to make up for as Chief's birthday approaches and the police staff decide to throw a party. Dog Man is dispatched to buy a pet as Chief's gift, but unwittingly gets stuck with an evil fish the store wanted to be rid of. Flippy, as Chief names the fish, will play a role in this story.
When a mysterious stranger robs the pet store, the evidence strongly suggests Petey the cat is up to his old tricks. Sure, he's in jail, but a nefarious trickster like him can't be ruled out as the prime suspect. Incensed at being accused of a crime he didn't participate in, Petey hatches a plan to escape jail and confront the real villain. He colors a life-size paper cutout of himself and then fools the guard into believing Petey has been squashed flat. The frantic guard has paper Petey rushed to a hospital...at least, he's supposed to end up at the hospital. Instead he's brought to witch doctor Boog E. Feeva, who administers a dose of Living Spray that brings the paper cat to life. Swiftly dealing with the guards sent to monitor him, Flat Petey uses Obey Spray to bend Boog E. Feeva to his will. But where are the real Petey and the unidentified individual who robbed the pet store?
Using his "Love ray" invention, real Petey sways the townspeople to his side. He commandeers a military tank and cruises the streets on a treasure hunt, but once again he's underestimated Dog Man's knack for subduing criminals by following his canine instinct. What dog can resist playing with a ball, even if it's the control lever for a tank? Thrown from his perch, Petey flees the crowd of people hypnotized to love him and takes refuge back in his jail cell. Petey is no longer a problem, but what about Flat Petey and the mystery criminal? Flat Petey conjures up a dangerous creature to fight the cops, but Dog Man is uniquely equipped to neutralize it. The pet store robber is finally unmasked and reveals their surprising story, and Dog Man and Chief pursue Flat Petey to a snowy mountaintop, where the final confrontation ensues. Can Dog Man pull off a miracle finish to apprehend Flat Petey and the mysterious pet store robber?
Officer Knight and his dog became an excellent policeman once Knight's body and the dog's head were joined together. Dog Man is as afraid as anyone when Petey and other villains bring monsters to life, but he never fails to defeat them when he stops worrying and acts on his canine instincts. His urge to play with every ball he sees bails the police out of two major crises in this book, and that's ample reason for Chief to overlook the exasperating things Dog Man does and recognize he's the best cop on the force. We might all have better success if we stopped overthinking and relied more on instinct. The humor in Dog Man Unleashed is about as good as that of Dog Man, which is to say very funny, though this book's plot is more confusing. It's hard to keep track of Petey, Flat Petey, and the mysterious stranger all wreaking havoc simultaneously. This is a fun story, though, and I'll read the next one. Look out, world, for Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties.